Full time, 2 years fixed term, with the potential for extension to a 3rd year.
Base Salary, Academic level A $117,936 - $125,896 + 17% superannuation
Lead innovative research using AI-powered text analysis to reveal how concepts are used academically, in the media and across social.
Position
The School of History and Philosophy of Science is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate - Digital Humanities / Philosophy of Science to develop and deploy bibliometric methods and text classification models to identify concepts and conceptual patterns in large bodies of text.
About the opportunity
This research forms a part of two ARC Discovery Project(s) 'Genes germs and gender: the rise and impact of bioessentialism' and 'Symbiotic Synergies: How the Body Became a Chimera (1950-2000)'. The successful candidate will join a large, interdisciplinary research group of philosophers, historians, psychologists, and scientists, contributing empirical evidence to support the group's philosophical investigations.
Building on existing methodologies within the research group, the candidate will design, train, and validate new classification models capable of detecting conceptual and rhetorical features across large text corpora, and will lead the construction of these corpora from media, social media, and academic sources.
Your key responsibilities will be to:
- Curate, clean and structure large text corpora from news media, social media and academic literature
- Develop and refine automated classification pipelines using machine learning and LLM approaches
- Design prompting strategies to optimise classifier precision and recall
- Contribute to the interpretation of classification outputs in light of philosophical and psychological theories and concepts
- Co‐author peer‐reviewed publications and conference presentations
- Contribute to open science practices, including preparing code, data and documentation for public repositories (e.g. OSF)
About You
- A PhD in a relevant field in the digital humanities
- Experience curating, cleaning and structuring large corpora
- Experience using NLP and/or ML to build and evaluate text classification models
- Experience in prompt engineering techniques
- An interest in interdisciplinary collaboration
- The ability to translate conceptual research questions into computational tasks
- Strong written communication skills and a track record of peer‐reviewed publication
- The ability to work independently and as part of a collaborative, interdisciplinary team
Pre‐employment checks and declarations
Your employment is conditional upon the successful completion of all pre‐employment or background checks required for the role in terms satisfactory to the University. Also, to meet the University's obligations under the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Eliminate Gender‐Based Violence you will be asked to declare if you have been investigated for, or found to engaged in, sexual harm or gender‐based violence in the course of previous employment or in a legal process. Similarly, your ongoing employment is conditional upon the satisfactory maintenance of all relevant clearances and background check requirements. If you do not meet these conditions, the University may take any necessary step, including the termination of your employment.
EEO statement
At the University of Sydney, our shared values are trust, accountability and excellence and we strive to be a place where everyone can thrive.
We are committed to creating a University community that thrives through diversity and reflects the wider community that we serve.
We deliver on this through our commitment to diversity and inclusion, evidenced by our people and culture programs, as well as key strategies to increase participation and support the careers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, women, people living with a disability, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and those who identify as LGBTQIA+.
We welcome applications from candidates from all backgrounds.
We are proud to be recognised as an Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI) Platinum Employer.
Find out more about our work on diversity and inclusion.
The University values are excellence, trust and accountability.
The University of Sydney is committed to diversity and social inclusion.
Applications from people of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds; equity target groups including women, people with disabilities, people who identify as LGBTIQ; and people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent, are encouraged.
The University reserves the right not to proceed with any appointment.
The University of Sydney may conduct routine pre‐employment checks before an appointment is made.
Applications Close Sunday 06 December 2026 11:59 PM
Postdoctoral Research Associate - Digital Humanities / Philosophy of Science. in Sydney employer: University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is an exceptional employer, particularly for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals, offering a supportive and culturally safe environment that fosters professional growth and community engagement. With generous benefits such as cultural leave, flexible working arrangements, and access to Indigenous professional development programs, employees are empowered to contribute meaningfully to the advancement of Indigenous health education. Joining this prestigious institution means being part of a dedicated community committed to improving health outcomes and embedding First Nations perspectives into the curriculum.
