Job Description

Position description

The University of Rhode Island enrolls approximately 17,000 students across its graduate and undergraduate programs and is the State's flagship public research university, as well as the land grant and sea grant university, for the state of Rhode Island. The main campus is located in the historic village of Kingston, and the Bay Campus is located in Narragansett. Both campuses are near major beaches in a beautiful coastal community. URI is just 30 minutes from Providence, RI and within easy reach of Newport, Boston, and New York City.
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The Department of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island invites applications for an open rank faculty position at the level of Assistant/Associate/Full Professor in Computational Social Science, starting in Fall 2026. We are seeking candidates with expertise in developing and applying cutting-edge computational and quantitative methods to the study of politics as well as a demonstrated ability to work across disciplines. Areas of methods focus may include, but are not limited to, AI, machine learning, deep learning, digital experimentation, natural language processing, network analysis, text analysis, big-data analytics, or system dynamics.

The successful candidate is expected to direct a new interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in Computational Social Science in the College of Arts & Sciences with a tenure home department in Political Science.

We are seeking to attract a diverse pool of job applicants for this position. A key pillar of URI's mission is to "inspire an enlightened community that is characterized by vibrant cultural diversity; that embraces difference; that is built upon a learning environment that fosters respect, understanding, and social justice; and that rejects prejudice and intolerance." Our department seeks candidates whose principles align with that mission.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The successful candidate will be expected to have strong skills in computational social science with a substantive research program on politics informed by innovative quantitative, data-intensive, or computationally-intensive techniques. Competitive candidates will have a scholarly track record with evidence of high-quality research in their respective field of study as well as demonstrated potential in program leadership, advising and mentoring of Ph.D. students, and curriculum development.

The successful candidate will be responsible for directing the new interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in Computational Social Science (CSS) within the College of Arts & Sciences. As the Director, the candidate will lead the development and refinement of its curriculum, foster interdisciplinary collaborations, and oversee recruitment, advising, and mentoring of Ph.D. students. This position will involve working closely with faculty across multiple social science departments to ensure the program remains at the cutting edge of computational methodologies and their applications in the social sciences.

The Computational Social Science program's administrative home resides within the Political Science Department; this position will split their teaching and service duties across the CSS and traditional Political Science programs.
QUALIFICATIONS

REQUIRED:

1) Ph.D. in Political Science, Computational Social Science, or in a closely related discipline.

2) Expertise in one or more of the following areas: computational social science, big-data analytics, machine learning, AI, natural language processing, text analysis, or network analysis.

3) Demonstrated ability to excel in teaching advanced coursework on applications of innovative quantitative, data-intensive, or computationally-intensive techniques in the social sciences.

4) Demonstrated experience in advising and mentoring of students.

5) Evidence of research in the area of computational social science, with scholarly work commensurate with level of academic experience.

6) Demonstrated potential to develop and maintain an externally grant-funded research program relevant to Computational Social Science.

7) Demonstrated interpersonal communication skills.

8) Demonstrated proficiency in written communication skills.

9) Demonstrated experience working with diverse populations or in diverse environments.
PREFERRED:

1) Ability to teach undergraduate research methods courses and substantive political science courses.

2) Demonstrated leadership and management skills in the areas of program development, student recruitment, and coordination of faculty and resources.

3) Demonstrated experience or interest in interdisciplinary collaboration, particularly with statistics, computer science, or related fields.

4) Demonstrated interest in developing collaborative research and/or consulting to support the interdisciplinary nature of programs within the Department, College, and the University as a whole.
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