1-Year Social Science Research Position (Part-Time) within ERC project on “Adolescent Digital Use and Well-Being: A Randomised Controlled Trial in School Settings”
PI: Prof. Pablo Gracia
The Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and Centre for Demographic Studies (CED) invite applications for an excellent social scientist to fill in a 1-Year Social Science Research Position (Part-Time) within the ERC Consolidator Grant project DIGINEQ, led by Prof. Pablo Gracia. The project will collect novel unique data across schools from the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) to study how adolescents’ digital use shapes their socioemotional and educational outcomes across population groups, and will also implement a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) that targets students’ digital use and well-being in school settings. The successful applicant will work under the supervision of Prof. Gracia in close collaboration with the researchers from his international-oriented and dynamic team (currently 3 Postdocs, 2 PhDs, and 2 RAs) and will actively contribute to the implementation of fieldwork, intervention and data analysis activities. You will be based in Barcelona or a nearby place. Main tasks will include:
- Supporting sampling and fieldwork across secondary schools in the area;
- Assisting in the design of interviews and piloting survey data collection and analysis;
- Attending schools to coordinate and lead primary survey data from adolescents;
- Analyse, test and clean data to prepare it for research and scientific publications.
Requirements:
- Qualifications: at least a Bachelor degree and ideally a completed MA/MSc. Candidates with a PhD degree are of course also encouraged to apply.
- Background in relevant social science discipline/area for this position (e.g., Sociology, Economics, Education, Psychology, Social Work, and related disciplines/fields).
- Excellent skills in social science research design and data analysis; strong background in either quantitative data analysis or mixed-methods designs (or both).
- Fluency in English and Spanish is essential; Good command of Catalan is desirable.
- Excellent organisational, teamwork, and communication skills.
- Proactive attitude to collaborate with schools and students to collect high-quality data.
- Genuine interest in conducting top-level research to be submitted to journals.
Employment Conditions:
- Contract duration: 1 February 2026 – 31 January 2027 (12 months).
- Working hours: 20 hours per week (Part-Time position). Hours can be arranged with the employer flexibly. Examples: 20 hours in office (3 days) or 14 hours (2 days) in office + 1 day remote work.
- Gross annual salary: ~ €21,500 (20 hours per week); gross monthly salary: ~ €1800
- Workplace: Centre for Demographic Studies (CED-UAB), Bellaterra (Barcelona).
Application Procedure:
Applicants should submit the following documents by Monday, 1 December 2025 (13:00 CET) to digineq@ced.uab.es and adding pgracia@ced.uab.es as cc, indicating “DIGINEQ Application” in the subject line:
- Motivation letter (max. 2 pages) written in English;
- Curriculum Vitae (in English);
- Two pieces of research or academic work from the applicant (ideally in English) that show the candidate’s relevant research skills for the position (examples of materials can include research papers, dissertations, scientific reports, etc.);
- Copy of academic degree(s);
- Contact details of 2 referees who can support the candidate.
Selection process:
- Shortlisted candidates will be quickly informed the day after the deadline call (i.e., Tuesday the 2nd).
- Online interviews will take place on Friday the 5th from the same week (between 9:30 and 13:00). That is, four days after the deadline for applications.
Queries: Informal inquiries are encouraged and can be sent directly to Prof. Pablo Gracia at pgracia@ced.uab.es.
