Research assistant in computer science or related fields
20-40%

Dr Anina Schwarzenbach is inviting applications for a research assistant position (Hilfsassistent:in) (20-40%) within the framework of the project ’Morality and Artificial Intelligence (AI)’. The position will begin in October 2025 (later start dates may be possible) and is initially limited until March 2026, with the possibility of extension.

The way media and politicians frame artificial intelligence technologies can significantly influence public perception, regulatory decisions, and societal acceptance of AI innovations. Understanding the moral dimensions of AI discourse is crucial for comprehending how societies navigate the ethical challenges posed by rapidly advancing AI technologies. The project examines the evolution of moral narratives surrounding AI in German-language media coverage and parliamentary documents from 1990 to 2025, exploring how the moral values attributed to AI have shifted in response to technological developments.

Tasks
The research assistant provides technical support for the extraction, processing and analysis of Germanlanguage media and parliamentary data concerning AI. The focus is on identifying and categorising moral language and values in public discourse.
Specific tasks include:

• Assisting in the development and validation of the German moral-foundations lexicon
• Data collection and preprocessing of media texts and parliamentary documents
• Implementing NLP techniques for text analysis and moral value identification
• Supporting topic modelling and word embeddings analysis to examine moral language contexts
• Contributing to the analysis of temporal shifts in moral narratives around AI
  Requirements
  The position is suitable for MA students who are interested in the intersection of technology, morality, and society and digital governance with the following profile:
• Enrolled in computer science, computational linguistics, digital humanities, or related fields
• Excellent working knowledge of data processing and NLP, including text preprocessing and tokenization
• Familiarity with NLP techniques for sentiment analysis, topic modelling, and lexicon-based text analysis is a plus
• High degree of self-motivation and excellent work ethic
• Proficiency in German is a plus
  We offer
• Working with an interdisciplinary team of researchers investigating the intersection of technology, morality, and society
• Gaining research experience in computational social science and digital humanities
• Opportunity to contribute to the development of innovative research tools (German moral-foundations lexicon)
• Flexible work environment; remote work possible

Contact
anina.schwarzenbach@ unibe.ch

Place of work
University of Bern (UniS), Schanzeneckstrasse 1, 3012 Bern, or remote

Start of employment
Starting in October 2025 (flexible start date possible)