Postdoc in Public Administration; AI & Citizen Engagement - DTU Management

DTU; Denmark; Remote; DKK 480,000 - 580,000; Full time

Job summary

DTU Management at DTU invites applications for a two-year postdoctoral position at the intersection of public administration, governance, and AI. The STÅSTEDER project, funded by VELUX, investigates how large language models can represent citizen perspectives and support democratic decision-making in sustainability transitions, in collaboration with Aarhus municipality.

The candidate will conduct ethnography and fieldwork in Aarhus, collaborate with a second postdoc on technical development,

Qualifications

• STS, organizational ethnography, public administration, political sociology, citizen participation, or related disciplines.
• Studies of digital public administration and controversies surrounding AI and public governance.
• Qualitative research methods, including ethnography, interviews, participant observation, and case-study research.
• An internationally oriented research profile documented through a PhD dissertation and/or research publications.
• Strong analytical and academic writing skills.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills for diverse stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Develop and empirically evaluate perspectival models representing cultural standpoints.
• Conduct organizational ethnography and qualitative fieldwork in Aarhus municipality.
• Collaborate with a second postdoctoral researcher on technical and methodological development of perspectival models.
• Organize field laboratories with municipal employees, stakeholders, and perspectival models.
• Develop training and validation strategies for perspectival LLMs with the people they represent.

Skills

STS

Ethnography

Public Administration

Political Sociology

Citizen Participation

Stakeholder Engagement

Qualitative Methods

Education

PhD

Job description

If you would like to contribute to knowledge creation at the intersection of public administration, democratic governance, and artificial intelligence, this position offers a unique opportunity.

Public administrations are increasingly adopting digital technologies and artificial intelligence to understand citizens, design policy interventions, and address complex societal challenges. This position offers a unique opportunity to investigate and contribute to this development through the research project STÅSTEDER. Funded by the VELUX foundations initiative for democratic sustainability and conducted in collaboration with Aarhus municipality, STÅSTEDER explores whether large language models can be used to represent citizen perspectives and how they can potentially complement established approaches to citizen engagement in sustainability transitions.

In collaboration with project partners, the candidate will contribute to the development and empirical evaluation of perspectival models designed to represent different cultural standpoints in public debates concerning sustainability transitions. Through organizational ethnography and qualitative fieldwork in Aarhus municipality, the successful candidate will examine whether and how AI-based models can legitimately provide new ways of bringing diverse cultural standpoints into democratic decision-making and public sector problem-solving.

Furthermore, the successful candidate will work closely with a second postdoctoral researcher on the project responsible for the technical and methodological development of the perspectival models. Together they will organize a series of field laboratories in which municipal employees, stakeholders, and perspectival models are brought together to explore new approaches to public engagement and policy development. Part of the ethnographic field work of the post doc is thus to develop strategies for training and validating perspectival LLMs with the people they are supposed to represent.

Responsibilities and qualifications

• science and technology studies (STS), organizational ethnography, public administration, political sociology, citizen participation, stakeholder engagement, or related disciplines
• studies of digital public administration and controversies surrounding AI and public governance
• qualitative research methods, including ethnography, interviews, participant observation, and case-study research
• an internationally oriented research profile documented through a PhD dissertation and/or research publications
• strong analytical and academic writing skills
• excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage productively with both academic and non-academic stakeholders

Furthermore, it will be considered an advantage if applicants can document:

• familiarity with environmental governance, sustainability transitions, or climate-related policy challenges
• experience studying datafication, digital technologies, artificial intelligence, or algorithmic systems in organizational settings
• familiarity with digital methods, computational social science, computational humanities, or related approaches
• experience working across qualitative and computational research traditions
• proficiency in Danish or another Scandinavian language, as the empirical fieldwork will be conducted in collaboration with a Danish municipality

As a formal qualification, you must hold a PhD degree (or equivalent).

We offer

DTU is a leading technical university globally recognized for the excellence of its research, education, innovation and scientific advice. We offer a rewarding and challenging job in an international environment. We strive for academic excellence in an environment characterized by collegial respect and academic freedom tempered by responsibility.

Salary and terms of employment

The appointment will be based on the collective agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. In addition, supplements can be negotiated in accordance with DTU’s salary structure for scientific staff: www.inside.dtu.dk/en/human-resources/during-employment/salary/salary-structures.

The period of employment is 2 years. The starting date is 1 February 2027. The position is a full time position.

Further information

Further information may be obtained from Anders Koed Madsen, Department of Technology, Management and Economics: [e-mail].

You can read more about DTU Management at www.man.dtu.dk.

If you are applying from abroad, you may find useful information on working in Denmark and at DTU at DTU – Moving to Denmark.

All interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, disability, race, religion or ethnic background are encouraged to apply. As DTU works with research in critical technology, which is subject to special rules for security and export control, open-source background checks may be conducted on qualified candidates for the position.

Department of Technology, Management and Economics conducts excellent research at the intersection of management, technology and economics. We develop solutions in close cooperation with companies and public authorities. Our research aims at strengthening welfare, productivity and sustainability. A key element is the role of technology and its interaction with industry and individuals. The department offers a wide range of courses and programs at bachelor, master, and PhD levels across DTU's study programs. The department has 250+ employees with around half of staff coming from abroad.

DTU – For the benefit of society since 1829. DTU is one of Europe's leading elite technical universities. Through research and education at an international top level, we create solutions to the major societal challenges of our time and help secure Europe's global leadership in sustainable technological development. Since Hans Christian Ørsted founded DTU almost 200 years ago, our mission has remained the same: We develop and create value through the natural and technical sciences for the benefit of society. DTU has 13,800 students, 1,600 PhD students, and 6,500 employees. We work in an international environment and have an inclusive, stimulating, and informal work culture. DTU has campuses in all parts of Denmark and in Greenland and collaborates with the best universities around the world.