PostdocLab Groups Start Work on Projects: AI in Science Communication, Civic Education, Urban Conflicts

Three working groups with researchers from the University Alliance Ruhr take up their projects on AI in science communication, civic education and political socialisation, and conflicts over urban space. They receive funding for 1.5 years as part of the College’s PostdocLab programme.

Three cross-university working groups which were selected for the PostdocLab programme of the College for Social Sciences and Humanities have taken up work on their projects. In a joint kick-off meeting at the College on 25 October 2024, the group members outlined their project plans and had the opportunity to connect with each other.

The PostdocLab working groups pursue ambitious, largely interdisciplinary research agendas on topics which tie in with recent developments in the social sciences and humanities and relate to broader societal issues. They are working on the role of generative artificial intelligence in science communication, the success factors in civic education processes, and the role of property in conflicts over urban space.

Each PostdocLab group consist of two to three postdoctoral researchers from at least two member universities of the University Alliance Ruhr. For realising their collaborative projects on a topic of their choice, the working groups receive funding from mid-October 2024 until mid-April 2026, which they can use, for instance, for joint events, surveys, publications, research trips or science communication.

The Working Groups: AI in Science Communication, Civic Education, Urban Conflicts

• In the working group Artificially Intelligent Communication of Science (AICOS), Maximilian Krug (University of Duisburg-Essen) and Valentina Nachtigall (Ruhr University Bochum) explore the role of generative AI in science communication and examine how AI-generated content affects recipients' trust, perceptions, knowledge acquisition, and communicative resistance, and how AI tools influence conceptions of scientists.
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• The Civic Education Research Lab (CERL) aims to shed light on the prerequisites and characteristics of successful civic education and political socialisation processes using innovative research methods for secondary data analyses. Pascal Alscher, Elisabeth Graf (both TU Dortmund University) and Daniel Deimel (University of Duisburg-Essen) work together in this group.
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• The group Urban Conflicts and Property analyses the role that property plays in urban conflicts over the use of urban space, relating to issues such as housing shortages, land use, and sustainability transformation. The focus is on the interests and goals that drive and motivate actors in practical settings. Group members are Philipp Kadelke, Nina Schuster (both TU Dortmund University) and Jenny Künkel (University of Duisburg-Essen).
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About the PostdocLab Programme

With the PostdocLab, the College for Social Sciences and Humanities has launched a funding programme for postdoctoral researchers from the University Alliance Ruhr to foster intensive cross-university collaboration and support early-career researchers in further developing their academic profiles and international networks. The first call for applications was published in August 2024.

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Contact

Dr Mark Halawa-Sarholz
e-mail: contact@college-uaruhr.de
phone: +49 201 183-6541