Doctoral Candidate in Computational Literary Studies

Position The Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (MPIEA) investigates why and how people create art and how they perform, experience, and evaluate it. The Institute’s focus is on music, but it also engages with other arts such as literature, film, and dance. Research Group The Research Group Cultural Evolution of the Arts invites applications for the position of a Doctoral Candidate (fixed term, 36 months; salary scale TVöD E13, 65%). Responsibilities The doctoral candidate will work with Dr. Sobchuk on researching the macroevolution of European literature between 1800 and 2000 across all major European languages. The main focus of this position is the assembly and structuring of a large literary dataset, as well as investigation of big‑picture hypotheses about the evolution of literature. We will build upon the existing HathiTrust library and transform it into a comprehensive research resource that allows us to investigate the diffusion of topics, styles, and genres across the European continent. The research will address fundamental questions such as why new genres emerge or disappear, why certain authors become famous while others do not, and how styles and topics are transmitted across time and space, forming lasting literary traditions. Qualifications Essential: Master’s degree in computational humanities, computational social science, computational linguistics, or a related field. Willingness to participate in interdisciplinary research at the intersection of the humanities and social sciences. Strong teamwork skills. Fluency in written and spoken English. Ability to design and conduct quantitative research. Desired: Experience in data wrangling, text mining, and data analysis using R or Python. Solid knowledge of statistics. Experience using machine learning methods and large language models (LLMs) for research. Experience in building and/or using large cultural datasets. We encourage applications from candidates who may not meet all the desired criteria, as we are looking for potential and fit, not perfection. Equal Opportunity Statement The Max Planck Society is committed to diversity, equal opportunities, and inclusion. One of its goals is to increase the employment of persons with severe disabilities – applications from severely disabled individuals are therefore explicitly encouraged. In addition, the Max Planck Society aims to achieve gender equality and increase the proportion of women in areas where they are underrepresented. Women are therefore explicitly encouraged to apply. Location Research will be conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt am Main. #J-18808-Ljbffr