Open call for PhD students (2026 admission)

Are you interested in complex systems, opinion dynamics, or the voter model? Do you have a Master's degree in Physics or Mathematics and a good grasp of statistics and numerical simulation? Would you like to work together with me as your PhD supervisor? If so, apply for a PhD studies at the Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy (part of the Faculty of Physics at Vilnius University). Description of the PhD topic I am offering is provided below.

Topic: Change and exchange processes in the modeling of complex social systems

Description: Opinion dynamics, a core aspect of the complex social systems research, delves into the process of opinion change. Physical spin-based models offer a convenient framework for modeling opinion dynamics. Thus, current literature focuses on the phase transitions arising under the influence of various semi-realistic social mechanisms. However, this approach does not result in empirically verifiable models. Also, these models feature unrealistically frequent individual opinion shifts. This thesis aims to consider these shortcomings and propose novel variations of the noisy voter model combining opinion change and spatial exchange processes. Introducing spatial dimension aligns the models with the empirical data, which is usually spatial, and allows for a decrease in the frequency of individual opinion change. Furthermore, these models should apply to various social contexts, from exploring the relationship between socio-demographics, political opinions, and societal attention dynamics to trading different assets in financial markets.

Requirements:

• Strong background in statistical physics, mathematical statistics or applied mathematics.
• Solid experience with numerical simulation, mathematical and statistical modeling.
• Proficiency in at least one scientific programming language (e.g., Python, C, Julia).
• Good written and verbal communication skills in English
• Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively in a research environment.
• Prior exposure to complex systems, network science, or physics of socio-economic phenomena will be considered an advantage.
• Experience with data-driven modeling or large-scale simulations will be considered an advantage.

Supervisor: Aleksejus Kononovicius

Application deadline: April 24th, 2026. By this date any interested candidates should notify me by email.

Formal admission deadline: May 18th, 2026. By this date interested candidates have to submit formal documents (including recommendation by the potential supervisor (i.e., me)) through Vilnius University admission system.

Admission exam: June-July, 2026.

Funding: Upon successful admission doctoral studies would be tuition-free, and a scholarship will be paid to the student (roughly 16 thousand Eur per year).

More information: https://www.vu.lt/en/admissions/doctoral-studies (general information from Vilnius University website), https://www.ff.vu.lt/en/admissions/doctoral-studies (information specific to doctoral studies in Faculty of Physics).