Open PhD position for 2025 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 position at the Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy (part of the Faculty of Physics at Vilnius University).
Topic: Change and exchange processes in 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 PhD research topic will consider the aforementioned shortcomings by exploring 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.
Supervisor: Aleksejus Kononovicius
Funding:
- Fully paid tuition fees for 4 years.
- A tax-free scholarship for 4 years (€15,960 per annum during first year and €18,480 in the subsequent years).
- Additional financial support is provided to cover travel expenses.
- If you are not an EU/EEA national, you will need to apply for a student study visa before admission.
Deadline: May 30, 2025
More information: https://www.ff.vu.lt/en/itpa/studies-and-education/phd-studies
