Natural Language Processing of Social Media Posts Intern ( for PhDs)

Grade UE05:per annum pro-rata

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences/ School of Health in Social Science

Part-time: 9 hours per week

Fixed-term: from 1^st August 2026 until 31^st December 2026

We are looking for a part-time 0.26 FTE (9 hours per week) Natural Language Processing of Social Media Posts Intern ( for PhDs) for a fixed-term period from the 1^st August 2026 until 31^st December 2026 within the Clinical and Applied Psychology department. The post-holder will be located at the School of Health in Social Science University of Edinburgh.

Together we can dogreat things. Be part of something bigger.

Take on new challenges grow your career be recognised for your contributions and benefit from our commitment to your wellbeing. Be part of something bigger where your work has real impact and your development matters. There are so many reasons to take your next step with us.

The University of Edinburgh is a world-class organisation. We look for the best in the field across all disciplines and provide a working environment where academics can develop their careers and passion for their chosen subject area. We offer the full range of academic roles and have a genuine focus on our students performance and wellbeing.

The Opportunity:

This is an exciting opportunity for a part-time PhD Intern to join Principal Investigators (PI) Dr Laura Cariola on the BA/Leverhulme project Digital Belonging and Global Mobility: Natural Language Processing to Explore Third Culture Individuals Use of Online Communities. Applications are invited from those who are pursuing a PhD in Computing Linguistics or Psychology or a related discipline. It is anticipated that the primary responsibility of the post-holder will be conducting Natural Language Processing of a social media data set. The primary software will be the Linguistic Inquiry Word Count (LIWC) with the Meaning Extraction Method requiring advanced statistical analysis.

Your skills and attributes for success:

• Pursuing a PhD in Computing Linguistics or Psychology or a related discipline.
• Experience of quantitative content analysis using the LIWC; ideally also experience of the Meaning Extraction Method.
• Experience of quantitative research methodologies of social media data.
• Excellent skills with time management problem solving organisation and communication.

This post is part-time (9 hours per week). We are also open to considering requests for hybrid working (on a non-contractual basis) that combines a mix of remote and regular on-campus working.

View the full job description

The for PhDsprogrammeoffers work experience designed to enhance your professional skills. It will also help widen your professional network andprovidean insightinto a different workplacedisciplineor industry.As an for PhDs intern you will also receive tailored developmental support from the Careers Service to help you make the most of your internship.

How to apply

Please include the following documents in your application:

- CV

- Cover letter

- Reference from your PhD supervisor

People have always been at the heart of our people are at the centre of the University community and everything we valuecolleagueswith drivedeterminationand a passion for what they are a place where everyone is welcome!

As a valued member of our team you can expect:

• A competitive salary.

• An exciting positive creative challenging and rewarding place to work.

• To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community.

• Comprehensive Staff Benefits including generous annual leave entitlement a defined benefits pension scheme a wide range of staff discounts family-friendly initiatives and flexible work options. Check out the full list on ourstaff benefits pageand use our reward calculator to discover the value of your pay and benefits.

Championing equality diversity and inclusion

The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions actively promoting LGBT equality.

We welcome applications from all qualified candidates and particularly encourage applications from individuals with a third culture background as we acknowledge they are currently underrepresented in our area at this level.

Prior to any employment commencing with the University you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on ourright to work webpages.

Key dates to note

The closing date for applications is 1^st June 2026.

Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59 pm (UK time). If you are applying from outside the UK the closing time shown on our adverts will automatically adjust to your browsers local time zone.

Interviews will be held on 15^th June 2026.

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