COSMOS - Extra Help Assistant III

Extra Help Assistant Position at University of Arkansas at Little Rock

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock is a metropolitan research university that provides an accessible, quality education through flexible learning and unparalleled internship opportunities. At UA Little Rock, we prepare our more than 8,900 students to be innovators and responsible leaders in their fields. Committed to its metropolitan research university mission, UA Little Rock is a driving force in Little Rock's thriving cultural community and a major component of the city and state's growing profile as a regional leader in research, technology transfer, economic development, and job creation.

Below you will find the details for the position including any supplementary documentation and questions you should review before applying for the opening. To apply for the position, please click the Apply link/button.

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Summary of Job Duties

The Extra Help Assistant will help develop socio-computational models to advance our understanding of cyber campaigns run on social media grounded in the dynamics of various social and communication processes such as group formation, activation, decentralized decision making, and collective action. The Extra Help Assistant will aid cyber forensics and deep web search-based methodologies, to assist with extracting relevant open-source information in a guided snowball data collection manner. The Extra Help Assistant will work with the research team to support development of predictive models of deviant socio-technical behaviors on various social media platforms (particularly, video-based platforms) to identify key actors and key groups responsible for coordinating cyber campaigns and disseminating propaganda. This is an on-campus position. This position is governed by state and federal laws, and agency/institution policy. The position reports to Prof. Nitin Agarwal (View email address on click.appcast.io), Maulden-Entergy Endowed Chair & Donaghey Distinguished Professor, and Director, COSMOS Research Center at UA-Little Rock.

Qualifications

Required Education and/or Experience:

• Must have a PhD degree from an accredited institution of higher learning; or
• Must have a Master's degree from an accredited institution of higher learning and currently enrolled in a PhD program at UALR.

Preferred Education and/or Experience:

• The candidate should have extensive research experience in social media mining, computational modeling of social science theories, working with social network analysis tools, and examining cyber campaigns conducted on social media;
• A candidate with experience in operational research, optimization tools, information theory, multiplex networks analysis, computer programming, and data management will be given preference.

Job Duties and Responsibilities:

• Assist with social media analysis for the research projects, such as hypothesis generation and evaluation for understanding cyber behaviors, data collection, cleaning, preprocessing, analyzing findings from the data, for preparation with drafting research findings for conferences and scientific venues;
• Write software modules transitioning research to tool;
• Assist with online information environment analysis;
• Provide inputs for conduction of training for stakeholders on research and tools;
• Mentor/monitor graduate/undergraduate students working on the project – an experience that will aid in student development to prepare/continue a successful academic career afterward;
• Assist in preparing reports and publications;
• Perform other duties and provide additional support as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Extensive knowledge of computational social science and social network analysis;
• Extensive knowledge of intensive group analysis on social network;
• Extensive knowledge of operational research;
• Extensive knowledge of systems thinking analysis;
• Extensive knowledge of computational complex network analysis;
• Extensive knowledge of online/offline environment analysis;
• Extensive knowledge and expertise with social media mining and cyber forensics;
• Research experience in Game Theory and decision making;
• Research experience with decomposition optimization analysis;
• Research experience with agent-based modeling;
• Research experience with multiplex network analysis;
• Research experience with information theory;
• Research experience with control theory and feedback analysis in social media;
• Research experience with dynamic network analysis;
• Research experience with examining cyber campaigns run on social media;
• Research experience with examining contexts on social media;
• Experience with transitioning research into usable tools;
• Computer programming skills and data management skills;
• Ability to interact with people of diverse ethnic backgrounds;
• Communication skills, writing skills, and public speaking;
• Effective organizational skills.

Additional Information

Salary Information: $24.00/hr.

Required Documents to Apply: Curriculum Vitae, Listing of Publications, List of three Professional References (name, email, business title), Resume, Statement of Research Philosophy

Optional Documents:

Special Instructions to Applicants

Recruitment Contact Information: Prof. Nitin Agarwal, Maulden-Entergy Endowed Chair, Donaghey Distinguished Professor, and Director, COSMOS Research Center at UA-Little Rock. View email address on click.appcast.io

All application materials must be uploaded to the University of Arkansas System Career Site

Please do not send to listed recruitment contact.

Pre-employment Screening Requirements

No Background Check Required

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock is committed to providing a safe campus community. We conduct background checks for applicants being considered for employment. Background checks include a criminal background check and a sex offender registry check. For certain positions, there may also be a financial (credit) background check, a Motor Vehicle Registry (MVR) check, and/or drug screening. Required checks are identified in the position listing. A criminal conviction or arrest pending adjudication or adverse financial history information alone shall not disqualify an applicant in the absence of a relationship to the requirements of the position. Background check information will be used in a confidential, non-discriminatory manner consistent with state and federal law.

The University of Arkansas is an equal opportunity institution. The University does not discriminate in its education programs or activities (including in admission and employment) on the basis of any category or status protected by law, including age, race, color, national origin, disability, religion, protected veteran status, military service, genetic information, sex, sexual orientation, or pregnancy. Questions or concerns about the application of Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, may be sent to the University's Title IX Coordinator and to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.

Persons must have proof of legal authority to work in the United States on the first day of employment.

All application information is subject to public disclosure under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

Constant Physical Activity

Manipulate items with fingers, including keyboarding, Repetitive Motion, Sitting, Standing, Talking, Walking

Frequent Physical Activity

Manipulate items with fingers, including keyboarding, Repetitive Motion, Sitting, Standing, Talking, Walking

Occasional Physical Activity

Manipulate items with fingers, including keyboarding, Repetitive Motion, Sitting, Standing, Talking, Walking

Benefits Eligible

No