Dear CITASA: I'm the new director of the Center of Media and Communication Studies at CEU in Budapest. We have a small pocket of funds to bring in some pre / post doc students for several months this spring, the full call is here: https://cmcs.ceu.hu/pre-and-post-doctoral-appointments-for-spring-summer-2014 In particular, we welcome applications related to three domains of inquiry: --Crowdsourcing and Crowdseeding for Public Policy. How can large amounts of data, gathered respectfully from large numbers of people over many devices, be used to improve public policy? Significant collaborations across the social and computer sciences have helpfully mapped social relationships or identified social problems. But when can sourcing or seeding the crowd for relevant information actually yield better policy alternatives? --Cyber-Attacks on Civil Society. Increasingly, regimes of many kinds are using information technologies not just to monitor civil society, but to attack civil society actors. When do civic conversations over social media get choked off by bots? What are the known incidents of government interference with the information infrastructure of civil society actors, and what can be done about it? --State Interference with Digital Networks. When do governments decide to interfere with the Internet, and why? While many observers celebrate the creative use of digital media by activists and civil society leaders, there are a significant number of incidents involving government-led Internet shutdowns. But we are happy to take other proposals for short term research stays. Interested candidates should apply via email to cmcs@ceu.hu. Please include an academic resume, a writing sample or representative publication, and the contact information for three referees. In your cover letter, please describe your research project goals, and the ideal time frame and earliest start date. Best, Phil Dr. Philip N. Howard Professor, University of Washington Professor, Central European University www.philhoward.org<http://www.philhoward.org> @pnhoward<http://www.twitter.com/pnhoward>