Postdoctoral Position in Computational Social Science, Communication, and LLM Benchmarking at Northwestern University

Northwestern University is inviting applications for a one-year postdoctoral scholar position in the School of Communication and the Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, starting between July 1 and September 1, 2026. The position is part of the Global LLM Values Benchmarking Working Group, an interdisciplinary team focused on the systematic, comparative assessment of sociopolitical values in Large Language Models (LLMs). The research group is led by faculty including Yingdan Lu, Erik Nisbet, Nicholas Diakopoulos, Stephen Nelson, and Kalyani Chadha, spanning communication studies, political science, journalism/media, and information science. The postdoctoral fellow will engage in designing and evaluating benchmarking methods, building open datasets and interactive dashboards, conducting cross-country comparative analyses, publishing in high-impact journals, and helping organize a symposium on AI alignment and governance. The ideal candidate will have a background in computational social science, experience with large language models, and strong skills in data science, statistical analysis, and computational modeling. The position emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration, creativity, and initiative in conceptualizing new research directions. Applicants must hold a completed doctoral degree in communication, political science, information science, computational social science, computer science, or a related field. Required skills include proficiency in programming, benchmarking, and/or human-centered evaluation of LLMs, as well as strong communication, teamwork, and project management abilities. Application materials should include a cover letter, CV, two writing samples, a research statement, and contact information for three academic references. The position offers a competitive salary of $75,000 per year and benefits as per the Northwestern University Postdoc Benefits Plan. The postdoctoral scholar is expected to be in residence at the Evanston campus at least three days per week during academic quarters. Application review begins January 16, 2026, and will continue until the position is filled. For more information, visit the official announcement or contact Yingdan Lu at [email protected]. Key research areas include computational social science, large language models, communication studies, political science, information science, AI alignment, governance, benchmarking, data science, and statistical analysis.