We have two domestic PhD scholarships available to explore projects on hate and extremism.
Possible areas of focus include:
1) Anti-transgender, anti-African, anti-immigrant, or anti-women hate online, with a focus on interventions to prevent or reduce it;
2) Understanding extremist content online and how it spreads, focusing on groups such as neo-Nazis, white nationalists, or sovereign citizens;
3) The role of decentralised extremist networks, such as 764, which blend online abuse, sadism, and extremist ideology;
4) Emerging forms of online extremism without clear ideology or with shifting beliefs, where violence and group dynamics drive mobilisation more than consistent political or religious frameworks.
We’re especially keen on candidates with a data science and/or social science quantitative background and an interest in computational social science and AI. We are open to creative ideas and mixed methods approaches.
The PhD students will be part of the Tackling Hate Lab team, contributing to our projects and discussions.
The scholarships must commence in 2025.
If you or someone you know is interested, please get in touch! matteo.vergani@deakin.edu.au