JobTarget Logo

Civic Science Fellow, Center for Health Communication in Cambridge, Massachusetts at Harvard University

NewSalary: $65000 - $75000
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02163, United States
Posted on
New job! Apply early to increase your chances of getting hired.

Explore Related Opportunities

Job Description

Harvard University
Position
Details
TitleCivic Science Fellow, Center for Health Communication
SchoolHarvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Department/AreaThe Center for Health Communication, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Position Description

The Center for Health Communication at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health invites applications for a Civic Science Fellow embedded in the Center’s groundbreaking Creator Program. Applications are welcome from recent Ph.D.s and Ph.D. students who expect to earn their Ph.D. by the start date. The position will start on or about September 1, 2026.

Position summary
The Civic Science Fellow will embed in the Center’s Creator Program, using it as a living laboratory and answer pressing questions facing civic science in a social-media-dominated world. Working closely with creators in our program as research collaborators (“creator engaged research”), the Fellow will use computational and quantitative methods to study creator-mediated health communication in online environments, using large-scale, multisource, multimodal data. In doing so they will answer questions like: How are creators shifting audiences’ health beliefs and behaviors? What drives trust between creators and their audiences? And can creators working with health and science organizations inspire public demands for health policy reform?
The Fellow would work with the Center’s research team to turn their findings into manuscripts submitted to peer-reviewed scholarly journals and an evidence-driven playbook for civic science institutions hoping to invest in creator partnerships.
The Fellow should be motivated to contribute to creator-engaged research, committed to advancing public health and well-being, and dedicated to conducting rigorous research. This role offers the opportunity to independently learn and operate in a multidisciplinary environment, bring creativity to advancing the field of creator-engaged research, and work in a fast-paced, proactive setting. In this work the Fellow will engage with diverse stakeholders, including academics, creators, those working at platforms and in the creator economy, and policymakers.
Responsibilities:
Provide data collection, management, analysis, and visualization assistance for the Center’s ongoing creator-engaged research projects related to trust in social media content about health-related topics and creator-driven public demands for health policy reform.
Develop and pursue independent research agendas aligned with the Center’s creator-engaged research focus
Participate fully in the intellectual life of the Center, including in seminars, workshops, and interdisciplinary research discussions that deepen expertise in public health

Location
This position is based in Boston, MA.
Application deadline
5/15/2026. Applications will be reviewed by 6/12/2026.

Term:
This is an 18-month term position from the date of hire.

Schedule:Full-time, hybrid with a minimum of three on-campus days per week, remote work not permitted.
Basic Qualifications
PhD in computer science, social science (including, but not limited to: public health, communication, sociology, public policy, psychology, etc.), or any other field that uses advanced computational and statistical methods.
Experience developing and applying statistical and computational models (e.g., hypothesis testing, regression, machine learning]
Ability to analyze unstructured and multimodal data from social media and other digital platforms (primarily text, but also including images, video, and metadata).
Statistical processing experience (R, Python, or equivalent) is strongly preferred but not

Additional Qualifications
Preferred experience:
Demonstrated experience and/or capabilities to query, pull, parse, and clean data from social media company APIs and publicly available web sources
Ability to analyze social media videos and/or images as data
Ability to integrate large language models and AI tools into new and existing data collection, analysis, and/or visualization.
Familiarity with theoretical models widely used in the study of public health and/or mass communication
Familiarity with field, survey, and/or quasi-experimental methods, event history modeling, multilevel modeling, and/or advanced econometrics.
Special Instructions

A complete application includes a cover letter, curriculum vitae, and two research paper writing samples. In the cover letter, applicants should outline their computational skills and experience, their interest in the position, and their commitment to civic science. You will also be asked to provide the email addresses of three references from whom we will obtain confidential letters of recommendation.




Contact Information
Maria LoSurdo
Director Administration
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Contact Emailmlosurdo@hsph.harvard.edu
Salary Range
$65,000-75,000
Minimum Number of References Required3
Maximum Number of References Allowed3
Keywords
EEO/Non-Discrimination Commitment Statement

Harvard University is committed to equal opportunity and non-discrimination. We seek talent from all parts of society and the world, and we strive to ensure everyone at Harvard thrives. Our differences help our community advance Harvard’s academic purposes.

Harvard has an equal employment opportunity policy that outlines our commitment to prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, religion, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law or identified in the university’s non-discrimination policy. Harvard’s equal employment opportunity policy and non-discrimination policy help all community members participate fully in work and campus life free from harassment and discrimination.

Supplemental Questions

Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).

    Applicant Documents
    Required Documents
    1. Curriculum Vitae
    2. Cover Letter
    3. Publication
    4. Publication 2
    5. List of References
    Optional Documents

      Job Location

      Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02163, United States

      Frequently asked questions about this position

      Similar Jobs In Cambridge, Massachusetts

      Senior Data Scientist, HBS AI Institute

      Harvard University
      Boston, Massachusetts

      Staff Data Science Engineer

      REsurety, Inc.
      Boston, Massachusetts

      Data Scientist - Forward Deployed

      Growth Signals
      Boston, Massachusetts

      Staff Data Analyst

      SynaptiCure Inc.
      Boston, Massachusetts
      Continue to apply
      Enter your email to continue. You’ll be redirected to the employer’s application.
      By clicking Continue, you understand and agree to JobTarget's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.