Research Assistant as Digital Data Curator (m/f/d)
Start Date
Starting in autumn 2026 or by agreement
Employment Relationship
80-90%, fixed-term until the end of May 2030
With us, you create value.
For yourself and for society.
For yourself and for society.
The Project
The University of Bern's Digitalisation Strategy 2030 places people at the centre of digital transformation. From an intersectional perspective, the project examines how digital technologies and AI can reinforce or reshape existing power relations and inequalities, for example along the lines of gender, racism, citizenship, or social status. Its aim is to establish a “Digital In/Justice Hub” that investigates how data and algorithms reproduce inequality or contribute to digital justice. The Hub will be set up as a university-wide infrastructure and will operate across faculties.The project brings together in particular Digital Humanities, Geography, Law, Sociology, Gender Studies, and Theology. In addition, it works closely with technology and data experts as well as with fields of practice beyond academia, especially the arts and civil society. The goal is to institutionally anchor innovative, community-oriented approaches to digital (in)justice and to further develop them beyond the project duration.
The position is jointly based with Mirko Winkel (mLAB, Institute of Geography) and Mathias Wirth (Professor of Systematic Theology and Ethics, Faculty of Theology).
Yout role
As a Digital Data Curator, you will take on a cross-cutting and mediating role at the intersection of law, ethics, computer science, digital humanities, critical artistic practice, and the social sciences. For example, you will support researchers working with marginalised communities in all aspects of digital data curation, including selection, maintenance, preservation, storage, access, and (re-)use, with the aim of avoiding potentially harmful effects for the communities concerned. This also includes the responsible handling of audiovisual and artistic data and their sustainable digital archiving. You will help make bias in datasets visible, assess risks for marginalised groups, and develop practical guidelines, including those building on FAIR and CARE principles.You will also contribute to the mLAB and support the conception, organisation, and facilitation of transdisciplinary formats, including art-science residencies, fellowships, and public presentation formats, in which artists, researchers, and actors from civil society and professional practice work together on questions of digital (in)justice. This position is not conceived as a purely service-oriented role: there is scope to use a defined proportion of the workload for your own research in the field of Digital In/Justice.
Your responsibilities:
- Developing and advancing sensitive, legally and ethically reflected data practices within the project, including the handling of vulnerabilities, risks, and protection needs.
- Providing advice and support in research data management: data management plans, documentation, versioning, archiving, and access and reuse concepts.
- Developing and disseminating best-practice guidelines, including FAIR/CARE principles.
- Ongoing translation and coordination work across disciplinary perspectives (interface function), and between the university, administration, and practice partners.
- Supporting research and knowledge-transfer activities across the entire Digital In/Justice Hub, for example with regard to data and material flows, quality assurance, and risk assessment.
- Contributing to project-wide formats such as team trainings (e.g. on critical data management), workshops, network events, and outreach activities.
- Organising and supporting art-science residencies and fellowships, including documentation of outputs such as workshops, lectures, exhibitions, and publicly accessible formats.
- Conducting independent research in the field of Digital In/Justice within a jointly defined framework, for example through publications/contributions, involvement in research projects, and follow-up funding applications.
We offer:
- Opportunities to contribute to follow-up applications and subsequent projects (depending on project development and funding).
- The opportunity to devote a defined proportion of working hours to your own research.
- A commitment to a sustainable scientific culture in line with the Better Science Initiative.
- Opportunities to collaborate on follow-up applications and subsequent projects (depending on project development and funding).
Your profile
- Completed university degree (at least a Master's degree); a doctorate or postdoctoral level is preferred.
- Proven experience in (critical) research data management / data curation (e.g. DMPs, documentation, archiving, governance, reuse) and/or data ethics, data protection, and data security.
- Interest in questions of digital (in)justice and in working with sensitive data in contexts involving marginalised communities; knowledge of FAIR/CARE or related frameworks is an advantage.
- Strong communication and facilitation skills, and enthusiasm for inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration with a range of stakeholders (research, administration, the arts, civil society).
- Basic understanding of computer science and data-processing infrastructures (e.g. data formats, metadata, interfaces); programming skills are an advantage.
- Independent, structured, and solution-oriented way of working.
- Excellent English skills. German at a solid working level (spoken and written sufficient for day-to-day project work; perfect German is not required). Additional languages are an advantage.
Your Benefits
- Attractive terms of employment in accordance with the guidelines of the University of Bern
- Collaborative environment and ambitious team
- International reputation
- Individual career support
Working at the University of Bern
The University of Bern not only offers exciting tasks but also an environment that actively promotes development, diversity, and equal opportunities. Discover what makes us stand out as an employer and how you can grow with us.
Application and Contact
Please send your complete application documents (letter of motivation, where applicable work samples, CV, relevant certificates) by 15 May in one PDF file to: jobs.giub@unibe.ch