This is a highly relevant field of research for society. The scientific focus of the professorship is on the analysis of computational propaganda and the effects of bots, algorithms, disinfomation and other forms of automated politcal opinion manipulation on politics and society, as well as the changing nature of politics and citizenship in the Internet Age. This professorship is funded by the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) for a period of five years.
Before joining the HPI, Dr Bolsover worked as a Lecturer in Politics and Media at the University of Leeds and as a Researcher in the Social Sciences at the University of Oxford's Internet Institute. Dr Bolsover has published influential research on misinformation in the 2016 US and French Presidential Elections, Chinese state computational propaganda and occupation of online spaces, and online ethno-nationalism in the 2019 Indian General Election.
Dr Bolsover is looking forward to joining the HPI, bringing a social science perspective to the Digital Engineering Faculty, and building research networks with colleagues at the HPI and other academic and policy researchers in the Berlin-Brandenburg area.
