Computational Communication Science Lab (CCL)

Applications are still open until the end of the week!

a hex sticker showing the autrian parliament with palace athene

Happy to release the initial version of ParlAT, an #rstats package wrapping the API of the Austrian Parliament @parlament.gv.at . If you are a researcher, student, journalist, simply someone interested in the AT Parliament, ParlAT hopefully comes as a helpful tool. werkstattcodes.github.io/ParlAT/

Welcome aboard! 🛶
We’re excited to welcome Matt Minich (University of Wisconsin–Madison), who has joined the department as an ÖAW APART-USA Research Fellow.
A former social scientist at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Matt is now researching digital health communication here in Vienna 🇦🇹

International Communication Association

Good news! 🎉
The registration issue has been resolved — everything should now work smoothly.
🔗 Direct link: www.icahdq.org/event/Hackat...

🗓 Registration is open until April 5, 2026
Looking forward to seeing you at the ICA Hackathon 2026 @SU School for Data Science and Computational Thinking! 🚀💡

🚀 dashboardr is out!

An #rstats package for building interactive dashboards with tidyverse-style syntax.

Launched with a fun hackathon at @ascor.bsky.social (🍕 included).

📦: favstats.github.io/dashboardr/

Big thanks to the dashboardr team, Digicomlab, and @vivifabrien.bsky.social for the logo 🎨

Monday next week, 5 pm, I’ll deliver my UZH inaugural lecture. Title:

„Ban, improve, or ignore? Social Media Regulation from a Communication Research Perspective“

The talk is open to the public: you can join either on-site or via live-stream. Details, see:

www.uzh.ch/de/events/ag...

🚨 Join us for the next edition Summer School for Women* in Political Methodology in Mannheim 🚨

7 days of hands-on advanced methods + networking for PhDs, postdocs & early-career researchers.
Free of charge (limited travel support).

Deadline 1 March 2026: summerschoolwpm.org
#methodsky #polisky

It's time for a few professional updates. Together with the team behind the PolarVis project and with @flxvctr.bsky.social we have been invited by @cais-research.bsky.social to organize three workshops in Bochum. The workshops - between February and May - will expand on our understanding o visual

New year, new (job) opportunities: Full professorship in Digital Society and Democracy.

What: excellent conditions, start-up and transition packages, interdisciplinary and supportive environment, wonderful colleagues.

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fa-eosd-saasfaprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

PLEASE SHARE

📣 Multi-position (PhD and postdoc) call for an interdisciplinary project on "AI in the News Ecosystem: Navigating Trust and Authenticity”

Project @ddc-sdu.bsky.social (Digital Democracy Centre (SDU)).

Multiple positions with different backgrounds and profiles.

Links in🧵

#commsky

It's out!!

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Big thank you to my coauthors @small-schulz.bsky.social and @lorenzspreen.bsky.social, and to all participants who discussed 20 political issues over 4 weeks in 6 subreddit, 3 experimental conditions and let us observe.

We’re organizing a workshop at Aarhus University. Please share and consider submitting!

🗓️ 13–14 April 2026 | 📝 Deadline: Mon, 16 Feb 2026 (extended abstract) — junior scholars prioritized

🎤 Keynotes: @stefwalter.bsky.social (Univ. of Zurich) & @hhuang.bsky.social (Ohio State)

WHAT-IF researchers during their coffee break in Konstanz

Developing the first simulation prototype based on the systematic literature review in beautiful Konstanz 🏔️ ☀️

with Stephen Tyndel, Giordano de Marzo, @aytalina.bsky.social, @dgarcia.eu & Taehee Kim

Are you applying computational methods in your research or thinking about starting a lab? Join the first Computational Methods Labs Showcase by the ICA CM Division @icacm.bsky.social 🌟
Online on Feb 16, 2026, 4:00–5:30 pm CET / 10:00–11:30 am EST 📆
Register 👇
forms.office.com/e/zHBkwUWNFw

📊New dataset release with @marvins.bsky.social, @jamoeberl.bsky.social & @hajoboo.bsky.social

AUTNES Automatic Content Analysis of the Media Coverage on the 2024 NRW is now publicly available for scientific use via @aussda.bsky.social
👉 data.aussda.at/dataset.xhtm...

#OpenData #ElectionStudies

🧵 PhD position (75%) in Political Behavior / Political Communication / CSS
📍 LMU Munich | ⏳ 3 years | 🗓 start March–May 2026

We’re hiring for DemocraGPT, a @bidt.bsky.social-funded project developing an AI-based training for difficult conversations in times of growing polarization

📢 Call for Abstracts — Deadline: January 16.

COMPTEXT 2026 will again be a fantastic place to discover the latest computational methods, tools, datasets
&
to connect with scholars using AI across communication science, political science, history, sociology, IR, and more.

Group picture of researchers at the WHAT-IF workshop in Vienna: Rupert Kiddle, David Garcia, Giordano de Marzo, Nikolaus Pöchhacker, Aytalina Kulichkina, Annie Waldherr, Taehee Kim, Jula Lühring, Max van Drunen, Wouter van Atteveldt, Sophie Reisinger, Max Pellert, Daisuke Nakamura, Constantine Boussalis

(How) can AI help build better online spaces? ✨

Last week, 16 researchers from 8 institutions gathered in Vienna to explore exactly that question. Between the Christmas markets, the WHAT-IF team discussed how LLMs can power agent-based simulations to tackle online hostility and harmful content 👇

Screenshot of a publication entry titled “Linkage studies” by Jakob-Moritz Eberl and Nina Ameseder. The item is marked as a chapter with restricted access. It belongs to the collection “Political Science and Public Policy 2025” and was published on 28 December 2025. The page range is 382 to 385. A DOI link is provided. Keywords include quantitative methods, data linkage, media effects, methodology, and interoperability.

And, finally, "L" like "Linkage Studies" by @jamoeberl.bsky.social and Nina Ameseder

🔗 www.elgaronline.com/display/book...

Screenshot of a publication entry titled “Knowledge gap” by Marvin Stecker and Fabienne Lind. The item is categorized as a chapter with restricted access. It is part of the collection “Political Science and Public Policy 2025” and was published on 28 December 2025. The page range is 348 to 351. A DOI link is shown. Keywords listed are knowledge gap, political knowledge, media effects, inequalities, political contested issues, and knowledge acquisition.

"K" like "Knowledge Gap" by @marvins.bsky.social and @fabiennelind.bsky.social

🔗 www.elgaronline.com/display/book...

Screenshot of a publication entry titled “Connective action” by Hossein Kermani. The item is labeled as a chapter with restricted access. It belongs to the collection “Political Science and Public Policy 2025” and was published on 28 December 2025. The page range is 266 to 270. A DOI link is displayed. Listed keywords are connective action, social media, Twitter, and political communication.

Or "C" like "Connective Action" by @hosseinkermani.bsky.social

🔗 www.elgaronline.com/display/book...

Screenshot of a publication entry titled “Computational propaganda” by Hossein Kermani. The item is categorized as a chapter with restricted access. It is part of the collection “Political Science and Public Policy 2025” and was published on 28 December 2025. The page range is 245 to 249. A DOI link is visible. Listed keywords are computational propaganda, false information, incivility, and social bots.

"C" like "Computational Propaganda" by @hosseinkermani.bsky.social

🔗 www.elgaronline.com/display/book...

Picture of the three volumes of the Elgar Encyclopedia of Political Communication stacked one on the other. https://www.elgaronline.com/display/book/9781035301447/9781035301447.xml

CCL contributions to the new #ElgarEncyclopedia of #PoliticalCommunication, edited by
@alessandronai.bsky.social, @maxgroemping.bsky.social, &
@dominiquewirz.bsky.social! 🤝
CCL authors include @hosseinkermani.bsky.social, @marvins.bsky.social, @fabiennelind.bsky.social, & @jamoeberl.bsky.social 📝

This week, our colleagues @maikovska.bsky.social and @aytalina.bsky.social presented their ongoing work involving agent-based modeling at the Graz Schumpeter Winter School themed “Modeling Opinion Dynamics and Social Change” 👏👏

After a long time in development, {traktok} #rstats is now finally on CRAN!

Whether you have access to the Research API or just want to scrape some pages, traktok has you covered

jbgruber.github.io/traktok/

Join us for the first Computational Methods Labs Showcase @icacm.bsky.social Registration is free and open to colleagues interested in computational methods! DM me if you have questions 1/2

I’m very honored to be elected as International Liaison of the ICA CM Division and to serve our vibrant community! 🙏 Looking forward to starting the work very soon 🙌

Congratulations to Aytalina on her election as the International Liaison of ICA CM Division! We are proud to share that Aytalina Kulichkina has been elected International Liaison of the International Communication Association (ICA) Computational Methods Division!

Big news! 🎉 Our colleague @aytalina.bsky.social has been elected International Liaison of the @icacm.bsky.social! 🌍👏We’re thrilled to see her representing and connecting the global #CompMethods community.

compcommlab.univie.ac.at/news-detaila...

Have a multilingual cross-country text analysis project? We just published a paper in @computationalcommunication.org with advice for validating your empirics! 👉 doi.org/10.5117/CCR2....

Karolina and Lise-Lore stand side by side outdoors against a stone wall, smiling at the camera. Karolina wears a black top and jeans, with arms crossed, while Lise-Lore wears a bright blue blouse and black trousers. The photo conveys a friendly and professional atmosphere.

Karolina Garančovská presents in a classroom, standing beside a projection slide titled “Crisis all around? Crisisification of the EU Institutional Discourse.” She gestures while speaking, wearing a light grey sweater and black trousers. A chalkboard and classroom lights are visible in the background.

Lise-Lore Steeman stands at the front of a classroom giving a presentation titled “From Bias to Balance: Examining media representations, public attitudes and campaigns in understanding discrimination.” She is smiling, wearing a bright blue blouse, and standing in front of a projected slide and a chalkboard filled with math formulas.

We currently have the pleasure of hosting Karolina Garančovská & @lise-loresteeman.bsky.social for a research stay at the CCL!

Both presented their fascinating ongoing work – from EU crisis communication to media representations & discrimination. 🧩

Thank you for sharing your insights with us! 🤗