PhD scholarship- Political Deepfake Videos (NI Discovery)

[Renee Barnes]

Are you interested in a PhD in the field of political deepfake videos? Applications for the PhD scholarship associated with our National Intelligence Discovery are now open. We are looking for an outstanding candidate and have a generous scholarship of $56,558 per annum tax free.

The project: Vulnerable and spreading: Targeting Deepfake Political Videos

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has enabled the mass creation of deepfake videos that pose a threat to Australian sovereignty and democratic processes. Political deepfake videos are at the leading edge of video-based disinformation and if left unchallenged could have profound impacts on Australian electoral outcomes and political processes. This project addresses an urgent need to determine who is more susceptible to deepfakes, and the individual human behavioural interventions needed to mitigate them. It will examine the demographic, cognitive, emotional and relational factors that make individuals vulnerable to deception and how these factors relate to three distinct behaviours: sharing, reporting and fact-checking. Expected outcomes include empirically validated advances in relevant theories as well as methodologies to inform new approaches to disrupt mass spreading of political deepfake videos and protect those sectors of the community most vulnerable to deception.

The position
The successful applicant will undertake a PhD project that aligns with a National Intelligence funded discovery project on political deepfake videos within the Australian context. The candidate will be supervised by Associate Professor Renee Barnes and Associate Professor Rory Mulcahy. As the scholarship recipient, you will have the opportunity to work with a team of leading researchers, to undertake your own innovative research, and to gain an internationally recognised postgraduate qualification.

More details and applications here: https://unisc-cp.enquire.cloud/round/RND-0000057/984

(NI Discovery ID250100045)

Dr Renee Barnes

Associate Professor, Journalism (SFHEA)

Honours co-ordinator Creative Industries and Communication

School of Business and Creative Industries
UniSC
Tel: +61 7 5430 1260
renee....@usc.edu.au  | usc.edu.au

President of Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand Communication Association (AANZCA)

pronouns: she/her

The University acknowledges the Traditional Custodians
of the land on which we live, work and study. We pay our
respects to local Indigenous Elders past, present and emerging 
and recognise the strength, resilience and capacity of all
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 

[Bridget Griffen-Foley]