GRK 2167:  User-Centred Social Media

• Subject Area: Computer Science
• Term: from 2015 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 271720050

The emergence of social media marks a significant step in the application of information and communication technology with a profound impact on individuals, businesses, and society. Social media constitute complex sociotechnical systems, encompassing potentially very large user groups, both in public and organisational contexts, and exhibiting features such as user-generated content, social interaction and awareness, and emergent functionality. While social media use is widespread and increasing, significant research gaps exist with respect to analysing and understanding the characteristics and determinants of user behaviour, both at the individual and the collective level, as well as regarding the user-centred design of social media systems, aiming at empowering users to better appropriate, control and adapt systems for their individual goals. There is a growing demand in academia and in industry for scientifically trained experts with knowledge in both the human-oriented and the technical aspects of social media. The proposed Research Training Group addresses this need by providing an outstanding interdisciplinary research and qualification environment, located in a university department that fully integrates researchers from computer science and psychology. We propose a research and qualification programme that primarily provides students with a computer science and/or a psychology background with the knowledge and methods from both areas required to perform high-quality research and development in social media. The proposed programme comprises modular qualification components combined with interdisciplinary team structures as well as supervision and mentoring by internal and external scientists from both fields. The Research Training Group will obtain additional support through internal resources and associated researchers and will benefit from the university¿s strong engagement in internationalisation and diversity management.

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Universität Duisburg-Essen
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Norbert Fuhr
• Participating Researchers: Professor Dr. Daniel Bodemer; Professor Dr. Matthias Brand; Professor Dr. Oliver Büttner, since 4/2017; Professorin Dr. Maritta Heisel; Professor Dr. Heinz Ulrich Hoppe; Professorin Dr. Andrea Kienle; Professorin Dr. Nicole Krämer; Professorin Dr. Barbara König; Professor Dr. Stefan Stieglitz; Professor Dr.-Ing. Torsten Zesch; Professor Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Ziegler