Call for Visiting Research Fellows 2026/27– Department for Media and Communication Studies, Södertörn University, Stockholm, Sweden

Deadline 31 January 2026

The Department for Media and Communication Studies at Södertörn University offers a thriving and multidisciplinary research environment with a particular focus on contemporary datafied and media-saturated societies from a critical-cultural and often historical perspective. The research at the department shares a particular focus on the Baltic and East European region. The department is based at the School of Culture and Education and is a member of the Postgraduate School for Critical Cultural Theory.

We are happy to offer several visiting research fellow positions for the academic year 2026/27. The fellows – holding a PhD – will each receive a one-time scholarship of 35.000 SEK contributing to travel and accommodation. The fellows can choose the length and timing of their stay during the academic year 2026/27 but should stay at least one month.

Fellows are expected to present their current work during one higher seminar at the department. Södertörn University has a number of guest research apartments close to campus and we are happy to put fellows in touch with the housing unit at the university. However, we are not able to assist further in finding housing in Stockholm.

In order to apply please submit a short CV (max 2 pages) and a description of project that they will be working with during their stay (max 1 page) through this application form Visiting Research Fellows 2026/27 - MCS-Södertörn – Fill out form Länk till annan webbplats.

Timeline:

Deadline for applications 31 January 2026
Notification of applicants 1 March 2026
Visiting fellowship period September 2026 – June 202

Fellows 2025/26

Hilde van den Bulck, Drexel University
Project: Epistemic Welfare

Aniko Imre, University of Southern California
Project: Illiberal Fantasies: Political Worldbuilding in Semi-Peripheral European Media

Jenny Kidd, Cardiff University
Project: AI and the Afterlives of Memory: synthetic media and the future past

James Steinhoff, University College Dublin
Project: The automation of software production

Fellows 2024/25

Aaron Shapiro, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Project: Recurring Revenue: Rent and Patronage in the Subscription Economy

Maria-Carolina Cambre, Concordia University
Project: Visual Accountability: "Show, Don’t Tell"

Fellows 2023/24

Helen Kennedy, University of Sheffield
Project: Manifesto for a good digital society

Photini Vrikki, Kings college
Project: The Data Centre Industry: Centres of Exploitation, Power, and the Public Imagination

B Camminga, ICI
Project: Sovereign Clicks: African Transgender Refugees, Migrating Mediascapes, & Digital Diasporic Voices

Caroline Bassett, University of Cambridge
Project: The Automation of Writing

Fellows 2022/23

Greg Elmer, Ryerson University, Canada
Project: Book project ”Underground Media”

Tiziano Bonini, Sociology of Culture and Communication, University of Siena
Project: Algorithmic Resistance

Bethany Berard, Department of Communication and Media Studies, Carleton University, Canada
Project: Light sensitive materials: A history of charged-couple device sensors and the dawn of digital photography

Uschi Klein, University of Brighton
Project: Vernacular photography as a form of cultural resistance during Romania’s communist era (1947-1989)

Fellows 2021/22

Maria Kyriakidou, Cardiff University, School of Journalism, Media and Culture
Project: Countering disinformation: enhancing journalistic legitimacy in public service media

Zrinjka Peruško, Department for Media and Communication, Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb
Project: Comparing Media Systems in CEE countries

Lynn Schofield Clark, Estlow Center for Journalism & New Media, Department of Media, Film & Journalism Studies, University of Denver
Project: Building an International Network on Young People and News

MKV har en samling äldre medieteknologier som används i ämnets undervisning och där det också regelbundet arrangeras seminarier med fokus på mediehistoria och mediepedagogik. Samlingarna är öppna för besökare tisdagar mellan 10-12 eller efter överenskommelse. Läs mer om Södertörns mediearkeologiska samlingar (SMS).

MKV-podden är den första svenska podden som diskuterar dagsaktuella ämnen från ett MKV-perspektiv, det vill säga med hjälp av kunskap från medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap.

Programledarna Anne Kaun och Staffan Ericson, båda verksamma vid MKV på Södertörns högskola, gästas av eminenta medieforskare från hela landet och diskuterar spännande och aktuella ämnen som rollen och framtiden av opinionsundersökningar under valen, medietillit och pandemin, sociala medier och mycket mer. I det återkommande inslaget "Vi läser" återvänder podden till MKV-klassiker och diskuterar deras relevans för det aktuella ämnet samt spanar in helt nyutkomna böcker inom fältet.

Lyssna på MKV-podden.