The University of Virginia’s Grand Challenge on Digital Technology and Healthy Youth Development is seeking highly qualified applicants for two two-year Postdoctoral Research Associate positions.

We are inviting applicants for post-doctoral fellows who would support a project related to the Grand Challenge’s focus on digital technology and youth (ages 11-25) mental health. The Grand Challenge aims to foster a collaborative, interdisciplinary community conducting cutting edge research about both the impact of digital technology on healthy and unhealthy youth development, and its potential to advance intervention and prevention solutions. Projects aligned with this Grand Challenge advance understanding of the role of digital technologies in healthy development, and the ways that generation and dissemination of digital mental health programs can help address the youth mental health crisis.

Post-doctoral fellows will have a primary position with one of the two research teams listed below, with specific responsibilities as assigned by the faculty mentor(s) on a Grand Challenge related project. Postdoctoral fellows will also receive interdisciplinary mentoring and professional development through the Grand Challenge and may have the opportunity to collaborate on other Grand Challenge affiliated projects, as well as to potentially develop their own projects.

A.) Dr. Brent Kitchens seeks a postdoctoral research associate to join a team of experienced researchers investigating the impacts of misinformation and other aspects of online information quality on mental health and other outcomes for young adults. This research is focused on 1) defining aspects of online information quality, 2) understanding their impacts on young adults through experiments or other primary data collection interfaces, and 3) analyzing information consumption behaviors of young adults utilizing propriety observational clickstream and search data from a large panel of internet users. Outcomes of this research are intended to potentially include academic publications and conference presentations, grant proposals, science communication to lay audiences, proposed interventions, and policy recommendations. As this research at the intersection of digital technology, information media, and youth mental health is transdisciplinary, the position is open to candidates with a Ph.D. (at time of start) from a range of relevant research backgrounds and interests in one or more of these areas. Quantitative skills (analytics and/or statistics) would be valued, but we are also open to candidates with a more qualitative research background. The position offers a unique opportunity to bridge technical innovation with societal needs, shaping future policies and interventions to support healthy youth development in the digital age.

B.) Dr. Lana Swartz seeks a postdoctoral research associate to join her team, Exploring Youth Financial Well-being in the Digital Environment. Young people face a challenging and rapidly changing environment of financial tools, choices, and information. Consumer financial services apps offer new opportunities but also predatory inclusion. Financial influencers promise to help young people navigate this landscape but are also driven by the attention economy. Generative AI promises to add to the complexity. This research investigates young people’s (age 18–25) experience of their financial lives and how that experience informs their financial attitudes and practices. In this context, how should we think about the future of financial literacy and financial wellbeing? This project seeks a post-doctoral fellow to assist in conducting and managing this research project. The ideal candidate will have qualitative research experience, such as interviews, online ethnography, and analysis of socio-technical systems; experience working with diverse populations of young people; interest in digital financial youth cultures and research experience digital life more broadly; a Ph.D. in communication, media studies, information studies, sociology, anthropology, or adjacent fields.

In your application, please indicate which research team you would like to be considered to work with and indicate your skills and experiences that prepare you to work on their affiliated project.

Ideal candidates for this position must demonstrate:

Research interests in issues of adolescent development and mental health, impact of digital technology on adolescent health and well-being, potential use of digital technology as a tool to promote adolescent mental health.The ability to synthesize a research literature.The ability to knowledgably apply qualitative and/or quantitative research methods.

The fellowship includes a 12-month salary ($60,000-$65,000 based on experience) and benefits for up to 2 years. Postdoctoral fellows funded by the Grand Challenge will be expected to participate in the Grand Challenge community, including works-in-progress meetings, professional development activities, and programming including trainings, conferences, and other events.

Qualifications:

Education: Applicants have earned a Ph.D. by August, 2025. The discipline of the Ph.D. is open but focus of the applicant’s scholarship should be related to healthy youth development and digital technology.

Required Experience and skills:

Conducting applied or translational research related to digital technology and youth mental healthSpecific skills will differ based on needs of individual research projects but may include: quantitative and/or qualitative data management, quantitative and/or qualitative data analysis, grant writing, research team managementSpecific experiences will differ based on needs of individual research projects but may include experiences with: data collection via wearable devices, design and use of digital apps aimed at youth, data collection in schools or other youth-serving settings, lab-based data collection, digital ethnography, implementation science, large scale secondary data sets

Preferred experience and skills:

Experience with interdisciplinary, collaborative research.Experience supervising and mentoring research assistants.The ability to collaborate with and lead a team of undergraduate and graduate researchers.

For more information on the benefits available to postdoctoral associates at UVA, visit postdoc.virginia.edu and hr.virginia.edu/benefits. 

To Apply:

Please apply through the UVA job board and search for R0067193. Internal applicants must apply through their UVA Workday profile by searching 'Find Jobs.' Complete an application online with the following documents:

CV

Cover letter, please indicate your skills and experiences that prepare you to work on the affiliated project.

Upload all materials into the resume submission field, multiple documents can be submitted into this one field. Alternatively, merge all documents into one PDF for submission. Applications that do not contain all the required documents will not receive full consideration.

References will be completed via UVA’s standardized process SkillSurvey. Five references will be requested via SkillSurvey during the final phase of the interview process.

For questions about the application process, please contact Michele Jarman, Academic Recruiter.

For more information about UVA and the Charlottesville community please visit UVA Charlottesville and Beyond and Embark.

The University of Virginia, including the UVA Health System which represents the UVA Medical Center, Schools of Medicine and Nursing, UVA Physician’s Group and the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, are fundamentally committed to the diversity of our faculty and staff.  We believe diversity is excellence expressing itself through every person's perspectives and lived experiences.  We are equal opportunity and affirmative action employers. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, color, disability, gender identity or expression, marital status, national or ethnic origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, veteran or military status, and family medical or genetic information.