The Center for Cyber Security at New York University Abu Dhabi, seeks to recruit a Research Engineer to work on disinformation and security aspects related to it.  Online misinformation and disinformation (aka "Fake News") has taken on an increasing global significance in recent years. The spread and application of such content can have disastrous consequences in the real world, such as influence on socio political events (e.g., elections), spread of diseases (e.g., due to parents choosing not to vaccinate children), violence, discrimination (e.g., targeting of specific religions such as Islam), and so on. A great deal of such content is seeded and/or spread and/or amplified by malicious individual or state actors, often with the use of bots. As such, investigating and tackling this problem requires a sociotechnical and multidisciplinary approach that considers not only threat models and security considerations but also improved user interfaces and experiences, increased information literacy, informed public policy, etc.

The successful applicant will work on interdisciplinary sociotechnical research that to detect and reduce the spread and influence of online misinformation and disinformation. To that end, the research may involve applying a number of approaches, including but not limited to: machine learning, user interface design, building and evaluating prototypes of novel solutions, online surveys and experiments, etc. The research will also incorporate an investigation of cultural influences, with a specific focus on the context of the populations in the Middle East / North Africa (MENA) region. We expect the results to be published in top-tier journals and conferences in security and human computer interactions (e.g., IEEE S&P, Usenix Security, CCS, NDSS, CHI, CSCW, SOUPS, WWW, etc.). The Research Engineer will be supervised by Prof. Nasir Memon (NYU, NYU Abu Dhabi). Collaborators on the project include Mustaque Ahamad (Georgia Tech) and Prof. Sameer Patil (University of Utah).

Applicants for the Research Engineer position must have Masters in Computer Engineering or related discipline. Excellent experimental skills relevant to the project are required.

The terms of employment are very competitive and include housing and educational subsidies for children. Applications will be accepted immediately and candidates will be considered until the position is filled. For consideration, applicants need to submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae with full publication list, degree transcript, statement of research interests, and at least one letter of reference (up to two may be required in the application process), all in PDF format. If you have any further questions, please send an email to ccsad@nyu.edu  

About NYUAD:

NYU Abu Dhabi is a degree-granting research university with a fully integrated liberal arts and science undergraduate program in the Arts, Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities, and Engineering. NYU Abu Dhabi, NYU New York, and NYU Shanghai, form the backbone of NYU?s global network university, an interconnected network of portal campuses and academic centers across six continents that enable seamless international mobility of students and faculty in their pursuit of academic and scholarly activity. This global university represents a transformative shift in higher education, one in which the intellectual and creative endeavors of academia are shaped and examined through an international and multicultural perspective. As a major intellectual hub at the crossroads of the Arab world, NYUAD serves as a center for scholarly thought, advanced research, knowledge creation, and sharing, through its academic, research, and creative activities.

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