Programme Thesis
The Digital Humanism Fellowship funds early-career researchers (doctoral and postdoctoral) for a three-month residency at the IWM in Vienna to conduct interdisciplinary research on the relationship between technology and society, with a focus on human-centered digital transformation, democratic values, and universal human rights. It exists to foster critical, humanistic perspectives on digitalization and to build an international community of scholars who can guide technology toward social well-being.
Selection Criteria
- Alignment with the Digital Humanism mission: research must investigate the societal, political, economic, or ethical implications of digitalization, not merely apply digital tools.
- Interdisciplinary approach: combining perspectives from computer science, social sciences, humanities, economics, law, political science, philosophy, or related fields.
- Academic excellence and potential: quality of the project proposal, methodology, and feasibility within the three-month residency.
- Fit with IWM's research environment: potential to contribute to and benefit from the institute's seminars, lectures, and scholarly community.
- Eligibility: must be enrolled in a doctoral program OR have obtained a PhD no earlier than 21 September 2022 (within four years of the application deadline).
- Only one application per academic year; previous IWM fellows must wait three years.
- Quality of motivation letter and letters of recommendation.
Past Winners / Cohort Profiles
The page does not list specific past winners, but typical cohorts include doctoral candidates and early-career postdocs from diverse disciplines (e.g., philosophy, sociology, law, computer science, political science) who work on topics like AI ethics, digital democracy, data governance, algorithmic bias, and the social impact of digital technologies. Winners are often scholars with a strong humanistic or social-science grounding who can articulate the societal stakes of their technical work.
Ideal Candidate Fingerprint
The ideal applicant is an early-career researcher (PhD student or recent PhD) with a compelling, interdisciplinary project that critically examines how digital technologies shape society, democracy, or human rights. They should have a strong academic record, a clear methodology, and a demonstrated ability to engage with non-technical audiences, as well as a motivation to contribute to the IWM's intellectual community.
Recommended Framing
Frame the CCT model as a human-centered digital health intervention: the computational modeling of addiction mechanisms is not just technical but directly addresses the societal and ethical challenges of digital health technologies, such as algorithmic bias in mental health apps and the need for transparent, human-centered design. Emphasize the Nigeria/Africa perspective, where digital health tools must be designed to uphold democratic values and social well-being, and position the fellowship as a unique opportunity to bridge computational rigor with policy and ethics, aligning with the programme's mission.
Watch Out
The applicant is not currently enrolled in a doctoral program (only enrolled in a Master's) and does not have a PhD, so they do not meet the eligibility criteria (must be enrolled in a doctoral program or have a PhD within 4 years). This is a critical eligibility concern. Additionally, the applicant's research is primarily technical (neuroscience, protein ML, dynamical systems) and may be perceived as lacking direct societal/ethical focus, which is the core of Digital Humanism.