Four New Working Groups Selected for PostdocLab Programme

Four working groups selected for the second cycle of the PostdocLab programme of the College for Social Sciences and Humanities launched their cross-university research projects in mid-April. They focus on disinformation and mistrust, AI agency in school development, and civic participation in urban planning.

At a kick-off meeting on 7 May 2026, the postdoctoral teams presented their research agendas, most of which take an interdisciplinary approach. The topics tie in with current societal issues: they explore, for instance, how disinformation spreads across academia, politics and civil society, and how this is related to an incipient ‘crisis of trust’. Moreover, the working groups examine questions of accountability in the use of AI in education, as well as approaches to involving citizens in the design of urban spaces. Disciplines represented by the PostdocLab participants include communication studies and journalism, American studies, history, educational sciences, political science, and spatial planning.

The PostdocLab working groups consist of two to three postdoctoral researchers from different institutions of the University Alliance Ruhr. They receive funding from mid-April 2026 until mid-October 2027 to realise various research activities, which also involve collaboration with international partners. Given the high quality of the applications, the College selected four working groups in this cycle on an exceptional basis.

The New Working Groups

• The working group ‘A Multi-Dimensional Approach to Advancing Disinformation Research: Narratives, Effects and Counter-Structures’ addresses disinformation across academia, politics, and civil society. Building on two EU projects, Timo Lenk (Institute of Journalism at TU Dortmund University) and Merle van Berkum (Erich Brost Institute for International Journalism at TU Dortmund University) engage in enhanced narrative analysis, examine collaboration structures of practitioners, and disseminate knowledge about disinformation and counterstrategies.
  The working group originally included a researcher who worked at Ruhr University Bochum until April 2026.
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• In the working group ‘Circuits of Mistrust and Misinformation in the Americas’, Sonja Pyykkö (Institute for Anglophone Studies at the University of Duisburg-Essen) and Carlos Gerardo Zúñiga Nieto (Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut Essen and TU Dortmund University) investigate the historical and contemporary dynamics of misinformation and mistrust with a focus on the USA and Latin America. They examine how the so-called ‘post-truth’ era coincides with a broader crisis of trust affecting politics, journalism, education, healthcare, and other areas of public life.
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• The working group ‘School Development and AI Agency Research Lab (SD-AI)’ conducts research on school development, analysing the role of agency in implementing artificial intelligence at different levels in schools. Manuela Endberg (Faculty of Educational Sciences at the University of Duisburg-Essen) and Ramona Lorenz (Center for Research on Education and School Development at TU Dortmund University) focus on the overarching question whether epistemic accountability can be ensured when AI is used in the complex school system.
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• The working group ‘Towards Sustainable and Just Cities: Capacities, Capabilities, and Intersectional Power Dynamics in Co-Production’ explores co-production in the field of spatial planning, particularly how it can facilitate transformative change in the face of accelerating environmental and societal challenges. Dahae Lee (Department of Spatial Planning at TU Dortmund University) and Patricia Rinck (Institute of Political Science at the University of Duisburg-Essen) examine what is needed for meaningful inclusion of citizens as active partners in decision-making processes and shaping communities.
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About the PostdocLab Programme 

With the PostdocLab, the College for Social Sciences and Humanities fosters cross-university collaboration at postdoctoral level within the University Alliance Ruhr. The programme is designed to support early-career researchers in further developing their academic profile and expanding their international network.

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Contact 

Dr Mark Halawa-Sarholz 
E-mail: contact@college-uaruhr.de 
Phone: +49 201 183-6541