Deadline: 30-Jun-25
The Southern Centre for Inequality Studies is accepting proposals for Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Digital Platforms & Markets (Wits Post-Doctoral Programme – Social Dimensions of Digital Economy, Department of Science & Innovation).
As part of the Social Dimensions of Digital Economy (SDDE) partnership between Wits University and South Africa’s Department of Science Technology & Innovation (DSTI), they invite recent PhD graduates to join a two-year, full-time fellowship focused on the Digital Platforms & Markets research stream. The stream interrogates platform power, competition and antitrust, value distribution, algorithmic governance and digital-trade dynamics, all with an explicit concern for inequality and inclusive development.
Themes
- Core themes include:
- Platform economics & value capture – network effects, pricing, competition, and algorithmic self-preferencing
- Surveillance capitalism & data governance – commodification of personal data, privacy, and inequality
- Gig-work & labour standards – earnings security, organising, and regulatory gaps
- Digital trade & development – cross-border e-commerce rules, fintech, and platform impacts on emerging-market firms
- Platform accountability & cybersecurity – transparency, algorithmic fairness, consumer protection, and risk management
Funding Information
- The two-year fellowship is renewable annually on the basis of performance. The package is R 400 000 p.a. (tax-free) plus medical aid and a modest research-cost allocation.
Duties and Expectations
- Produce publishable research with the Digital Platofrms and Markets domain that advances SDDE goals and targets top international journals or equivalent policy channels.
- Deliver a suite of baseline studies—concise reports that map the current state of South Africa’s digital platforms and markets, including market-share analyses of major players and user-behaviour analytics (e.g., consumer trust, platform dependency).
- Contribute to SDDE cross-cutting outputs (annual foresight exercise, national conference, curriculum modules).
- Mentor honors/masters students linked to the programme.
Eligibility Criteria
- PhD awarded within the past five years (any relevant discipline: economics, development studies, law, information systems, sociology, etc.)
- Demonstrated publication track record.
- Research experience on at least one of: platform economics, antitrust/competition, gig work, digital trade, data governance or inequality.
- Excellent spoken and written English.
- Desirable Qualifications:
- Fieldwork or policy experience in South Africa or the wider Global South Quantitative skills (e.g., IO econometrics, network analysis) or qualitative expertise (eg, elite interviews, policy ethnography).
- Ability to engage stakeholders (regulators, industry, labour, civil society).
For more information, visit SCIS.