About the Fellowship Program

The Digital Democracy Centre is launching a new fellowship program with  support from TrygFonden. The program aims to foster collaboration between researchers, journalists, and policymakers in exploring the impact of digital technology and AI on media, politics, and democracy. Through the fellowship program, selected fellows will have the opportunity to generate new knowledge, contribute to the public debate, develop new networks, collaborate with DDC and its partners, and produce tangible outreach outputs such as policy briefs, educational packages, and talks.

The Digital Democracy Centre / TrygFonden Fellowship Program welcomes diverse fellows, including academic fellows conducting research on technology and democracy, journalist fellows covering technology-related topics, and policy fellows contributing to the regulatory debate in this field.


Purpose of the Fellowship Program

The purpose of the Fellowship Program is to utilize and leverage the knowledge of DDC in a new way. The objective is to generate new knowledge and foster interaction between TrygFonden, DDC, new and existing partners of DDC, and the selected fellows. We aim for the Fellowship program to lead to new knowledge and tangible outputs, such as new networks, new collaborations, educational packages, contributions to the public debate, policy briefs, talks, and other outreach activities.

Accepted fellows are eligible for various benefits, which may include financial support, access to DDC's research resources and networks, mentorship opportunities, and a platform to showcase their work. The specific benefits and support provided may differ based on the agreement between the individual fellow, DDC, and any partnering organizations.

The first DDCxTrygFonden fellowship cohort for spring 2024

 The Digital Democracy Centre is now ready to present the first group of DDCxTrygFonden fellows for spring 2024. The newly appointed fellows have backgrounds in different disciplines and will be affiliated with the Digital Democracy Centre for anywhere from one month to one year, where they will work on projects and issues related to the Digital Democracy Centre’s research interests.

Two fellows with a journalistic background:

• Anna Romandash, journalist and media consultant associated with Vassar College, the Mgrublian Center for Human Rights and the Fourth Freedom Forum, with the project ‘A State in a Smartphone or a Digital Spy?’
• Peder Hammerskov, assistant professor at DMJX, with the project ‘AI Nexus: Bridging Disciplinary Boundaries Across Newsrooms’.

A fellow with a policy background:

• Eva M. Knudsen, specialist consultant at Odense Municipality, with the project ‘Artificial intelligence in a municipal context with a focus on trust and credibility’.

Six fellows from academia:

• Konstantinos Armaos, PhD student at the University of Lausanne with the project ‘SiNt: Safe Internet Navigation Toolbox’.
• Laurence Dierickx, postdoc at the University of Bergen, with the project ‘Using Generative AI in Fact-Checking for Countering Information Disorders’.
• Magdalena Obermaier, postdoc at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, with the project ‘Exploring the Role of Audience-Driven Content Moderation against Anti-Media Online Incivilities in Denmark and Germany’.
• Shelley Boulianne, research fellow at the Weizenbaum Institute in Berlin and former associate professor at MacEwan University, with the project ‘Generational Differences in Digital News and Political Attitudes Across the Globe’.
• David Hopmann, professor at the Centre of Journalism, University of Southern Denmark, with The Power Study (Magtudredningen) and the project ‘Promoting Political News and Current Affairs on Social Platforms’.
• Arnab Basu, visiting professor at the Strategic Organization Design unit, University of Southern Denmark, with the project ‘Intelligent protocol aggregator for DAO design and modelling’.

The DDCxTrygFonden fellowship programme will run for the next five years, and the next round of applications to the fellowship programme will open later this year.