Four new 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. From KWI, the Academy in Exile Fellow Carlos Gerardo Zúñiga Nieto, together with his working group partner Sonja Pyykkö (Institute for Anglophone Studies at the University of Duisburg-Essen), will receive funding from April 2026 to October 2027. .
In their working group ‘Circuits of Mistrust and Misinformation in the Americas’, Pyykkö and Zúñiga Nieto 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. Key questions include how misinformation circulates through networks, institutions, and media technologies, and how an atmosphere of mistrust feeds into this circulation. Learn more about the working group here.
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. 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.
