Q. Zhu, PhD

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Media Studies and Journalism at the University of Groningen (the Netherlands). Previously, I held the positions as Fulbright fellow at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, United States), visiting researcher at the Centre for E-Governance at the Danube University Krems (Austria), and Research Associate at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. I received my PhD degree from the City University of Hong Kong and Master's degree from the National University of Singapore. 

My research and teaching focuses on the social and political implications of new media technologies. I study how emerging technologies reconfigure citizens’ social relations and information environments, its implications for citizens' political and civic (dis)engagement and the shape of democracy at large. My current projects focus on digital "disconnectivity" and selective avoidance behaviors in the age of rising political conflicts. In addition, I also research the role of political institutions in shaping social networks and citizen engagement in the social media era. I primarily teach and employ quantitative and computational methods. 

My work has been published in journals such as Political Communication, New Media & Society, International Journal of Public Opinion Research, and American Behavioural Scientist. I have received grants and funds from the Fulbright Scholar Program (Hong Kong), the Ernst Mach Grant (Funded by Eurasia-Pacific Uninet on behalf of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy), and scholarship from the University Grants Council (Hong Kong) and the National University of Singapore.