项目介绍

2026年6月2日

The Department of Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy at the University of Groningen is inviting applications for a fully-funded PhD position. Candidates are encouraged to submit their own research proposal that engages with questions in moral philosophy, conceptual engineering, and ethics of emerging technologies. Proposals may, for example, address themes such as conceptual ethics, meaningful human control, responsibility and control gaps, value-sensitive design, and the ethics of autonomous and AI-driven systems, as well as related questions.

What are you going to do?

Possible topics for your proposal include, though are certainly not limited to:

• How do emerging technologies challenge our moral, legal, and political concepts, and how should those concepts be revised in response? 
• What makes human control over autonomous or AI-driven systems genuinely meaningful, and how should this shape their design?
• How should we understand and respond to gaps in responsibility or control created by autonomous systems? 
• How can autonomous systems in public contexts be designed and governed in ways that are democratically legitimate? 
• When, if ever, is it morally justified for predictive systems used by public authorities to expose some citizens to greater risks of investigation or sanction?
• Under what conditions should universities use generative AI, and how does this affect power relations in institutional contexts?

We look forward to receiving innovative and thought-provoking research proposals that engage with these questions or related topics at the intersection of these areas. 

Faculty of PhilosophyApply no later than: 13 September 202623:59 Dutch local time€3.059 – €3.881

Who are you?

We are looking for candidates who have finished, or are close to finishing, a Master’s degree in philosophy and who have a substantial prior training in philosophy. Typically, this consists of either a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in philosophy or a two-year Master’s program entirely devoted to philosophy. Additionally, candidates should have:

• A strong motivation for doing a PhD and demonstrable time management and organizational skills.
• A demonstrable capacity to cooperate in an academic research environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English. 

What can you expect from us?

• In accordance with the collective labor agreement for Dutch universities, we offer a salary of at least € 3.059 up to a maximum of € 3.881 (promovendus) gross per month for a full-time employment contract.
• 232 vacation hours per year, based on a 38-hour workweek (1.0 FTE). You can also work more or fewer hours in exchange for more or fewer free hours. For example, with a 40-hour workweek, you save 96 extra free hours, and with a 36-hour workweek, you lose 96 hours.
• End-of-year bonus of 8.3% and 8% holiday allowance.
• Extensive opportunities for personal and professional development.
• Temporary employment of 1.0 FTE for a period of four years.