Call for Applications
Research Fellow in Society & Technology – Agents, Interaction & Complexity
University of Southampton, UK
Location: Highfield Campus
Salary: £34,980 to £38,205 per annum
Full Time Fixed Term for 18 months
Reference: 2468623FP
https://jobs.soton.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx?ref=2468623FP
Closing Date: Tuesday October 24, 2023
Interview Date: To be confirmed
We are recruiting a Research Fellow (postdoctoral researcher) to undertake research on responsible research and innovation of emergent technologies. The project aims at studying the social, ethical and policy implications of research and application of emergent technologies, like bio-hybrid robotics.
THE ROLE
The applicant is expected to carry out mixed-methods research on the socio-technical, ethical and environmental evaluation of emergent technologies and will have the opportunity to lead some of the work packages. Some of the activities might include analysing the ethical and social implications of the technologies, undertaking and analysing qualitative interviews and focus groups with experts and innovators in the field, designing and launching surveys to the general population, Delphi method forecasting, observational research, collaborating with experts in public policy to identify stakeholders and helping write policy reports, guidelines or frameworks for research. The role will also involve supporting the PI in effective liaison with collaborators and stakeholders. The project is mainly focused on a rather unknown technology called bio-hybrid robotics, but there will be opportunities to carry out similar research in other emergent technologies like AI.
You will join a supportive interdisciplinary environment in a working group of colleagues in fields like political science, computer science, economics, etc., and you will have the opportunity to engage with non-academic stakeholders. The project comes with funding for a skill development program for the candidate to attend training courses to learn new methodologies, such as those from the list above, as well as travel budget for conference attendance and mentoring support. You will have research freedom to design your own path to achieve the project’s goals and independently explore related areas of research, obtain your own funding, and pursue other opportunities for your career development. You will be sitting at the School of Electronics and Computer Science, but with a secondary appointment at the Politics and International Relations Department, which will offer you the opportunity to explore a wide interdisciplinary environment.
ABOUT YOU
The successful applicant will have or be soon to complete a PhD* (or equivalent professional qualification and experience) in a Social Science field, like Science and Technology Studies, Political Science, or similar. The successful candidate should have demonstrable expertise in, at least, qualitative OR quantitative research methods, and willingness to expand their methodological expertise with mixed methods training. Preference will be given to candidates with mixed-methods expertise and demonstrable interest in interdisciplinary research. The candidate will need to show capability of engaging efficiently in interdisciplinary research and working with non-academic stakeholders, and ability to organise their own activities and deliver high-quality work to deadlines. The candidate should have interest in the socio-technical, ethical and environmental evaluation of emergent technologies and in responsible research and innovation.
Thinking of applying but you think you don’t meet all the requirements? Studies have shown that certain groups, like women, are less likely to apply to a role if they don’t meet 100% of the requirements. If you feel this is the right project for you, we encourage you to apply, and particularly women, Black, Asian and minority ethnic, LGBT and disabled applicants. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion is central to the ethos of this project and to the School of Electronics and Computer Science. In the School, we are committed to improving equality for women in science and have been successful in achieving an Athena SWAN bronze award in April 2020. We give full consideration to applicants that wish to work flexibly including part-time and due consideration will be given to applicants who have taken a career break. We have a range of staff development programmes and a unique mentoring and wellbeing scheme. We strongly recommend that you visit https://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/workinghere and https://talentedu.com/ecs/ to find out more about working in ECS.
WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU
Be a part of the University of Southampton, an institution in the top one per cent of world universities and one of the UK’s Russell group research-intensive universities. We have an international reputation for research, teaching and enterprise activities. Working at the University of Southampton gives you access to a wide range of benefits in addition to our competitive rates of pay. Our core benefits include pension scheme membership; a generous annual leave allowance (supplemented by University closure days and public holidays) and excellent family leave arrangements (including maternity, paternity, adoption and parental leave). We will support your long-term future too, with access to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), subsidized health and fitness facilities and a range of discounts. All our benefits can be viewed on the Benefits Explained website.
At the University of Southampton, you will have direct access to the recently announced Responsible AI UK (RAI UK; https://www.rai.ac.uk/) consortium that we are leading, centred around the development of responsible artificial intelligence, which has been awarded £31million by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). This consortium brings together experts to create an international research and innovation ecosystem to develop trustworthy and secure AI that responds to the needs of society.
We encourage interested candidates to contact Dr Rafael Mestre (r.mestre@soton.ac.uk) for informal enquiries.
The post is offered on a fixed-term appointment for 18 months and should ideally start by December 2023, or shortly thereafter. Candidates should attach their academic CV, answer a series of shortlisting questions with a short (500 word) cover letter and provide two references (no need to provide a longer pdf cover letter).
WORKING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON:
Check out the staff benefits and why you should join us at The University of Southampton!
*Applications will be considered from candidates who are working towards or nearing completion of a relevant PhD qualification. The title of Research Fellow will be applied upon completion of PhD. Prior to the qualification being awarded the title of Senior Research Assistant will be given.