PhD AI Governance
Description
Full-time PhD position for empirical legal research into the governance and regulation of Artificial Intelligence, with a focus on the Netherlands and the EU. The researcher collaborates interdisciplinarily with AI researchers, legal experts, political economists, and societal stakeholders from healthcare, industry, government, and civil society. In addition to academic publications, you will produce accessible reports and policy briefs on the democratization of AI use and implementation. You will be part of a multidisciplinary PhD team within an inter- and transdisciplinary research environment and receive supervision in collaboration with colleagues with a technical AI background and practical experience, for example in healthcare.
Job requirements
- Essential: Completed Master's degree with a substantive focus on AI regulation and governance.
- Strong interest in and motivation to collaborate interdisciplinarily, including with colleagues from law, political economy, data science, and philosophy.
- Strong analytical and writing skills, with expertise or experience in legal and empirical research (e.g., interviews, focus groups, survey design).
- Interested in working with data and data science methods to generate insights for the evaluation of AI systems.
- Excellent command of the English language.
- Desirable: knowledge of AI ethics, data protection, or digital rights; familiarity with policy analysis or stakeholder engagement; proficiency in Dutch is a plus due to the focus on citizen participation.
Tasks
- Collaborating with other PhD researchers, postdocs, and societal stakeholders to achieve real societal impact.
- Participate in joint training programs on inter- and transdisciplinary research methods, citizen involvement, and summer schools.
- Conducting research that connects theory and practice, and publishing and presenting on this at conferences.
- Mapping the rapidly changing AI regulatory landscape, including the EU AI Act and related frameworks such as privacy and data protection legislation.
- Investigating how AI rules can be made practical and tangible for citizens, businesses, and public institutions.
- Collaborating with computer scientists to investigate how legal requirements can be technically implemented.
- Engaging stakeholders through surveys, workshops, and co-creation sessions to identify bottlenecks and opportunities in AI adoption.
- Developing policy recommendations and guidelines to improve transparency, accountability, and trust in AI systems.
Working conditions
- Full-time appointment as a PhD candidate with a contract duration of approximately 18 months followed by 2,5 years (total indication for the PhD position).
- 232 vacation hours per year, based on a 38-hour work week, with the possibility to work more or fewer hours in exchange for more or fewer time off, respectively.
- Year-end bonus (8,3%) and a holiday allowance (8%).
- Room for personal and professional development and extensive training opportunities.
- Workplace distributed across an interdisciplinary campus in Leeuwarden and a faculty in the city of Groningen.
Description of the organization
Research environment within a top European university that promotes interdisciplinary research and education and seeks collaboration with businesses, governments, and civil society organizations. The position is part of a large NWO-funded research project bringing together ten universities, more than fifty academic researchers, and thirty societal partners. The project develops strategies for transparent, citizen-empowering AI systems, with an emphasis on AI-supported decision-making in domains such as healthcare, mobility, public governance, and healthy lifestyles.
The project is organized into ten work packages: six packages focus on disciplinary perspectives (psychology, education, computer science, law, and philosophy) and four packages focus on citizen empowerment scenarios in various application domains. Through co-development with societal partners, the project aims for solutions with tangible societal impact.