Assistant professor in Applied Ethics with a (future) focus on technology (EXPIRED)

The Department of Philosophy at the University of Twente in the Netherlands

is looking for an

Assistant professor in Applied Ethics

(full-time, two years with prospects for a permanent position)

with a (future) research emphasis on technology

The department is internationally leading in the philosophy and ethics of technology.  It currently includes eight tenured and tenure-track staff members, five postdocs, ten PhD students, and eleven temporary and part-time faculty members.  The department also participates in the interuniversity 4TU.Center for Ethics and Technology as a founding member.  Both the department and the Center have a strong international orientation and include members from many different nationalities. 

The Challenge

You are envisaged to develop a coherent research line in applied ethics that is oriented towards one or more technologies and (aspects of) their role in society (e.g., digital, environmental, biomedical). We expect candidates to publish in international refereed journals, present at conferences, apply for external funding and engage in international and interdisciplinary collaboration and in outreach activities. Your research will be embedded in the department’s research programme in philosophy and ethics of technology and in university-wide multidisciplinary centres and in the social science faculty’s multidisciplinary research lines such as those in the assessment of emerging technologies, health, resilience, learning and smart industry. You will also participate in the interuniversity 4TU.Center for Ethics and Technology (www.ethicsandtechnology.eu). 

You teach ethics in our two-year master program in Philosophy of Science, Technology and Society (PSTS) and teach professional and applied ethics and other areas of philosophy for bachelor and master programs in engineering and social science, including ethics courses for management programmes, and technology ethics for engineering programmes.  You are involved in the supervision of master’s theses in the PSTS program and will at some point supervise PhD students in the department’s PhD program in Ethics and Technology (the scope of which also includes social and political philosophy and philosophical anthropology).

We would like to explore the option of you participating in Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies (https://www.esdt.nl/), a new, prestigious ten-year long international research programme of seven academic institutions in the Netherlands that will run from January 2020 to December 2029 and has a combined budget of € 27 million.  

Offer

We offer an appointment as assistant professor (full-time) for four years with prospect for tenure after two years upon good performance. Breakdown in duties is 40% research – 50% teaching – 10% administration for the first two years.  Research time drops to 30% after two years, but can be increased through successful grant applications.  The university offers a dynamic ecosystem with enthusiastic colleagues in which internationalization is an important part of the strategic agenda.

• Starting salary between € 3,746 to € 5,826 gross per month based on your experience;
• An additional holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary and a year-end bonus of 8.3% (adding up to an annual gross salary of € 52,279 - € 81,307)
• A solid pension scheme;
• Possibilities to save up holidays for sabbatical leave;
• Minimum of 29 holidays in case of full-time employment;
• Professional and personal development programs;
• A high degree of responsibility and independence, while collaborating with close colleagues, researchers and other university staff is strongly encouraged.
• International applicants are likely to qualify for a low 30% tax regime for the first five years of their appointment.

Starting date is August 1st, 2021 (negotiable).  The University of Twente has excellent terms of employment.

Your profile

• A PhD in philosophy, preferably in ethics
• A focus on technology and its role in society in past research or a demonstrable interest in focusing on technology for your future research
• An excellent list of publications in peer-refereed journals
• Relevant international experience
• Experience in teaching at the university level, preferably including students in science & engineering, social science, or other nonphilosophical fields
• Demonstrable didactic skills in teaching, good evaluations, and a passion for teaching
• An ability and willingness to teach in areas of philosophy outside your philosophical specialization
• Willingness and ability to engage in multidisciplinary collaborations with researchers and teachers from nonphilosophical fields
• An excellent command of the English language. All master programs and most bachelor programs are taught in English, and English is the official language of the university

We expect that you will to move to the Netherlands, to the region where the university is located or to a region from which a daily commute is feasible.

About the department, university and region

The department (https://www.utwente.nl/en/bms/wijsb/) is internationally leading in the philosophy and ethics of technology. It currently includes twelve tenured and tenure-track staff members, four postdocs, twenty PhD students, and five temporary and part-time faculty members. The department also participates in the interuniversity 4TU.Center for Ethics and Technology (www.ethicsandtechnology.eu). Both the department and the Center have a strong international orientation and include members from many different nationalities.

The University of Twente (UT) is a research university with a strong international orientation and a focus on science & engineering and social and behavioral sciences.   It includes more than 3,300 faculty and staff and 10,000 students.  Its motto “high tech, human touch” expresses the aim of combining research in engineering with social and behavioral sciences.  The UT is a campus university, located in the city of Enschede, in the east of the Netherlands.  Enschede is a lively city of 160,000, located in beautiful countryside and near spectacular nature areas.  It is only two hours away from major European cities like Amsterdam, Cologne and Düsseldorf, three hours from Brussels and less than six hours by land (or one hour by air) from Berlin, Paris and London.