Research Fellow in Neuroethics (EXPIRED)

Applications are invited for a full-time Research Fellow to conduct collaborative research in philosophy and applied ethics, with a neuroethics research focus, as part of the new interdisciplinary Wellcome Centre for Ethics and and Humanities.

This post is fixed term for two years from the date of appointment; ideally the post will begin in October 2017. The fellow will be located in the Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities in the new Big Data Institute in Oxford’s Old Road campus as well as having office space in central Oxford at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, which is part of the Faculty of Philosophy. The post will be managed via two 50% contracts issued to the Research Fellow.

The fellow will conduct collaborative research under the supervision of Professor Julian Savulescu (Co-Director of the Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities and Director of the Uehiro Centre). This post will focus particularly on neuroethics, in relation to at least some of the following: advances in neuroscience (particularly neuroimaging); incidental findings (in children and adults); bioprediction; neuroenhancement technologies; replicability and data management in neuroscience - ethics at the intersection of data science and neurosciences; ethics of brain organoids and human-nonhuman chimeras; experimental treatment (including gene therapy, in neurodegenerative conditions); concepts of disease and normality, well-being and disability.

Collaborative research will include the provision of research assistance for Professor Savulescu, literature reviews and preparing drafts of publications. The fellow will also play an important role in establishing and developing collaborative relationships within the new and interdisciplinary Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities and between the two centres and will participate in related activities, including public engagement as well as grant applications, event planning, preparation of policy papers, supporting donor relations and the development of collaborations, as well as other occasional duties such as administration or teaching.

The postholder is required to have received the degree of PhD (or equivalent) in philosophy or other relevant discipline (such as law) with specialisation in practical ethics, bioethics, or other related discipline or at least have submitted and preferably had examined a completed doctoral dissertation by the required start date of the post. Also essential are excellent research skills, an outstanding research record and demonstrated track record of publishing in bioethics, applied ethics or neuroethics, and a strong track record in public engagement.