Assistant professor in environmental ethics or applied ethics, esp. ethics of technology (EXPIRED)

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

is looking for an

Assistant professor in Environmental Ethics / Applied Ethics

(full-time, two years followed by permanent position upon good performance)

with a (future) research interest in technology and its role in society

We especially encourage female candidates to apply

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.  It is currently growing towards twelve tenured 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 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.  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).

You perform research in environmental ethics, other areas of applied ethics, or both, with particular attention to the role of technology in society.  We have a particular interest in someone working on issues of sustainability and environment, but are also entertaining people with research profiles in other areas, e.g., ethics of information technology and robotics, medical ethics and technology, ethics of transportation, etc.  Your research will be embedded in the department’s research program as well as in the 4TU.Center of Excellence for Ethics and Technology (4TU.Ethics, www.ethicsandtechnology.eu), a joint center of the departments of philosophy of the University of Twente, Delft University of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology and Wageningen University, which currently counts over sixty members, including twenty-five PhD students.

Successful candidates with a focus on environmental ethics will find collaborative opportunities with the 4TU.Ethics working group on environment, sustainability and energy, the department of governance and technology for sustainability that we are clustered with, and other groups with a strong environmental focus in the social and engineering sciences.  Other candidates can find similar collaborations with working groups of 4TU.Ethics and within the university; you can ask for details.

As part of your research activities, you are also expected to apply for external funding and to engage in international and interdisciplinary collaboration, including collaboration with engineering or medical scientists and social scientists inside and outside the University of Twente.

Offer

You are appointed as assistant professor (full-time) for a period of two years, with 40% research time and 60% teaching and administration.  After the two-year period, you are eligible for a permanent appointment upon good performance.  Salary is competitive.  Initial assistant professor salary is € 3.475,- - € 4.757,- per month, depending on experience.  On top of the annual salary you receive 8% vacation bonus and 8.3% end-of-year bonus.  Non-European Union candidates usually qualify for a low 30% tax rate for their first five years of appointment.  Preferred starting date is August 2018 (significantly later dates are negotiable for outstanding candidates).  The University of Twente has excellent terms of employment.

Your profile

You hold a Ph.D. in philosophy, preferably with a specialization in ethics.  You have either had a focus on technology in your past research or you have a demonstrable interest in focusing on technology for your future research.  You already have an excellent list of publications in peer-refereed journals and have relevant international experience. 

You also have experience in teaching at the university level, preferably including students in science & engineering, social science, or other nonphilosophical fields, and preferably including professional and/or applied ethics. An ability to teach philosophy of science (including philosophy of social science) is a plus.  You have demonstrable didactic skills in teaching, good teaching evaluations, and a passion for teaching.  You are able and willing to teach in areas of philosophy outside your philosophical specialization. You are willing and able to collaborate with researchers and teachers from nonphilosophical disciplines. 

You have an excellent command of the English language.  All master programs and many bachelor programs at the University of Twente are taught in English, and English is the official language at departmental meetings, and you will not be required to learn Dutch.  You are prepared to move to the Netherlands, to the region where the University of Twente is located.

About the university and region

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 150,000, 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.

Information and application

For more information, please contact Prof. dr. Philip Brey, full professor (e-mail: [email protected]; phone: +31-53-4894426).

Your application should include a CV (which should include the title of your dissertation and a short description of its contents), a letter of application (including a summary of your teaching evaluations), a writing sample, and contact information for 2 or more references and should be sent no later than April 12th, 2018.  Applications should be uploaded via www.utwente.nl/vacatures/en (click twice to find vacancy).  Since only three documents can be uploaded per application, please combine documents if needed.