4-year PhD Position in Experimental and Computational Philosophy

Fully funded 4-year PhD position in experimental and computational philosophy – CONCEPHEX project, University of Seville (Spain)

The Department of Philosophy, Logic and Philosophy of Science at the University of Seville invites expressions of interest for a fully funded four-year predoctoral contract within the research project CONCEPHEX, funded by the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI).

Please forward this information to anyone you think may be interested.

The project

CONCEPHEX (How Concepts Change: Experimental and Computational Approaches in Philosophy of Science and Morality), led by Hugo Viciana and Javier Anta, studies conceptual change by combining conceptual engineering, experimental philosophy, and computational corpus analysis. The project works with leading philosophers and cognitive scientists at institutions such as the Institut Jean Nicod (Paris), the University of Pittsburgh, Macquarie University (Sydney), and the University of Hong Kong. Research stays at some of these partner institutions will be encouraged during the thesis.

Possible thesis directions

The topic of the thesis is open within the broad scope of the project. Possible directions include:

• Science and morality in historical perspective: studies of historical conceptual change, drawing on historical and contemporary corpora, with applications to the philosophical study of morality and science.

• The moral psychology of science, including how experts and the general public understand scientific concepts.

• Experimental studies of how moral concepts vary across populations, with particular emphasis on their interconnections with scientific ideas.

• The moral psychology of large language models: how they represent and apply moral concepts compared with human populations, and how moral considerations shape their reasoning about scientific evidence.

• Computational corpus analysis (topic models, transformer-based methods, large language models) to trace the drift of scientific concepts.

• Methodological questions raised by computational methods in philosophy, such as how to operationalize philosophical orientations and how to assess what models reveal about them.

• Philosophy learning and computational tools, including generative AI and digital humanities in the teaching of philosophy.

Candidates may also propose their own project within this scope. In the statement of interest, please indicate which of these directions you would be willing to work on. Interest in more than one is welcome.

What we offer

• A full employment contract (not a stipend) of up to four years, with full social security coverage, including unemployment benefits. If the thesis is defended within that period, the contract may include a postdoctoral research period of up to 12 months.

• A gross annual salary of at least 75% of the Spanish public-sector M3 reference category (currently around €25,450).

• At least €7,000 for research expenses and doctoral tuition fees which may be complemented with additional project funds for research stays.

• An increasingly international research environment, with Seville's sunshine as an added bonus.

• Research stays at partner institutions of the project, such as the Institut Jean Nicod (Paris), the University of Pittsburgh, or Macquarie University (Sydney), will be encouraged during their doctoral studies.

• International Autumn Schools on research methods and several regular research seminars connected to the research topic.

• Co-supervision by Hugo Viciana and Javier Anta, within the Doctoral Programme in Philosophy of the University of Seville.

Teaching. The contract includes collaboration in the department's teaching, typically between 20 and 60 hours per year and up to a maximum of 180 hours over the whole contract, subject to university authorization. Teaching is usually in Spanish, but it can be in English under certain circumstances. Teaching may be waived in the first year when there are good reasons to do so, such as the need to develop sufficient proficiency in Spanish.

Profile

• A degree and a master's in philosophy, psychology, computer science, or related fields, or equivalent foreign degrees. 

• Candidates must not hold a doctorate and must not have held a predoctoral contract for more than 12 months.

Desirable:

• Interest in contributing to, and helping coordinate, methodological projects on the computational study of concepts in philosophy.

• English at C1 or C2 level, or equivalent.

• Expertise in statistical programming, computational corpus analysis, or survey research will be particularly valued.

Timeline and how to apply

The formal application will be submitted through the University of Seville's official call, which typically has a very short window of about ten working days.

Interested candidates should send a CV and a short statement (max. 600 words) explaining their interest in the position and how their background fits the project, including which of the thesis directions above they would be willing to work on, to [email protected] and [email protected] by 30 November 2026, and preferably sooner. We will be glad to hear from candidates after this date until the official call closes. We will contact candidates and we may help them prepare their official application, including transcripts, the grading scale for foreign degrees, and translations where needed. Non-EU candidates will only need a work permit if selected; the university may provide full assistance with this process.

Sending an expression of interest is not required to apply officially, but it is very strongly recommended, ideally as soon as possible, as the official application window will be very short. The official call will be open to all eligible candidates.

Expected start: between March and September 2027.