There are four ethics and policy positions that the Public policy programme at The Alan Turing Institute is currently recruiting for. Below I list the positions, along with some background information for each, followed by general background information about The Alan Turing Institute and the Public policy programme. These will be of interest to a broad audience, particularly with faculty and research groups in the following (non-exhaustive) fields: humanities and social sciences in general, science and technology studies, philosophy, politics, policy, governance, regulation, law, human-computer interaction, computer science, mathematics, statistics, economics, psychology. The position on ethics of data science in criminal justice might also be particularly suitable to researchers in criminology.
Ethics Research Fellow (deadline 19 July) The Public Policy programme is looking to recruit an Ethics Research Fellow to help us advance our innovative and high-profile research. As an Ethics Research Fellow, you report to the Ethics Theme Lead, and work closely with the leadership of the Public Policy programme to (1) support the programme’s important role as an advisor to public sector organisations on the responsible design and deployment of AI systems; (2) engage in original and cutting-edge academic research, which marshals an interdisciplinary vision to interrogate the social, political, economic, environmental, legal, and ethical impacts of AI and ML technologies; and (3) take a proactive role in advancing our commitment to inclusive participation in AI governance and regulation through public engagement at all levels of civil society, both nationally and internationally. The ideal candidate would, among other things, have a PhD or equivalent experience in a discipline that provides suitable theoretical tools for understanding the ethical issues raised by data science, ML, AI, and other digital technologies, as well as their social implications.
Policy Research Fellow (deadline 2nd August) The Public Policy programme is looking to recruit a Policy Research Fellow to help us advance our innovative and high-profile research. As a Policy Research Fellow, you report to the Policy Theme Lead, and work closely with the leadership of the Public Policy programme to (1) support the programme’s important role as an advisor to public sector organisations on using data science and AI for their purposes, and (2) engage in original and cutting-edge academic research in the area of data science for policy-making and public service provision. The ideal candidate would, among other things, have а PhD or equivalent experience in a discipline that provides suitable theoretical and empirical foundations for the use of data science and AI in the contexts of policy-making and public service provision. Research Associate for Data Science and Ethics in the Criminal Justice System (deadline 19 July) The Alan Turing Institute is recruiting a full-time postdoctoral researcher to work as part of the Public Policy programme. Depending on her or his academic training, the researcher will focus either on (1) researching the social and ethical implications of the design, development, and deployment of data-driven technologies in the criminal justice system (e.g. developing tools, practices, and frameworks for responsible research and innovation), or (2) researching the technical dimensions of the responsible design and development of algorithmic systems in the criminal justice system (e.g. developing tools and practices for fairness-aware model design or explainable and interpretable algorithmic models). The ideal candidate would, among other things, have either (1) a PhD or equivalent experience in the area of science and technology studies, digital ethics, or public policy, or (2) a PhD or equivalent experience in either a natural, computer or social science field with experience in using computer programming and/or advanced statistical or numerical methods. In both instances, the candidate should have demonstrable experience in relevant formal methods (e.g. statistical learning theory) and be interested in conducting interdisciplinary research (i.e. working with qualitative and quantitative research methods to study complex socio-economic and/or policy issues). Research Assistant in Digital Ethics (deadline 19 July) The Public Policy programme is looking to recruit an Ethics Research Assistant to provide crucial support for the Turing’s ethics research and to facilitate the Turing’s engagement with external partners in this area. The successful candidate will report to the Ethics Theme Lead and will provide research assistance to the Institute’s Ethics Fellows. The post holder will work closely with academics and policy makers in an interdisciplinary, dynamic, and collaborative environment. The ideal candidate would, among other things, have a Master’s degree awarded in a discipline with a specialism that provides suitable theoretical tools for understanding the ethical issues raised by data science, AI, and related digital technologies, and their social implications. General background information
THE ALAN TURING INSTITUTE The Alan Turing Institute, as the UK’s national institute for data science and artificial intelligence, plays an important part in driving forward advances in these technologies in order to change the world for the better. It has grown an extensive network of university partners from across the UK and has a number of major partnerships with industry, public, and third sector. Today it is home to more than 500 researchers, a rapidly growing team of in house research software engineers and data scientists and a business team. The Institute is named in honour of Alan Turing, whose pioneering work in theoretical and applied mathematics, engineering and computing is considered to have laid the foundations for modern-day data science and artificial intelligence. The Institute’s goals are to undertake world-class research, apply its research to real-world problems, driving economic impact and societal good, lead the training of a new generation of scientists, and shape the public conversation around data and algorithms. THE PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAMME The Public Policy research programme works alongside policy-makers to explore how data-driven public service provision and policy innovation might help to solve long running societal problems. We also work hand-in-hand with public sector organisations and citizens to develop practice-based ethical standards for the responsible development and use of data science and AI. Our dynamic group has co-produced—with the Office for AI and the Government Digital Service—the UK Government’s official public sector guide for designing and implementing ethical and safe AI. We have also co-authored—with the Information Commissioner’s Office—the first guidance ever released by a UK regulator on explaining AI-assisted decisions. In addition to our work with government and regulators, we carry out interdisciplinary academic research in the area of AI ethics and governance as well as AI and society. Our research projects rely entirely on public funding, and they include a review of the ethics of machine learning (ML) in children’s social care; an exploration of the relationship of notions of AI, human agency, privacy and trust in intercultural and global contexts; an investigation into how to build grassroots data rights charters through deliberative democracy; an examination of the role of responsible data management in criminal justice applications of AI; and an analysis of the interpretability needs of AI systems in the financial services sector.