[Commlist] Postdoc and PhD position: SHAPING AI (discourses, policy, tech development) at HIIG Berlin

Christian Katzenbach is currently hiring both a postdoc and a phd cand. 
at HIIG Berlin for an upcoming international project. In SHAPING AI,  we 
will investigate the formation of „AI" as a central socio-technical 
institution in contemporary societies. Over a ten-year period 
(2012-2021), we will conduct a comparative study of the issue career, 
framing and problematisation of AI in the four participating countries 
and in three domains: media, politics and  technical research. The HIIG 
will act as consortium lead, our stellar partners are Sciences Po / 
Medialab (Cardon/Ricci), Warwick (Marres/Castelle), Montreal 
(McKelvey/Roberge).

The postdoc position is very international and does not necessarily need 
German language expertise; the person will be co-responsible with me for 
managing the consortium and doing comparative work. The phd cand 
position is more focusses on German case studies and thus needs good 
command of German.

See the full job ads here and below:
- Postdoctoral researcher (m/f/d) for the project Shaping AI: 
https://www.hiig.de/en/postdoktorandin-m-w-d-fuer-das-projekt-shaping-ai/
- PhD Candidate (m/f/d) for the project Shaping AI: 
https://www.hiig.de/en/doktorandin-m-w-d-fuer-das-projekt-shaping-ai/

Don’t hesitate to reach out to Christian Katzenbach, at 
(katzenbach /at/ hiig.de), if you are interested. He's more than happy to hire 
someone from the STS community for this position. Application via the 
web form at the respective URLs. Deadline is NOVEMBER 2.

—

Postdoctoral researcher (m/f/d) for the project Shaping AI

Are you interested and engaged in the social and political debates on 
AI? Do you question why the trolley problem has been at the centre of 
these debates for so long and wonder whether AI is more than just deep 
learning? Are you interested and experienced in interdisciplinary 
research on digitisation and society? Then we look forward to receiving 
your application!
The Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) is 
looking for
a committed postdoc for the Shaping AI project

The successful candidate will work in the research project “Shaping 21st 
Century AI. Controversies and Closure in Media, Policy, and Research” 
(SHAPING AI) for 3 years, in an 80% capacity (TVL 13 or 14, depending on 
your qualification) in cooperation with the head of research programme 
“The evolving digital society” and in close coordination with the 
research directorate. Family & travel support, as well as support for 
the procurement of research materials are included. Starting date for 
the position is February 1, 2021.
This international joint project – with partners in the UK, France and 
Canada – empirically investigates the formation of “artificial 
intelligence” (AI) as a central socio-technical institution in 
contemporary societies. Over a ten-year period (2012-2021), we will 
conduct a comparative study of the issue career, framing and 
problematisation of AI in the four participating countries and in three 
domains: media, politics and  technical research. The HIIG will act as 
consortium lead.

Key Responsibilities

	• Joint responsibility and scope for development in the design of the 
research topic and the implementation of the research project  	• 
Coordination of the international research network together with project 
management, cooperation in communication and coordination with project 
partners
	• Development of comparative research designs for the comparison of 
empirical results at the consortium level 	• Supervision of sub-studies, 
executed by PhD candidate and graduate students (e.g. on policy debates 
and regulation of AI, on media debate and on technical research in Germany)
	• Publication of scientific articles in leading international journals, 
submission of conference papers and development of formats of knowledge 
transfer for a broader public, e.g. through events, blog posts, etc. 	• 
Support and expansion of existing scientific networks of the institute
	• Monitoring of funding lines and tenders, raising of third-party funds 
by participating in public tenders or by supporting the fundraising 
activities of the HIIG, especially in the field of AI and society

Requirements and Preferred Qualifications

	• Eligible candidates will have an outstanding university degree and a 
completed doctorate in social sciences, ideally related to the 
above-mentioned field   	• Experience in social-science based internet 
research, documented by relevant publications and lectures, ideally with 
a focus on one or more of the following fields: AI, 
regulation/governance/ethics, science communication, controversies about 
science and technology.
	• Empirical experience with document analysis, discourse analysis 
and/or critical data and algorithm research, including digital methods, 
are desirable
	• Great interest in interdisciplinary research, ideally already 
experience in interdisciplinary cooperation
	• Open-mindedness for international scientific cooperation, ideally 
substantiated by relevant experience abroad or within existing 
cooperations  	• Initial experience in project management and the 
coordination of distributed work processes as well as very good 
communication skills are desirable
	• Independence, creative will, sense of responsibility, motivation and 
teamwork
	• Fluent business English is mandatory, good command of German is desirable

Resources & Benefits

	• Independent research and creative opportunities to develop your own 
scientific profile, gain visibility and publish at a high level
	• Development and establishment of a new research project with leeway 
for your own ideas and agenda in cooperation with the research programme 
manager and in close coordination with the research directorate  	• 
International project context with a highly visible and relevant topic 
• Strong international and interdisciplinary networking and cooperation 
with renowned project partners
	• An attractive and family-friendly working environment with flexible 
working hours, flat hierarchies in an embodied alternative to the 
traditional science business
	• A highly motivated team that works very closely together and 
committed colleagues from various disciplines in a forward-looking 
institute in the heart of Berlin

Application Instructions

Do you recognize yourself in the profile described? Then we are looking 
forward to receiving your application along with a letter of motivation, 
curriculum vitae, and relevant certificates. Please include a 1-2 page 
research sketch with first ideas of how you imagine the empirical 
implementation of the above mentioned topics of the project “Shaping 
AI”. Please submit the documents using the online form below. The review 
of applications will start on November 2,  2020 and the call for 
applications will remain open until a suitable applicant is found. The 
careful screening and selection of our new team members is very 
important to us and we ask for your patience that we will conduct 
several interviews during the process. If you have any questions 
regarding the content of the job advertisement, please contact project 
lead Dr. Christian Katzenbach ((katzenbach /at/ hiig.de)).

https://www.hiig.de/en/postdoktorandin-m-w-d-fuer-das-projekt-shaping-ai/

——

PhD Candidate (m/f/d) for the project Shaping AI


Are you interested and engaged in the social and political debates on 
AI? Do you question why the trolley problem has been at the centre of 
these debates for so long and wonder whether AI is more than just deep 
learning? Are you interested and experienced in interdisciplinary 
research on digitisation and society? Then we look forward to receiving 
your application!
The Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) is 
looking for
a committed PhD candidate
for the Shaping AI project

The successful candidate will work in the research project “Shaping 21st 
Century AI. Controversies and Closure in Media, Policy, and Research” 
(SHAPING AI) for 3 years, in an 65% capacity (TVL 13). Family & travel 
support, as well as support for the procurement of research materials 
are included. Starting date for the position is February 1, 2021.
This international joint project – with partners in the UK, France and 
Canada – empirically investigates the formation of “artificial 
intelligence” (AI) as a central socio-technical institution in 
contemporary societies. Over a ten-year period (2012-2021), we will 
conduct a comparative study of the issue career, framing and 
problematisation of AI in the four participating countries and in three 
domains: media, politics and  technical research. The HIIG will act as 
consortium lead.

Key Responsibilities

	• Development of a dissertation topic within the scope of the project
	• Independent implementation of sub studies within the project (e.g. on 
policy debates and regulation of AI, on media debate and on technical 
research in Germany)
	• Contributions to design and implementation of the research project 
• Collaboration and communication with international project partners
	• Publication of scientific articles in relevant journals, submission 
of conference papers and development of formats for knowledge transfer 
to a wider public, e.g. through events, blog posts, etc. 	• Support or 
expansion of existing scientific networks of the institute

Requirements and Preferred Qualifications

	• Eligible candidates will have a very good university degree, ideally 
based in the social sciences with a topic related to the above-mentioned 
field   	• Initial experience in social-science based Internet research, 
ideally with a focus on one or more of the following fields: AI, 
regulation/governance/ethics, science communication, controversies about 
science and technology.
	• Initial empirical experience with document analysis, discourse 
analysis and/or critical data and algorithm research, including digital 
methods, is desirable
	• Great interest in interdisciplinary research, first experiences in 
interdisciplinary cooperation are desirable
	• Open-mindedness for international scientific cooperation, ideally 
substantiated by experience abroad
	• Independence, creative will, sense of responsibility, motivation and 
teamwork
	• Business fluency in German and very good knowledge of English are 
mandatory

Resources & Benefits

	• Independent research and creative opportunities to develop your own 
scientific profile, gain visibility and publish at a high level
	• Participation in the development and establishment of a new research 
project with room for own ideas in cooperation with the project 
management  	• International project context with a highly visible and 
relevant topic 	• Strong international and interdisciplinary networking 
and cooperation with renowned project partners
	• The opportunity to gain a doctorate, participation in the doctoral 
programme and the mentoring programme and other excellent exchange and 
networking opportunities
	• An attractive and family-friendly working environment with flexible 
working hours, flat hierarchies in an embodied alternative to the 
traditional science business
	• A highly motivated team that works very closely together and 
committed colleagues from various disciplines in a forward-looking 
institute in the heart of Berlin

Application Instructions

Do you recognise yourself in the profile described? Then we look forward 
to receiving your application with a letter of motivation, CV and 
relevant certificates. Please enclose a 1-2 page sketch with first ideas 
for a doctoral thesis topic within the project “Shaping AI”.  Please 
submit the documents using the online form below. The review of 
applications will start on November 2, 2020. The call for applications 
will remain online and thus open until a suitable applicant is found. 
The careful screening and selection of our new team members is very 
important to us and we ask for your understanding that we will conduct 
several selection interviews during the process. If you have any 
questions regarding the content of the position, please contact Dr. 
Christian Katzenbach ((christian.katzenbach /at/ hiig.de)).

https://www.hiig.de/en/doktorandin-m-w-d-fuer-das-projekt-shaping-ai/








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