Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Ethics of Embodied AI

About the position

Position as Postdoctoral Research Fellow available at Department of Informatics, University of Oslo.

Latest start date 04.01.2027 (it is possible to start earlier).

The appointment is for a period of three years starting at the latest 4 January 2027. There might be a possibility to extend the appointment up to one extra year depending on the qualifications of the recruited candidate and the department’s need for assistance. This work is carried out along the contract period and is devoted to career promoting work, usually in the form of teaching, supervision duties, and/or research assistance.

No one can be appointed for more than one Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Oslo.

The place of work is Department of Informatics at Blindern, Oslo.

Postdoctoral fellows who are appointed for a period of four years are expected to acquire basic pedagogical competency in the course of their fellowship period within the duty component of 25 %.

Project description

This position is part of The Norwegian Centre for Embodied AI (NCEI, https://www.ntnu.edu/web/ncei), one of Norway’s six national AI centres. NCEI brings together leading robotics and AI groups with key partners from across Norway with international collaborators to study how intelligence emerges from the interaction between body, computation, and environment, in various types of flying, ground-based, and aquatic robots. Our mission is to chart a generalisable path for physical AI and transform how robot morphology and autonomy are co-designed, enabling new generations of systems tailored to their operational environments and missions. You will join an international community with world-class facilities and strong collaborations across Norwegian universities, research institutes, industry, public agencies, and leading global institutions.

This postdoc position will focus on Ethics in Embodied AI. Embodied AI systems introduce unique ethical concerns due to their physical presence and ability to interact with the world. As these systems advance, we have a responsibility to address issues ranging from safety and security to social impacts and environmental sustainability.

More specifically, the postdoc will work on the following topics, in collaboration with the rest of the team:

• Identify and analyze key ethical issues raised by Embodied AI across various application domains, including safety, reliability, accountability for autonomous actions, and privacy
• Investigate social and environmental impacts, such as potential job displacement, social dependency, and the environmental sustainability of robot production and operation
• Develop security and regulatory insights, addressing risks like hacking and weaponization, while exploring how legal frameworks must evolve to establish liability
• Develop the NCEI Ethics Framework, creating an "Ethics toolbox" with core statements and analytical tools to guide future development
• Promote transparency and stakeholder engagement, ensuring diverse voices are heard in the design and deployment of Embodied AI
• Collaborate closely with the rest of the NCEI centre contributing to a successful integration of ethics research in the centre
• Foster global collaboration to address cross-border ethical and regulatory challenges
• Document results, publish in top venues, and contribute to the center's ethical guidelines

The main purpose of a postdoctoral fellowship is to provide the candidates with enhanced skills to pursue a scientific top position within or beyond academia. To promote a strategic career path, all postdoctoral research fellows are required to submit a professional development plan no later than one month after commencement of the postdoctoral period.

What skills are important in this role?

The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences has a strategic ambition to be among Europe’s leading communities for research, education and innovation. Candidates for these fellowships will be selected in accordance with this, and expected to be in the upper segment of their class with respect to academic credentials.

Required qualifications:

• Applicants must hold a doctoral degree in Ethics, Philosophy, STS, Law, Robotics, Computer Science, or AI, and demonstrate a strong interdisciplinary profile through either a technical background with documented research into ethical or regulatory aspects, or a background in the humanities or social sciences with experience in robotics-related research
• The applicant is required to document that the degree corresponds to the profile of the post
• The doctoral dissertation must have been submitted for evaluation before the application deadline, and have been approved before starting to work
• Strong analytical skills and understanding of the intersection between technology and society
• The candidate's research proposal must be closely connected to the call and the research of NCEI
• Excellent skills in written and oral English
• Personal suitability and motivation for the position

Desired qualifications:

• PhD thesis or later research relevant to the ethical, legal, or social aspects of AI and robotics
• Experience with interdisciplinary research, bridging the gap between technical development and ethical analysis
• Knowledge of international regulatory frameworks and standards for AI and robotics
• Previous experience with publishing papers at leading conferences or journals within AI and robot ethics or relevant social sciences

All candidates and projects will have to undergo a check versus national export, sanctions and security regulations. Candidates may be excluded based on these checks. Primary checkpoints are the Export Control regulation, the Sanctions regulation, and the national security regulation.

What are we looking for in you?

Personal skills:

• Strong ability to work purposefully, systematically, and independently
• Excellent collaboration skills and a strong interest in working in a multidisciplinary team
• Ability to communicate complex ethical issues to both technical experts and the general public

Employment in the position is based on a comprehensive assessment of all qualification requirements applicable to the position, including personal skills.

We can offer you

• Exciting and meaningful tasks in an organization with an important societal mission, contributing to knowledge development, education, and enlightenment that promote sustainable, fair, and knowledge-based societal development
• Committed colleagues in a good working environment
• Good welfare schemes.
• Opportunity of up to 1.5 hours a week of exercise during working hours.  
• A workplace with good development and career opportunities
• Postdoctoral development programmes.
• Membership in the Statens Pensjonskasse, which is one of Norway's best pension schemes with beneficial mortgages and good insurance schemes
• Salary in position as Postdoctoral Fellow, position code 1352 in salary range NOK 595 000 - 690 000, depending on competence and experience. From the salary, 2 percent is deducted in statutory contributions to the State Pension Fund

We need different perspectives in our work

UiO is an open and internationally oriented comprehensive university that strives to be an inclusive and diverse workplace and academic environment. You can read more about UiO’s work on equality, inclusion, and diversity at uio.no.

We fulfill our mission most effectively when we draw upon our variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives. We are looking for great colleagues, could you be the next one?

We will do our best to accommodate your needs. Relevant adjustments may include modifications to working hours, task adaptations, digital, technical, or physical adjustments, or other practical measures.

If you have an immigrant background, a disability, or CV gaps (Norwegian), we encourage you to indicate this in the job application portal. We always invite at least one qualified candidate from each group for an interview. In this context, disability is defined as an applicant who identifies as having a disability that requires workplace or employment-related accommodations. For more details about the requirements, please refer to the Employer portal (Norwegian).

The selections made in the job application portal are used for anonymized statistics that all state employers include in their annual reports. More information about gender equality initiatives at UiO can be found here. 

We hope you will apply for the position with us.

How to apply

The application must include (please attach documents in this order):

1.    Cover letter describing the applicant’s qualifications and motivation for the position
2.    Curriculum Vitae (CV) summarizing education, positions, pedagogical experience, administrative experience, a complete list of   publications and other qualifying activity 
3.    Names and contact details of 2-3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and telephone number)
4.    Research proposal relevant to the position stating research questions and methodological approaches as well as a detailed and feasible progress plan (approximately 2-3 pages, see the template for research outline). Please also include a description of how ethical issues can be addressed when benchmarking robots’ performance: how can ethical issues be included, and what specific metrics are relevant to include?
5.    Copies of educational certificates, academic transcript of records 
6.    A complete list of publications and up to 5 academic works (pdf files attached to the application or web links to open-access of full version of published papers) that the applicant wishes to be considered by the evaluation committee

Application with attachments must be submitted via our recruitment system Jobbnorge, click "Apply for this job".

When applying for the position, we ask you to retrieve your education results from Vitnemålsportalen.no. If your education results are not available through Vitnemålsportalen, we ask you to upload copies of your transcripts or grades. Please note that all documentation must be in English or a Scandinavian language.

General information

The best qualified candidates will be invited for interviews.

Please see the guidelines and regulations for appointments to Postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Oslo.

If an applicant has applied for and been granted funding for a fulltime research stay abroad while being employed as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, the employment will be prolonged with the equivalent time as the research stay, but for no longer than of twelve months ( thus extending the employment to a maximum of four years).

Applicant lists can be published in accordance with Norwegian Freedom of Information Act § 25. When you apply for a position with us, your name will appear on the public applicant list. It is possible to request to be excluded from this list. You must justify why you want an exemption from publication and we will then decide whether we can grant your request. If we can't, you will hear from us.

The University of Oslo has an agreement for all employees, aiming to secure rights to research results a.o.