University of Groningen

Job description

A 2-year postdoc position in computational social choice for AI Safety is available at the Bernoulli Institute for Mathematics, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence of the University of Groningen in The Netherlands.

The position is available within the research project "Aggregating Safety Prefer-ences for AI Systems: A Social Choice Approach." The project aims to develop formal methods for eliciting and aggregating safety specifications and risk thresh-olds for AI systems, with a particular focus on mechanisms that provide axiomatic guarantees, are algorithmically tractable, and show good performance in computa-tional experiments. The project's research outcomes are expected to contribute to the design of safeguarded AI systems that reflect diverse stakeholder prefer-ences. This project is funded by the Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) as part of their Safeguarded AI program that aims to develop the safety standards needed for transformational AI. The successful candidate would become an ARIA R&D creator.

Responsibilities:

• Conduct foundational research on aggregation mechanisms, including: for-mal modeling and axiomatic analysis, computational complexity and algo-rithmic properties, and experimental evaluation in testbeds.
• Collaborate actively with co-Creators (maybe add university names here?) and engage in project-related activities.
• Disseminate research findings at leading international conferences and journals.

Knowledge of the Dutch language is not required.

Organisation

Since its foundation in 1614, the University of Groningen has enjoyed an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative centre of higher education offering high-quality teaching and research. Balanced study and career paths in a wide variety of disciplines encourage currently more than 34,000 students and researchers to develop their own individual talents. Belonging to the best research universities in Europe and the top 100 universities in the world, the University of Groningen is truly an international place of knowledge.

Within the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE), the Bernoulli Institute conducts research combining theoretical as well as practical aspects of three disciplines, namely Mathematics, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. The position is embedded in the Multi-Agent Systems group of the department of Artificial Intelligence of the Bernoulli Institute.

Qualifications

• PhD in Computer Science, Economics, Mathematics, or a closely related dis-cipline.
• Strong background in computational social choice, algorithmic game theory, or AI safety.
• Excellent research track record with publications in relevant peer-reviewed conferences or journals.
• Ability to work collaboratively within an interdisciplinary and international team.

Organisation

Conditions of employment

The University of Groningen offers, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities:

• A salary from a minimum of € 4,060 (salary scale 10.4) gross per month for a full-time position depending of relevant experience and training.
• a full-time position (1.0 FTE)
• a holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income
• 8.3% end-of-the-year allowance.
• A limited position for a period of 2 years.

The starting date is flexible, but the successful candidate can ideally start 1 September 2025

Application

Application should include:

• CV.
• Research statement.
• Names and contacts of two references.

You may apply for this position until 15 June 11:59pm / before 16 June 2025 Dutch local time (CEST) by means of the application form (click on "Apply" below on the advertisement on the university website).

The University of Groningen strives to be a university in which students and staff are respected and feel at home, regardless of differences in background, experiences, perspectives, and identities. We believe that working on our core values of inclusion and equality are a joint responsibility and we are constructively working on creating a socially safe environment. Diversity among students and staff members enriches academic debate and contributes to the quality of our teaching and research. We therefore invite applicants from underrepresented groups in particular to apply. For more information, see also our diversity policy webpage: https://www.rug.nl/(...)rsity-and-inclusion/

Our selection procedure follows the guidelines of the Recruitment code (NVP): https://www.nvp-hrnetwerk.nl/nl/sollicitatiecode and European Commission's European Code of Conduct for recruitment of researchers: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/charter/code

Unsolicited marketing is not appreciated.

Information

For information you can contact:

• Davide Grossi (information about the position), d.grossi@rug.nl

Please do not use the e-mail address(es) above for applications.

Additional information

• For more information about the project and other vacancies