School: Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Department/Area: Philosophy, Computer Science, Ethics, Artificial Intelligence, AI Safety & Governance
Position Description
Embedded EthiCS Postdoctoral Fellowship 2027-2028
The Harvard Program for Embedded EthiCS invites applications for one or more fellowships based in the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Ethics (ELSCE.) The initial appointment is for one year, from July 1, 2027 through June 30, 2028, with the possibility of annual renewal for up to two additional years, contingent upon satisfactory performance, continued funding, program needs, and required approvals. The postdoctoral fellows will be expected to spend 50% of their time working on Embedded EthiCS projects (including teaching, mentoring, and engagement activities) and 50% of their time on their own independent research (including dissemination activities).
Harvard’s Embedded EthiCS program is a collaborative, multidisciplinary pedagogical program that embeds the teaching of ethics directly into the computer science curriculum by creating and teaching short ethics modules within courses across the CS curriculum. For details about this exciting program, please see our website. Our previous Postdoctoral Fellows have all moved on to continuing academic positions (you can see whether they landed through our placement page).
The Postdoctoral Fellows will have responsibility for:
- teaching short ethics modules for the program,
- participating in a Teaching Lab that develops ethics modules,
- coaching less experienced Fellows or Teaching Assistants,
- advising an undergraduate senior thesis related to the fellows’ areas of expertise,
- participating in engagement activities with ELSCE, other programs around Harvard and the greater Boston area, and
- serving as liaison with other groups developing computing ethics education programs around the globe.
In addition, Fellows may be invited to teach a Harvard class during the course of their appointment. The Fellows are supervised by the Program Director for Embedded EthiCS, and although they will not officially be members of the Department of Philosophy, they will have a faculty research advisor in the Department and are encouraged to participate in Department activities. The fellows are also encouraged to participate in the many efforts at Harvard to address the social impact of technology through our program’s ties with the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, the Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights, and the Center for Human-driven AI Research and Methods (CHARM), among others.
First and foremost–regardless of research interests or past training–we seek applicants who are enthusiastic about working with computer scientists to develop ethics modules for their courses and who are passionate about building a more ethical and responsible computing ecosystem. They need not have extensive computer science experience themselves, but they should be eager to engage with computer science experts, even if that requires learning and engaging with technical material in that field. Through our program’s partnership with Northeastern’s Ethics Institute, new Fellows without a background in philosophy of computing who are able to relocate to Boston prior to the start date may have the opportunity to participate in NU’s renowned Summer Training Program to Expand the Al and Data Ethics Research Community (subject to acceptance by and availability in Northeastern’s program ). Similarly, candidates with a dual background in both philosophy and computing are especially encouraged to apply. They must demonstrate competence to teach ethics (or other normative subfields like political theory, social epistemology, etc.), but ethics doesn’t need to be an area of research specialization. Successful candidates will have significant teaching experience, ideally including experience with cross-disciplinary research or teaching, and enthusiasm about developing ethics pedagogy.
Basic Qualifications
Applicants must have completed all the requirements for a doctorate in Philosophy or related discipline by June 30, 2027. The term of the fellowship is July 1, 2027-June 30, 2028, with the possibility of renewal (see above).
Additional Qualifications
Special Instructions
Please submit the following materials by December 31, 2026.
- Cover letter stating your background and interest in joining the Embedded EthiCS program
- CV
- Teaching statement
- Teaching portfolio (which should include a teaching chart listing courses taught with dates; at least one representative syllabus; example teaching evaluations, ideally accompanied by a chart or table summarizing the quantitative data on main questions; and list of undergraduates for whom you have been a primary advisor, if applicable)
- Research statement
- Recent writing sample (no more than 10,000 words)
- Names and contact information of three to five referees, who will be asked by a system-generated email to upload a letter of recommendation once the candidate’s application has been submitted. Three letters of recommendation are required, and the application is considered complete only when at least three letters have been received. Please notify your referees to expect a request for their letter of recommendation.
Contact Information
If you have questions about the Embedded EthiCS program or the application process, please contact the Program Director, Matthew Kopec (mkopec@fas.harvard.edu).
Contact Email: mkopec@fas.harvard.edu
Salary Range: $84,000
Minimum Number of References Required: 3
Maximum Number of References Allowed: 5
Keywords: Philosophy, Computer Science, Ethics, Artificial Intelligence, AI Safety & Governance