The Cognitive Science & Artificial Intelligence Department at Tilburg University together with the Netherlands Defence Academy invites applications for one fully-funded PhD position in the interdisciplinary area of military artificial intelligence and its ethical, legal, and societal aspects. This position is embedded within the NWO-funded project “ELSA Lab Defence” in collaboration with several universities and organizations in the Netherlands. The project consortium brings together a number of pioneering experts in the field and aims to develop and reflect on AI solutions to how to deal with new challenges in both peacekeeping and warfare to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and security of the Dutch armed forces.

The PhD candidate will work on a project developing explainable algorithms for analyzing and modelling relevant data while at the same time reflecting on the potential implementation of the algorithms from an ethical, legal and societal perspective. The project will be led by Dr. Roy Lindelauf (Netherlands Defence Academy), Dr. Tim Sweijs (The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies & the War Studies Research Centre, Netherlands Defence Academy), and Dr. Marie Postma (Cognitive Science & Artificial Intelligence Department at Tilburg University).
The project will combine ideas, methods and data from military science, artificial intelligence, data science, cognitive science, and philosophy. The intended focus of the project is cognitive warfare (pattern identification and network analysis in publicly available datasets) but there is a possibility to tailor the research to the expertise of the PhD candidate.

• Master’s degree in computer science or artificial intelligence, or a related field. If you expect to obtain your degree before August 2023, you are also eligible.
• Knowledge of data science in general as well as practical experience with conducting data science analyses with good programming skills.
• Excellent knowledge of English and good academic writing skills.

Fixed-term contract: 4 years.

• A full-time position.
• The selected candidate will start with a contract for one year. Upon a positive outcome of the first-year evaluation, the candidate will be offered an employment contract for the remaining three years.
• A minimum gross salary of € 2.541,- per month up to a maximum of € 3.247,- in the fourth year.
• A holiday allowance of 8% and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3% (annually).
• Researchers from outside the Netherlands may qualify for a tax-free allowance equal to 30% of their taxable salary (the 30% tax regulation). The University will apply for such an allowance on their behalf.
• Assistance in finding accommodation (for foreign employees).
• Benefits such as an options model for terms and conditions of employment and reimbursement of moving expenses, also including excellent technical infrastructure, savings schemes and excellent sport facilities. 

The collective labor agreement of the Dutch Universities applies.

Tilburg University

The School and the department
The Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence department (https://csai.nl/)  at Tilburg University is part of the Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences. The department emphasizes innovative research spanning a wide array of fields including computational linguistics and language technology, data-science, human-robot interaction, virtual reality and serious games. CSAI is a member of the Benelux Association for Artificial Intelligence, participates in the Special Interest Group for AI (SIG AI), and also participates in the Confederation of Laboratories for Artificial Intelligence Research in Europe (CLAIRE). Tilburg University and the CSAI department offer a vibrant international environment, with current CSAI staff originating from more than 10 countries.

The Netherlands Defence Academy (NLDA) is a military academy that combines the institutes for general officer training for all branches of the armed forces at all levels. NLDA also conducts scientific research for knowledge development, innovation, and policy support. 

Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences