“Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies” (ESDiT; www.esdit.nl) is an international research programme of seven academic institutions in the Netherlands. It has a combined budget of € 27 million, and is funded by the Ministry for Education, Culture and Science and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) in the Gravitation funding scheme for excellent research, and by matching funds from the participating institutions. The duration is from January 2020 to December 2029. It currently has over 100 researchers involved. The programme has the aim of achieving breakthrough research in at the intersection of ethics, philosophy and technology / engineering and to position its consortium at the top of its field internationally. The consortium, counting over fifty researcher, consists of internationally well-known ethicists, philosophers, engineers and social scientists. The programme includes four research lines, “Nature, life and human intervention”, “The future of a free and fair society”, “The human condition” and “Synthesis: Ethics of Technology, Practical Philosophy, and Modern Technology-Driven Societies”.

You are responsible for the day to day management of the research programme. You do this in consultation with the programme leader, prof. dr. Philip Brey and vice leader, prof. dr. Sabine Roeser. You implement policies outlined by the Daily Board (which, besides yourself, includes the programme leader, the vice programme leader, a communication officer and a management assistant) and the Management Board (the central strategic board, consisting of nine professors and yourself). Tasks include the following:

• Overall coordination of the programme’s research activities: providing adequate coordination and support for the staffing and functioning of research lines and interactions between them, including coordination of major research meetings, workshops and events.
• Administrative & financial management, including financial planning (together with the financial controller appointed for the programme), the collection and organization of up-to-date information and coordination and the writing of (annual) reports and other programme texts.
• Providing policy advice to the programme leader and Management Board, coordinating and preparing the meetings of the Management Board.
• Implementing strategic decisions and policies of the Management Board and ensuring these are followed. For instance on hiring, open access publishing, diversity, co-authorship, etc.
• Managing external communications with the programme’s funders (NWO), the Scientific Advisory Board, the Consortium Council, participating institutions and external partners.
• The tasks above are carried in collaboration with relevant offices and officers at UT and the other participating universities, including the financial controller, HR departments, knowledge utilisation officers and others.

• relevant (project) management or coordination experience, preferably in an academic context
• excellent social and organizational skills, professional disposition, responsible, accurate and independent
• at least a master’s degree. In philosophy, management, engineering, or any other relevant field
• an interest in ethical, social and philosophical issues relating to technology and engineering
• strong problem-solving abilities and the ability to relate to and bring together different ideas and viewpoints
• demonstrated enthusiasm for helping others and a positive attitude in interacting with researchers in the programme
• ability to communicate effectively in English. An ability to communicate in Dutch, or willingness to learn, is a plus

• we offer a part-time position (0.6-0.8 fte) for an initial one year period with the possibility to extend for the project period at least for three years
• starting fulltime salary between € 4.332 to € 5.929 gross per month based on your experience (scale 11)
• we also offer excellent employment benefits, including an 8.3% end-of-year bonus and 8% holiday pay on top of the annual income
• Preferred starting date is September 1st, 2024.

This position will be embedded within the philosophy section of the University of Twente. For further information, visit https://www.utwente.nl/en/bms/wijsb.

More information about the ESDiT programme can be requested from Seeta Autar at b.autar@utwente.nl. See also www.esdit.nl. For questions about the vacancy, please contact Prof. dr. Philip Brey, programme leader (p.a.e.brey@utwente.nl ) or dr. Julia Hermann (j.s.hermann@utwente.nl ), management board member.

Your application, including curriculum vitae, can be uploaded until June, 7th.

Interviews will be held on June, 17th and 24th, 2024.