Postdoc in (Socio)legal studies of technology/ Human-Computer Interaction

The aim of our project is to identify conflicts between specific parts of newly proposed EU legislation (Data Act) and data-driven practices in the creative industry in Sweden. Your tasks will be: a) interpretation of legal documents, b) to conduct workshops with creative industry stakeholders, c) qualitative analysis of workshop data. Based on the outcome of these tasks, you will contribute to the academic, legal and societal debates on which actors should be allowed to access and use data in data-driven creative industry. Furthermore, you are expected to contribute in a limited extent and according to your qualifications to the teaching in our media technology programs at KTH.   

The main challenge of the project emerges from its radical interdisciplinarity, which bridges legal studies with human-computer interaction (HCI). HCI methods of participatory and speculative workshops will be instrumental (1.) to inform policy making of the complex and messy local realities, and (2.) to facilitate encounters between local stakeholders and legal frameworks. In this encounter between fields, you will be supported by being located in an HCI-oriented environment at KTH (supervisor: Andre Holzapfel ) 70% of the time, and at the Faculty of Law at Uppsala University (supervisor: Katja de Vries ) for the remainder of the time. This local arrangement is negociable.

The postdoc position is part of the national research program the Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program on Humanities and Society (WASP-HS). The aim of WASP-HS is to promote new interdisciplinary knowledge in the humanities and social sciences on the topic of artificial intelligence and autonomous systems and their impact on human and social development. The research program enables cutting-edge research, expertise and capacity building in the humanities and social sciences. In total, the Wallenberg Foundations are investing up to SEK 660 million in the WASP-HS research program.
For more information about the research and other activities conducted within WASP-HS, please visit the website .

• A position at a leading technical university that generates knowledge and skills for a sustainable future
• Engaged and ambitious colleagues along with a creative, international and dynamic working environment
• Collaboration with a strong interdisciplinary team with HCI expertise at KTH
• Work with leading experts in legal studies of technology in Uppsala
• Work in Stockholm, in close proximity to nature
• Help to relocate and be settled in Sweden and at KTH

Read more about what it is like to work at KTH

This position is open to scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds, preferably with experience in doing interdisciplinary research. This includes legal or sociolegal researchers with a focus on information technology, preferably with experience in doing qualitative research (interviews, stake holder workshops, focus groups), as well as researchers in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Science and Technology Studies (STS), empirically-informed Philosophy of Technology or Critical Data Studies, who possess basic legal knowledge and are eager to combine legal analysis and qualitative research.

Requirements

• A doctoral degree or an equivalent foreign degree, This eligibility requirement must be met no later than the time the employment decision is made.
• Research experience in at least one of the following two:
  • Interpreting and analyzing legal documents and/or
  • Empirical qualitative methods (ideally stakeholder workshops).
• Interest in doing interdisciplinary humanities/social science research in relation to information technology.
• As a person, you should have verbal communication skills to interact with various stakeholders.
• Ability to collaborate.
• Awareness of diversity and equal opportunity issues, with a specific focus on gender equality.

Preferred Qualifications

• A doctoral degree or an equivalent foreign degree, obtained within the last three years prior to the application deadline.
• Experience in using qualitative analysis methods (e.g. thematic analysis).
• Experience in conducting interdisciplinary research.
• Autonomy and independence in conducting research tasks.
• Structured approach to research.
• Creativity in combining and applying methods.
• Teaching abilities.
• Some knowledge of Swedish.

Great emphasis will be placed on personal competency.

You will find contact information to trade union representatives at KTH's webbpage .

Log into KTH's recruitment system in order to apply to this position. You are the main responsible to ensure that your application is complete according to the ad.

• CV including relevant professional experience and knowledge.
• Copy of diplomas and grades from your previous university studies. Translations into English or Swedish if the original documents have not been issued in any of these languages.
• Brief account of why you want to conduct research, your academic interests and how they relate to your previous studies and future goals. Max two pages long.
• A selected example of your academic writing in English language.

Your complete application must be received at KTH no later than the last day of application, midnight CET/CEST (Central European Time/Central European Summer Time).

The position offered is for, at the most, two years.

A position as a postdoctoral fellow is a time-limited qualified appointment focusing mainly on research, intended as a first career step after a dissertation.

Striving towards gender equality, diversity and equal conditions is both a question of quality for KTH and a given part of our values.

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Disclaimer: In case of a discrepancy between the Swedish original and the English translation of the job announcement, the Swedish version takes precedence.