PhD Studentship in Algorithmic Fairness and Migration Law

The Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen, is seeking applications for a position as PhD. The position is part of the research project “Algorithmic Fairness Asylum-Seekers and Refugees (AFAR)” and is available from 1 January 2023, for a duration of 36 months. Start date is negotiable.

About the AFAR project

‘AFAR’ ‘Algorithmic Fairness for Asylum Seekers and Refugees’ investigates the use of new technologies – and particularly, forms of artificial intelligence (AI) – in migration and asylum governance. This includes automation of processes previously done by humans, using simple closed-rule algorithms, as well as more complex machine learning and AI systems. These new technologies are set to radically transform governance, but also risk human rights violations and unfairness, especially in areas such as migration and asylum where the ‘data subjects’ are already disempowered and disenfranchised. This calls for sustained research on what fairness means as a concept, how it can be institutionalized, and how new methods related to data analysis and machine learning can be leveraged in order to support fairness in asylum and migration governance.

The PhD will define his or her own research idea and project within the AFAR project. The PhD will be responsible for securing a strong link to migration law within the project and may engage with formal-legal, law-data science, socio-legal approaches, and/or legal philosophical analysis. The PhD project should focus on one or more key areas where these new technologies are being used, (1) access to asylum, (2) refugee status determination or asylum processing, (3) refugee-focused family reunification. We further welcome projects that investigate how AI technologies can support fairness in this empirical domain more broadly.

AFAR is a collaborative project drawing from expertise in law, data science, refugee studies, and political science. A relevant educational background and/or experience in one of these fields is necessary, experience in more than one is desirable. As part of an interdisciplinary team, the PhD is expected to work in close collaboration within research partners based at the University of Oxford, Hertie School of Governance, European University Institute, and the University of Zagreb. The PhD employed will form part of a larger research team based at the University of Copenhagen that incorporates legal and data science expertise as part of the https://asylumdata.ku.dk/ and the forthcoming Center of Excellence on Global Mobility Law .

The candidate will be enrolled and based at the Faculty of Law and expected to teach relevant courses at LAW for at least one semester. 

Closing date for applications

The closing date for applications is 29 September 2022, 23:59 GMT +1. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered. Likewise incomplete applications (i.e. without all required documents) will be rejected.

Read the full job description and apply at the university homepage