ZHAW

Transform AI for Good: Your Work Will Prevent AI Discrimination

School:

School of Engineering

Starting date:

1.5.2025, or by agreement. The position is fully funded for three years with option of a fourth year. The salary is based on the guidelines of the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Your role

This position is embedded in an interdisciplinary research project connecting Computer Science and Law (ZHAW and University of Zurich UZH) where we are developing new approaches for aligning the technical implementation of AI systems with legal requirements on non-discrimination. Your research will be focused on cutting-edge computer science and machine learning challenges around "Minimally discriminating systems": How to make sure that a prediction-based decision system is not unnecessarily discriminatory? This is both a legal and an ethical requirement for AI systems in critical application areas, but technical solution approaches are still rare. Your work will thus be highly relevant for responsible AI development aligned with societal values.

The research will be based on prior work on bridging the gap between ethical goals and technical implementation, developed in our research group on Algorithmic Fairness at ZHAW (

see https://fair-ai.ch/

).

In addition to the scientific research, the project will include an important practical component, involving collaboration with companies and public organizations, as well as collaboration with the Faculty of Law of the University of Zurich. Interest and ability in working in such an environment is mandatory.

The student will be supervised by Prof. Christoph Heitz (ZHAW) and Prof. Anikó Hannák (UZH). The academic degree will be awarded from University of Zurich (Department of Informatics), in the framework of a joint PhD program of ZHAW and the University of Zurich.

Your profile

• A Master's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, or a related field.
• Strong analytical/mathematical skills, in particular in statistics and data analysis
• Very good knowledge and experience in statistical and machine learning methods for modeling, prediction, and data-based inference, and associated programming skills
• Enthusiasm for interdisciplinary research at the intersection of law and computer science
• strong interest in the social aspects of predictive modeling, in particular social justice, fairness, and non-discrimination
• Excellent communication skills in English. Fluency in German would be a strong additional asset

• Cover letter indicating the position you are applying to, your motivation, and expectations from this research
• Detailed CV, including publications
• One page summary of your MSc degree
• Contact information for two references

This is what we stand for

Zurich University of Applied Sciences ZHAW is one of Switzerland's largest multidisciplinary universities of applied sciences, with over 14'000 students and 3'400 faculty and staff.

ZHAW is committed to gender-mixed and diverse teams in order to promote equality, diversity and innovation.

As one of the leading Engineering Faculties in Switzerland, the ZHAW

School of Engineering

emphasises topics which will be relevant in the future. Our 14 institutes and centres guarantee superior-quality education, research and development with an emphasis on the areas of energy, mobility, information and health.

The student will be a member of the

Institute for Data Analysis and Process Design (IDP)

. The IDP is one of the leading Swiss institutes in Applied Data Science. She/he will also be part of the PhD program of the Department of Informatics at University of Zurich (UZH), in the Social Computing Group of Prof. Anikó Hannák, and the Digital Society Initiative of the University of Zurich, a Zurich-based organization and meeting place for researchers across all disciplines who are interested in the challenges of digital societies. This unique setting creates ample opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration and exchange.

What you can expect

We offer working conditions and terms of employment commensurate with higher education institutions and actively promote personal development for staff in leadership and non-leadership positions. A detailed description of advantages and benefits can be found at

Working at the ZHAW

. The main points are listed below: