Application Process for General Ethics and Interdisciplinary Ethics Fellowships

For 2023-24, the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society at Stanford seeks to appoint up to four postdoctoral fellows across the two programs described below. Selected fellows will be designated as General Ethics Fellows or Interdisciplinary Ethics Fellows. The two types of fellows have some distinct training opportunities and responsibilities, but they form a common community and participate together in the Center’s intellectual life. All applicants will be considered for both types of fellowships and do not need to tailor their application for one or the other type of fellowship.

Applicants for these positions must have normative training and hold a Ph.D. in Philosophy or Political Science. Scholars with a Ph.D. in Law will also be considered so long as their work focuses on ethical dimensions of public policy or law.

General Ethics Fellowship

For 2023-24, we are especially interested in candidates with research interests in the normative questions focused on the environment, feminism and gender, global justice, race, and inequality. But we welcome all applicants from philosophy and political science with strong normative interests. General Ethics Fellows participate in the intellectual life of the Center for Ethics in Society (attend weekly workshops; events; professional training opportunities), teach one class per year, interact with undergraduates in the Ethics in Society Program, and contribute to an interdisciplinary ethics community across the campus.

Interdisciplinary Ethics Fellowship

This program is rooted in the commitment of the Center for Ethics in Society to bringing ethical reflection to bear on pressing social problems. Addressing many of these social problems involves knowledge of the work of the social sciences, law, engineering, and the life sciences. The premise of this program is that the normative scholarship of our fellows will be enhanced by engagement with empirically-oriented scholars. To that end, each fellow in the program will be matched with a partner research center at Stanford that is dedicated to interdisciplinary research. For 2023-24, we are especially interested in candidates with research interests in artificial intelligence and biomedical ethics, but all applicants whose work may intersect with empirically-oriented scholarship will be considered. Applicants need not name a possible partner center on campus or tailor their materials for this type of fellowship. The Interdisciplinary Ethics Fellows and partner centers will be selected based on the natural match between their work. Fellows will participate in the regular intellectual life of the partner center and the Center for Ethics in Society (e.g., attend weekly workshops; events; professional training opportunities), teach one class per year, interact with undergraduates in the Ethics in Society Program, and contribute to an interdisciplinary ethics community across the campus.

For information about the application process for the Embedded Ethics Fellowship, click here.

Appointment Requirements and Application Details

Candidates for both types of fellowships must have normative training and hold a Ph.D. in Philosophy or Political Science. Scholars with a Ph.D. in Law will also be considered so long as their work focuses on ethical dimensions of public policy or law.  Applicants must complete all requirements for their Ph.D. no later than June 30, 2023. Candidates must also be no more than three years from the awarding of their degree at the start of the fellowship (i.e., September 2020). The term of the fellowship is September 1, 2023 - August 31, 2024 and is renewable for a second year.

Applicants should submit a cover letter, CV, a writing sample (no more than 25 pages double-spaced), three letters of recommendation, a one-page research statement (single spaced), and a list of classes that they have taught and/or are prepared to teach.

Stanford University is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to increasing the diversity of its scholarly community. We welcome applications from women and members of minority groups, as well as others who would bring additional dimensions to the university's research and teaching missions. Salary is competitive.

Applications are due by December 12, 2022. 

Click here to apply for these fellowship opportunities

For questions not answered on the FAQ page, please email ethics_submissions [at] stanford.edu.