Tech Ethics & Policy Rising Scholars Program

Applications are now closed for the 2024-25 cohort. Check back in Spring 2025 for the next round of applications.

The Tech Ethics & Policy (TEP) Rising Scholars program aims to bring early-career scholars who have a bachelor’s degree and an interest in issues at the intersection of ethics, policy, society, and technology into full-time research positions at Stanford University. The goal of the program is to serve as a bridge into long-term careers in ethics, technology, and policy. Successful outcomes for participants include going on to competitive graduate programs in related fields or into impactful jobs in government, the private sector, or civil society.

TEP Rising Scholars will be hired as full-time research associates who will work to support research, teaching, and administrative activities at the Ethics Center or one of the centers partnering on the TEP Rising Scholars Program—the Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) and Cyber Policy Center (CPC).

This program is made possible by Frank McCourt in association with Stanford’s partnership with the Project Liberty Institute.

Core Duties

Scholars will oversee and contribute to multiple research initiatives at the intersection of ethics, policy, and technology including:

  1. drafting reports, conducting literature reviews, and leading the preparation of research memos
  2. collecting and analyzing research data
  3. organizing and convening research workshops/symposia with other faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students
  4. leading and organizing public events at which research is discussed and presented

There are two positions available.

1. Ethics and Society Review (ESR) Research Associate

The ESR is designed to engage researchers in reflections on the ethical and societal consequences of their work. With the ESR, grant funding from participating institutions is not released until the researchers successfully complete an iterative ethics and society review process for their proposed project, with the guidance of an ESR panel of experts from a range of disciplines. This position involves contributing to both the administrative and the research aspects of the ESR. The Research Associate will assist with a range of essential administrative needs of the program, including (1) managing communications for grant reviews, (2) maintaining detailed records of each review conducted, and (3) updating the ESR website. Additionally, they will also help with several research tasks, including (1) reviewing relevant literature, (2) collecting, cleaning, and analyzing research data, (3) contributing to the publication of findings by drafting reports, presentations, and other public materials.

2. Embedded Ethics Research Associate

The Embedded Ethics program incorporates ethics modules into the core undergraduate computer science classes at Stanford. The program team includes postdoctoral fellows with training in philosophy or computer science and course assistants who work in partnership with computer science faculty. We are hiring an Embedded Ethics Research Associate to support the team with research, curricular, and administrative duties as follows: (1) help deploy and iterate on the Embedded Ethics survey tool for programmatic assessment, and cleanse/analyze collected data (2) conduct literature reviews on ethics learning and assessment (3) contribute to the publication of evaluation findings by drafting reports, presentations, and other public materials (4) support Embedded Ethics postdocs in ethics content creation for computer science courses, and (5) support the Embedded Ethics website maintenance. This position may also be asked to oversee and/or perform duties associated with scheduling, organizing, and operating events and/or conferences.

TEP Rising Scholars will also have the opportunity to participate in the intellectual community of Ethics in Society, HAI, and the CPC, including auditing courses, attending workshops and conferences, and being mentored by prominent scholars in their fields.

Education and Experience

Successful candidates will have a bachelor's degree in a field or combination of fields such as computer science, philosophy, data science, sociology, science & technology studies, political science, psychology, public policy, history, communication, and other related disciplines. Candidate should also have a passion for investigating issues at the intersection of ethics, technology, society, and policy.

Rising Scholars will begin the program in September 2024 and will be based on the Stanford campus but can be considered for an option of telecommuting (hybrid of working on-site and off-site), subject to operational need. Up to four positions are available.

How to Apply

We invite you to apply for this position via the Stanford careers site.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. To be considered, along with your online application, you must submit:

  1. Resume/CV
  2. 2-page cover letter describing how your academic, personal, and/or professional experiences have prepared you for this position and how the TEP Rising Scholars Program will contribute to your career development. Applicants are encouraged to include references to related courses, research, or other experiences that may have prepared them for the program. Please indicate which role (Embedded Ethics or the Ethics and Society Review) you are applying for in your cover letter.

Please email estinitiatives [at] stanford.edu (estinitiatives[at]stanford[dot]edu) with any questions.