The research group Theory and Logic, Institute of Logic and Computation of TU Wien (the Vienna University of Technology) is looking for an exceptionally talented and motivated student for a PhD position.

The 4-year position (30 hrs/week) is embedded in the AXAIS project (“Acquiring and explaining norms for AI systems”) funded by the Vienna Science and Technology Fund. This interdisciplinary project, involving TU Wien (PI: Agata Ciabattoni), the University of Maryland (PI: John Horty), and the AIT – Austrian Institute of Technology (PI: Cristinel Mateis), will start December 2024.

*The Project.*

The candidate will be working as a member of the AXAIS project under the supervision of A. Ciabattoni.

The project’s general aim is to address a central challenge in Machine Ethics:

the acquisition and representation of normative information that allows for machine implementation.

The project will integrate methodologies from Logic, Legal Reasoning and Natural Language Processing, to create a comprehensive framework capable of translating extensive norm codes into symbolic representations with clear meaning. The envisioned framework will promote explicable reasoning, and will enable the acquisition of complex normative information from simple decisions, akin to the practice of case-based reasoning in legal contexts.

*The position.*

The PhD position focuses on advancing and applying logical and computational methods for legal reasoning.

*Job requirements.*

The candidate should have familiarity with formal logic, ideally modal/deontic/epistemic/philosophical logics, affinity with legal reasoning, and programming skills (e.g., Answer Set Programming). Interest in sub-symbolic AI is also desirable.

The candidate should have a degree in computer science, logic, AI, philosophy or related subjects. The working language will be English.

We welcome candidates with a variety of backgrounds and perspectives. We especially encourage candidates from underrepresented groups.

*Application.*

The application should contain the following documents:

1. a letter of motivation explaining your interest in the position and your qualifications for it,
2. your curriculum vitae
3. abstract in English of the applicant’s master’s thesis
4. a complete list of completed studies and transcripts of all grades
5. a writing sample (such as master thesis, seminar paper), and
6. the contact details of at least two referees, who can be contacted for a letter of reference.

If you are interested, we invite you to apply before October 1st, 2024.

The application should be sent to ta.cigolnull@ataga (with e-mail Subject “Phd Position AXAIS Project”).

Interviews will be held online shortly thereafter.