Postdoctoral Research Associate

Grade UE07: £41,064 - £48,822 per annum

College of Arts, Humanities and Social Science / School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences

Full time: 35 hours per week

Fixed term: 36 months

The Opportunity

We're unlocking Edinburgh's potential. Join us.

Here at the University of Edinburgh there's a career for everyone. We can offer opportunities for you to develop in your career and make a real difference in the communities around us whilst contributing to the world at large. Our people come from a wide range of backgrounds, each bringing their abilities and experiences to our organisation.

The University of Edinburgh is a world class organisation. We look for the best in the field across all disciplines and provide a working environment where academics can develop their careers and passion for their chosen subject area. We offer the full range of academic roles and have a genuine focus on our students' performance and wellbeing.

The role

The successful candidate will work alongside Dr Emily Sullivan as part of the ERC funded grant project "Machine Learning in Science and Society: A Dangerous Toy?" (TOY). The PDRA will conduct original research in philosophy of science and the philosophy of machine learning. TOY aims to conceptualise and evaluate machine learning models across science and society as a type of toy model, bridging epistemic and ethical issues in simple computational models with contemporary complex machine learning models.

This post is full-time (35 hours per week), fixed term post for 36 months, available from 1 May 2026.

If you are interested in this role, you may also be interested in our 24 month PDRA role working on the same project.

You can view and apply for this opportunity via Job Requisition 13788.

Informal enquiries may be made to Dr Emily Sullivan, .

Application information

Applicants should upload a cover letter and CV into the online application portal. These documents must be uploaded in all cases. If you are currently in the process of completing your studies/PhD programme please note any relevant timescales in your cover letter and/or CV.

In addition we ask you to submit the names of three referees who may be contacted at a later date (please note if you do not wish for anyone to be contacted until after an offer has been made).

As a School we acknowledge that people's career paths are rarely linear and welcome applicants to expand on their professional and personal journeys where appropriate.

More information on how to submit your application can be found.

Informal enquiries may be made to Dr Emily Sullivan, .

As a valued member of our team you can expect:

• A competitive salary.
• An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work.
• To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community.
• Comprehensive Staff Benefits, including generous annual leave entitlement, a defined benefits pension scheme, a wide range of staff discounts, family friendly initiatives, and flexible work options. Check out the full list on our staff benefits page and use our reward calculator to discover the value of your pay and benefits.

Championing equality, diversity and inclusion

The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education.

We are members of the Race Equality Charter and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality.

We particularly welcome applications from eligible candidates from under represented groups, including racially minoritised individuals and all gender identities.

Prior to any employment commencing with the University, you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our right to work webpages.

The University may be able to sponsor the employment of international workers in this role. This will depend on a number of factors specific to the successful applicant.

Key dates to note

The closing date for applications is 20th April 2026.

Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59pm GMT. If you are applying outside the UK the closing time on our adverts automatically adjusts to your browsers local time zone.

We aim to give successful candidates 2 weeks' notice ahead of interviews.