ERC PhD Studentship Opportunity
The Ethics and Philosophy of Science of Machine Learning
The same machine learning (ML) methods that are unprecedently used across large areas of science are also wide ranging across society. ML models are determining what news we see, risk scores for fraud, and more. LLMs are structuring our knowledge with ChatGPT integrated in search engines and information platforms, even despite well documented cases of ChatGPT ‘hallucinations.’
Current approaches to evaluating ML models in society have clustered around issues of fairness, bias, problems of justice by introducing ML models at scale, the right to explanation, and more. While all these issues remain important, there is a deep worry that ML models might not be providing us with genuine information or knowledge in the first place. Before we can make informed decisions about when and where ML models should be used across society, we need to understand their epistemic value.
The aim of the PhD project is to bring methods and resources from philosophy of science (e.g. idealization and representation) to answer important questions in AI ethics regarding appropriate use of ML models in society. How do ML models idealize social phenomena? When do the idealizations of ML models get in the way of acceptable use?
This PhD project is part of the European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant project Machine Learning in Science and Society: A Dangerous Toy? (TOY) The project team consists of the PI (Emily Sullivan), this PhD position, and two forthcoming post-doc positions.
This is a four-year ERC funded PhD studentship (starting in September 2026).
The successful PhD candidate will join a vibrant academic PhD community in the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences (PPLS) in the Philosophy department and in The Centre for Technomoral Futures in the Edinburgh Futures Institute.
Application Deadline: 16 March 2026
Supervisors:
Emily Sullivan (PI & Principal Supervisor), Co-Director of the Centre for Technomoral Futures, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Philosophy Department of PPLS and the Edinburgh Futures Institute, University of Edinburgh.
The successful PhD candidate will also have the opportunity to choose a second-supervisor from within the university and will work closely with two postdoctoral researchers to be hired on the project.