18 Months Postdoc in AI and Trust (Social Sciences and Humanities)

Missions

Context:

ARIAC is a large project funded by the Walloon Region with about 50 researchers in AI in all five French-speaking universities of Belgium. Within the project, Université de Namur focuses on trust mechanisms for AI. The project starts from the premise that fostering trust in AI means giving people technological guarantees, notably in terms of reliability, data safety and privacy, decisions stability and coherence. The project considers some of these technological ways to foster trust in AIs: among others, federated learning algorithms, tools to make deep learning more reliable and robust, ways for AIs to give themselves a reliability score, the hybridization of interpretable models with non-interpretable models, and new ways to visualize information.

Since 2024, ARIAC also focuses on the philosophical, social and legal aspects of AI. In particular, we question the notion of trust. We invite submissions of short projects (maximum 500 words) with a research question related to trust in AI that could be realistically pursued during the duration of the position. Interdisciplinary projects are also encouraged. Depending on the project submitted, it will be possible to collaborate with the team members. The postdoc will be conduct their research within the interdisciplinary Namur Digital Institute (NaDI) and interact with researchers in the other workpackages and partners of the ARIAC project.

Job description:

The goal of this postdoctoral research is to (i) do research in topics that will be defined with the PIs and (ii) help them to coordinate ARIAC on philosophical, social and legal aspects of AI. The candidate will also need to spend 15% of her/his time on applied research challenges proposed by the applied research centers that are partners in ARIAC. This will be an opportunity to extend her/his network and to work on exciting questions with real data.

The position will be granted for one year, then renewed for six months after evaluation.

Profil

Job Requirements:

• PhD in social sciences and humanities or computer science with a strong background in social sciences and humanities;
• autonomy and ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team;
• strong publication record;
• proficiency in English and French (both speaking and writing) is mandatory.

Remarques

About the employer

The Faculty of Computer Science provides cutting-edge teaching and research, with a view to putting computers at the service of society, by taking into account their impact on the environment and by respecting the values of solidarity and sustainable development. The Faculty is a founding member of the Namur Digital Institute (NADI) which gathers over 150 researchers in the field of digital technology. It has a multi-disciplinary approach and addresses in particular the issues and challenges of computer science in organisations and in society. The Faculty of Computer Science has over 400 students, 80 members of staff including 18 professors and around 50 researchers. Founded in 1968, the Faculty of Computer Science has trained over 1,800 high-level computer science graduates since then.

How to apply

Applications should be sent by e-mail to administration.info@unamur.be (with mention “[ARIAC WP7 postdoc]”) and contain the following:

• Motivation letter
• Short project (maximum 500 words) with a research question related to trust in AI
• Curriculum vitae, including publication list
• Copy of Diplomas (Bachelor, Master and PhD, if available)
• PhD thesis (if available)
• Recent publications (if available)

Note: Soon to be graduating PhD students are welcome to apply provided that they will have defended their PhD prior to the start of the position. However, due to time constraints of the project, candidates who cannot be available in a reasonable time may not be considered.

Applications will be processed as they arrive, do not hesitate to apply early or to contact us for further information about the position.

Important dates

Submission deadline: December 1st 2025

Expected starting date: February 2026