Research Assistant for Aggregating Safety Preferences for AI Systems

We are excited to offer this Research Assistant position at the University of Oxford, under the supervision of Professor Paul Goldberg. 

This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to a major research initiative funded by ARIA, titled Aggregating Safety Preferences for AI Systems: A Social Choice Approach. The project operates at the interface of AI safety and computational social choice, and aims to develop formal frameworks and algorithms for eliciting, aggregating, and analysing stakeholder preferences over risk and safety in AI systems.  

The Research Assistant will support the development and analysis of probabilistic and social choice models, help with the design and conduct of experiments, perform literature reviews, and contribute to the drafting of technical reports and publications. The post holder will work closely with the interdisciplinary team across Oxford and Warwick, and engage with collaborators at other institutions including Berkeley, Groningen, and the Hasso Plattner Institute. 

This role is especially suitable for someone with strong formal reasoning and data analysis skills who is considering progression to a PhD or further postdoctoral research in AI ethics, social choice theory, or computational modelling.  

This post is based at the Department of Computer Science and on-site working is required. Remote and part-time working is possible in agreement with Professor Paul Goldberg. 

What We Offer

As an employer, we genuinely care about our employees’ wellbeing and this is reflected in the range of benefits that we offer including: 

•               An excellent contributory pension scheme 

•               38 days annual leave (pro-rata for part-time jobs) 

•               A comprehensive range of childcare services 

•               Family leave schemes 

•               Cycle loan scheme 

•               Discounted bus travel and Season Ticket travel loans 

•               Membership to a variety of social and sports clubs 

Diversity

Committed to equality and valuing diversity. 

Application Process

You will be required to upload an up-to-date CV and a supporting statement as part of your online application.  

Your supporting statement must clearly demonstrate how you meet each of the essential selection criteria listed in the job description. Applications that do not include a supporting statement or CV, or fail to address the criteria in sufficient detail, will not be considered. 

While we recognise the value of AI tools in assisting with application preparation, submissions that are clearly AI-generated without personalisation or insight will be rejected. It's crucial that your application reflects your own experiences and understanding of the role. 

The closing date for applications is noon on 7th July 2025. Interviews are expected to be held in July.