Job description

Project: “Optimizing the responsible researcher: towards fair and constructive academic advancement”
This 2-year project is funded through the new ZonMW program Fostering Responsible Research Practices (FRRP). Recent years have seen high-profile initiatives to improve current criteria for assessing academic achievements (e.g. the Leiden Manifesto, the Metric Tide, Science in Transition, DORA, METRICS, Reward Alliance). Some institutions are implementing improved and innovative incentive and reward systems. It is yet unknown whether these systems will counter unintended effects of evaluation systems and unwarranted uses of performance metrics, and help to foster responsible conduct of research by selecting the scientists with a multidimensional profile (i.e. more than a good publication and citation record) and a skill-set that enables them to undertake and supervise both innovative and societally relevant research. This project aims to describe the optimal profile of researchers in terms of their propensity to foster responsible conduct in research, and will compare this profile with existing academic incentive and reward systems. It will result in an evidence-based framework and a set of concrete policy recommendations for designing (or adapting) academic reward systems aimed at fostering excellent, socially responsible research.

Key Responsibilities
You will (help to) conduct:

• A systematic literature review in which debates about organisational integrity work are traced, and in which one or more ideals of responsible conduct in research can be theoretically developed; 
• Expert interviews with relevant stakeholders from different levels of the research governance system (including deans, policy makers, a selection of heads of departments) involved in the institutional arrangement of academic advancement systems in biomedicine;
• Focus group interviews with biomedical researchers, to collect views and opinions about responsible conduct in research and characteristics of responsible researchers, and how they think reward systems should be shaped;
• Desk research and expert interviews with recruiters, HRM policy makers, evaluators, and staff advisors at different UMCs to further map how incentives towards responsible conduct in research are currently institutionalized;
• Comparisons in two different UMCs of the effectiveness of new and existing reward systems in terms of fostering responsible conduct in research.

Post:                                 Postdoctoral Researcher in Responsible Innovation and Circular Economy
 
Project name:                   Responsible Innovation Practices of Sustainable Entrepreneurs in Making the Transition towards sustainable agricultural, water and energy systems 
 
We offer you an employment contract for 0.9 FTE (34,2 hours a week) for 12 months. The maximum gross salary is € 3,427.00 per month (based on fulltime employment), (scale 11.0 Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities). In addition, we offer a holiday allowance of 8% and an end-of-the-year bonus of 8.3% of your annual salary.
The post is available to start on May 1st 2017.
 
Short JOB DESCRIPTION

MVI entrepreneurship is a NWO funded project that aims to explore how dimensions of responsible innovation (RI) are applied by new technology based firm (NTBFs) start-ups developing climate change innovations in the field of climate-smart agriculture, how sustainable entrepreneurs can benefit from RI, and how the innovation systems NTBFs operate in can be conductive to RI. While Post-doc one, who is already employed, focusses on the actor level of NTBFs involved in climate-smart agriculture, water, and energy systems, we are looking for a second postdoc who will focus on the systems level. 

Post-doc one has already started to explore how sustainable entrepreneurs manage socio-ethical factors at the actor level, and has identified barriers for the application of RI by NTBFs, such as the need to balance economic and sustainability (societal) objectives, customer reluctance to pay a premium and an industry with vested interests.  In post-doc two, we explore how the management of socio-ethical issues by NTBFs is impacted by the innovation system that sustainable entrepreneurs operate in. This includes the system responsible for the development of innovations (i.e. technological innovation system), but also the wider system and set of actors that influence the start-up and entrepreneurial process, such as supply chain actors, inter-firm linkages, investors, facilitating agents such as government, as well as societal actors and consumers. The research question of post-doc two is: How do innovation system dynamics interact with the implementation of RI by sustainable entrepreneurs, and what are the implications for sustainable entrepreneurship and RI?
This work will have an interdisciplinary nature, drawing on disciplines such as innovation system approaches, transitions management, sustainable entrepreneurship, responsible innovation, and potentially wider management science and science and technology studies approaches. An affinity with understanding and dealing with socio-economic and socio-ethical issues will be needed/an advantage.

The Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (CFI) invites applications for a postdoctoral Research Associate for the project 'Policy, Responsible Innovation and the Future of AI'. The appointment will be for 3 years, and is based in Cambridge. 

CFI is an exciting new interdisciplinary research centre addressing the challenges and opportunities posed by artificial intelligence (AI). Funded by the Leverhulme Trust, CFI is based at the University of Cambridge, with partners in the University of Oxford, Imperial College, and UC Berkeley, and close links with industry partners and policymakers. 

This project examines the prospects for a robust safety and benefits culture within the AI industry, in anticipation of the development of increasingly powerful AI systems that will present ever-greater real-world opportunities and challenges. It asks questions including: What can we learn from the management of other powerful technologies? What are the role and prospects for regulation, and how can the technology community work with policymakers, towards mutual goals? How can industry leaders balance near-term commercial responsibilities with the need to engage with broader and more long-term challenges? With AI developing rapidly, these questions are becoming urgent; this is therefore an exciting opportunity for a talented individual to make a major contribution.....

• Institute Administrator at University College London - The Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources

The UCL Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources delivers world-leading learning, research and policy support on a range of societal challenges including climate change and energy security. Located within the Bartlett faculty, the school is comprised of four institutes: the Institute for Sustainable Heritage, Energy Institute, Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering, and Institute for Sustainable Resources. The post holder’s responsibilities would be to the Energy Institute Please see http://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/bseer for further information.

The UCL Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources has an exciting opportunity for a proactive and enthusiastic administrator to join the administrative team to support the Energy Institute with a range of communications and administration duties. They will be responsible for the Institute’s communications, including its website, social media, drafting printed materials and events. The post holder will provide personal assistance to the Institute’s Deputy Director.

More info here

• Research Director at NatCen Social Research 

At NatCen Social Research, we're driven by the belief that social research has the power to make life better. Our research works for society by providing a rich understanding of people's lives and enabling them to have a powerful and influential role in shaping social policy decisions. It is used by policy makers, practitioners, academics, the media and the public as a driving force behind increased understanding of the environment we live in and how it's changing.

We are recruiting an exceptional research professional to join the Household Surveys team in our Survey Research Centre. The Household Surveys team deliver rigorous social research surveys across a wide range of policy areas. These include some of Britain’s best known social surveys such as the English Housing Survey, the National Travel Survey and the Family Resources Survey.

We are looking for an accomplished professional with strong leadership and project management skills, which include the organisation of people, projects and resources. The successful candidate will have a leading role in our Survey Research Centre as part of our London based team. You will need to be a first class communicator with a proven track record of building robust and prosperous relationships with partners and potential clients.

Strong research skills are essential, with particular experience of survey design using quantitative research methods. You will be responsible for delivery of complex surveys to time and budget from initiation through to reporting and dissemination. An interest or track record in research into income and poverty would be beneficial but is not essential. You will also be enthusiastic and proactive about business generation at NatCen, helping to identify new funding opportunities and leading on successful tenders and grant proposals.

For more info see here

The GenØk Centre for Biosafety has a research position available in connection with a new EU project NewHoRRIzon.

Application deadline: February 17th 2017

The research project “Excellence in science and innovation for Europe by adopting the concept of Responsible Research and Innovation (NewHoRRIzon)” sets out to promote the acceptance of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) across all parts of the Horizon 2020 (H2020) funding program and beyond. It will work out the conceptual and operational basis to fully integrate RRI into European and national research and innovation (R&I) practice and funding. 

The project will engage a wide-ranging group of R&I stakeholders in 18 Social Labs (covering all sections of H2020) to co-create tailor-made actions to stimulate an increased use and acceptance of RRI. The Social Labs will bring program staff, project coordinators, participants and other relevant experts and stakeholders together to: a) adjust existing definitions of RRI to develop a shared understanding; b) diagnose the state of RRI in each part of H2020; c) adapt existing activities as well as create and test new agreed pilot actions to promote the uptake of RRI in the specific program lines of H2020; d) transform the activities into narratives and widely disseminate them for use.