MSCA Doctoral Position on Balancing Individual AI-Augmentation with Organisational Stability

The University of Zurich, Switzerland's largest university, offers a range of attractive positions in various subject areas and professional fields. With around 10,000 employees and currently 12 professional apprenticeship streams the University offers an inspiring working environment on cutting-edge research and top-class education. Put your talent and skills to work with us. Find out more about UZH as an employer!

Aufgaben: Examine through qualitative methods how workers build personalised routines around agentic and generative AI and how these routines affect collaboration, oversight and resilience. • Compare bottom-up experimentation and shadow AI with formal top-down rollout. • Combine longitudinal cases, observation, digital diaries, interviews and collaboration-network analysis. • Develop a framework and practical guidance on disclosure, versioning, audit trails, handovers and workflow portability. • Refine the research questions and design with the supervision team and prepare ethics, data-management and open-science materials. • Complete a doctoral thesis and related research outputs under the host doctoral programme and EMANAIRE plan. • Take part in local and network-wide training, cohort activities, reviews, dissemination and practitioner engagement. • Undertake the six-month intersectoral secondment and the separate academic mobility visit. • Contribute to research integrity, equality, responsible AI, open science and FAIR data practices. • Complete at least 20 ECTS credits of structured doctoral training, including at least 10 ECTS credits through network-wide provision. EMANAIRE combines local doctoral courses with three residential schools, monthly paper-development seminars, work-package workshops and network reviews. A Personal Career Development Plan will be agreed within the first three months and reviewed every six months.

Anforderungen: Applicants should hold, or be close to completing by the start date, a relevant master's degree or equivalent and demonstrate the potential to undertake independent doctoral research. Research, policy or industry experience relevant to the project is advantageous. Project-relevant experience may include Interest in digital sociology, work, shadow IT or AI, organisational resilience or technology governance. • Experience or training in qualitative research and interest in mixed-methods integration. • Ability to examine organisational culture, power, disclosure and control with analytical sensitivity. Language skills Excellent English language skills, both written and spoken, are essential. MSCA eligibility Applicants may be of any nationality. To be eligible for MSCA funding, the selected candidate must, on the first day of MSCA employment: (i) not hold a doctoral degree; candidates who have successfully defended a doctoral thesis but have not yet formally received the degree are not eligible; (ii) comply with the MSCA mobility rule, meaning they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Switzerland for more than 12 months during the 36 months immediately preceding that date, excluding compulsory national service, short stays such as holidays, and time spent in a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention; and (iii) be enrolled in, or meet the conditions required for timely enrolment in, the doctoral programme leading to the degree specified in this notice. The appointment is conditional on documentary verification of these conditions and fulfilment of the host institution's doctoral admission requirements.

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Stellenantritt: 1 January 2027

Pensum: Full-time

Arbeitsort: Department of Sociology, Andreasstrasse, Zürich, Switzerland