2 PhD Positions on the Ethics and Philosophy of the Synthetic Cell

Developing a synthetic cell bottom up is a groundbreaking scientific endeavor involving questions such as 'what is life?' This project revolves around associated ethical and societal issues.

Job Description
The EVOLF consortium aims to create a living synthetic cell from the bottom up. By doing this, it attempts to answer one of the fundamental scientific questions, namely: what is life? This groundbreaking endeavor needs to include dialogues with society, a dedicated approach for responsible innovation, and philosophical reflections on our understanding and definitions of life. The Ethics and Philosophy Group at Delft University of Technology is developing an integrated approach to address the pressing ethical and philosophical issues accompanying the synthetic cell. Therefore, we are seeking to recruit 2 PhD candidates to work within this project. The candidates will be collaborating with the wider EVOLF consortium, which consists of 31 senior researchers from 5 universities, spanning disciplines such as nanobiology, biophysics and artificial intelligence.

Position 1: Value Sensitive Design

The development of a synthetic cell will produce groundbreaking knowledge on our understanding of life, which may lead to promising new applications, but may also give rise to novel risks. Therefore, this knowledge should be produced in a responsible way. This project aims to align the development of the synthetic cell with relevant societal values, such as safety and accountability.

In the project, the prospective PhD candidate will develop an approach to integrate social and ethical considerations into design choices made in the laboratory. thereby contributing to responsible, fundamental research. The PhD project will be informed by perspectives from a wide range of societal stakeholders through focus groups, interviews and public events. This position will be supervised by Jeroen van den Hoven, Lotte Asveld and Steffen Steinert. Tasks and requirements include:

• Comprehensive literature review to map societal values and concerns about synthetic cell development and identify relevant stakeholders. This requires strong research and analytical skills, a keen eye for detail, and curiosity about ethical issues.
• Conduct focus groups and interviews with external stakeholders, including NGOs, students, religious groups, policymakers, and experts, to create a moral map linking values to specific concerns.
• Collaborate on internal interviews and lab visits with consortium members to compare internal and external values, requiring teamwork, adaptability, and analytical skills.
• Organize workshops for both internal and external stakeholders to validate and refine these design strategies.

Position 2: Conceptualising life

What is life? How do living systems differ from non-living ones? Can we create living cells from lifeless molecules? Through building a synthetic cell, the EVOLF consortium will produce new insights into these questions. In this PhD project, the candidate will develop a novel, robust, and comprehensive conceptualization of life. This new conceptualization will build on new insights derived from the EVOLF consortium, as well as taking into account existing work in philosophy of biology and relying on input from stakeholders such as religious groups and experts from adjacent fields, e.g. astrobiology and ecology. This position will be supervised by Jeroen van den Hoven, Lotte Asveld and James Hutton Tasks and requirements include:

• Comprehensive literature review to map existing accounts of life from various disciplines and worldviews. This requires strong research and analytical skills, and a strong affinity with philosophy of life.
• Conduct focus groups and interviews with external stakeholders, religious groups and experts from fiels such as astrobiology, to create an encompassing conceptualisation of life.
• Collaborate on internal interviews with consortium members to compare internal and external conceptualisations of life, requiring teamwork, adaptability, and analytical skills.
• Organize workshops for both internal and external stakeholders to validate and refine conceptualisations of life.

Job Requirements
For both positions

• Master’s degree in a relevant field, such as philosophy, bioethics, science and technology studies (STS), sociology, or another social science or humanities discipline with a focus on ethics, technology, biotechnology or biology.
• Preferably a combined background in biochemistry, nanobiology, biology or biotechnology and social sciences or humanities.
• A master’s degree in one of these subjects is also possible, if combined with a demonstrable affinity with the other disciplines.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
• Willingness to work closely with researchers in natural sciences and engineering.

For position 1

• Knowledge in ethics and biotechnology is strongly preferred, especially in topics related to synthetic biology, nanobiology, societal impacts, or emerging technologies.
• Research experience demonstrated through a thesis, publications, or previous research projects, ideally with a focus on ethics, stakeholder analysis, or related areas.

For position 2

• Knowledge in philosophy of science or philosophy of life and/or biology is strongly preferred.
• Research experience demonstrated through a thesis, publications, or previous research projects, ideally with a focus on one of the above mentioned disciplines

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)
Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

Faculty Technology, Policy & Management
The Faculty of TPM provides an important contribution to solving complex technical-social issues, such as energy transition, mobility, digitalisation, water management and (cyber) security. TPM does this with its excellent education and research at the intersection of technology, society and policy. We combine insights from both engineering and social sciences as well as the humanities. TPM develops robust models and designs, is internationally oriented and has an extensive network of knowledge institutions, companies, social organisations and governments.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management.

Conditions of employment
Doctoral candidates will be offered a 4-year period of employment in principle, but in the form of 2 employment contracts. An initial 1,5 year contract with an official go/no go progress assessment within 15 months. Followed by an additional contract for the remaining 2,5 years assuming everything goes well and performance requirements are met.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, increasing from € 2872 per month in the first year to € 3670 in the fourth year. As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment with an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor. The Doctoral Education Programme is aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills.

The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.

For international applicants, TU Delft has the Coming to Delft Service. This service provides information for new international employees to help you prepare the relocation and to settle in the Netherlands. The Coming to Delft Service offers a Dual Career Programme for partners and they organise events to expand your (social) network.

Additional information
If you would like more information about this vacancy or the selection procedure, please contact , via or .

Application procedure
Are you interested in this vacancy? Please apply no later than 5 Jan 2025 via the application button and upload the following documents:

• CV.
• Motivational letter of one page.
• An example of your writing.

Interviews for position 1 are planned on Jan 15, online. Interviews for position 2 are planned on Jan 14, online. For more information about this vacancy, please contact Lotte Asveld at L.Asveld@tudelft.nl.

Doing a PhD at TU Delft requires English proficiency at a certain level to ensure that the candidate is able to communicate and interact well, participate in English-taught Doctoral Education courses, and write scientific articles and a final thesis. For more details please check the Graduate Schools Admission Requirements.

Please note:

• You can apply online. We will not process applications sent by email and/or post.
• A pre-employment screening can be part of the selection procedure.
• A knowledge security check will be part of the selection procedure (for details page 45: national knowledge security guidelines).
• Please do not contact us for unsolicited services.

36 - 40 hours per week

Mekelweg 5