Research Associate in Philosophy

Project overview

Project overview:
Navigating the Neural Frontier:
Embedding Ethics and Epistemology in Neurotech

This PDRA’s position is part of a major UKRI cross‑council interdisciplinary project bringing together philosophers and scientists to address the ethical and epistemological challenges posed by rapidly advancing neurotechnology. The project supports postdoctoral researchers based at both the Cogito Epistemology Research Centre and the Centre for Neurotechnology, with regular opportunities for collaboration across the two centres to achieve the project's integrated research goals.

The successful candidate will contribute to developing innovative theoretical frameworks at the intersection of epistemology, ethics, and emerging neurotechnology. Core research areas include a theory of trust in contexts where memory can be technologically enhanced and where brain‑computer interfaces mediate the transmission of information; a neuroauthenticity framework examining whether and how memory modification affects authentic self‑knowledge and self‑understanding; and an epistemic risk assessment framework examining how neurotechnological design choices affect sensitivity to defeating evidence, evidence retention, and rational belief revision.

The postdoc will have the opportunity to explore foundational questions about epistemic agency, testimonial credibility, and the conditions for knowledge in technologically augmented minds – questions that are both philosophically rich and increasingly urgent as neurotechnology advances from laboratory to real‑world application.

The position involves collaboration with neuroscientists and includes a structured cross‑disciplinary training component, offering the opportunity to engage directly with cutting‑edge empirical research on memory enhancement and brain‑computer interfaces. This provides a unique environment for developing philosophical frameworks that are both theoretically sophisticated and empirically grounded.

To make a leading contribution as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow for the project “Navigating the Neural Frontier:
Embedding Ethics and Epistemology in Neurotech”, funded by the UKRI and based at the University of Glasgow’s COGITO Epistemology Research Centre in collaboration with UofG Centre for Neurotechnology. The successful candidate will produce high‑quality research in epistemology in accordance with the project’s aims. The successful candidate will also be expected to contribute to the formulation and submission of research proposals as well as to undertake organisational tasks in the service of managing the project under the direction of Prof J Adam Carter and Dr Emma C Gordon at COGITO.