PhD Researcher in Trustworthy and Human-Centred AI Development ETH Zürich in Switzerland

ETH Zürich’s KOF Swiss Economic Institute is offering a PhD Researcher position in Trustworthy and Human-Centred AI Development. The project sits at the intersection of applied economics, responsible AI, and human-computer interaction, with a particular focus on how AI systems behave in the world and how they affect the people and institutions that use them.

The successful candidate will join an international research team working on methodological research and concrete implementation. The role emphasizes questions of reliability, accountability, security, explainability, and human-AI interaction as core research topics. A concrete example mentioned in the posting is the development of trustworthy AI voting assistants in the context of Supported Democracy, highlighting the socially consequential settings in which the group’s systems operate.

Day-to-day work will include research on AI reliability and trustworthiness, hands-on development with large language models, building and iterating prototypes, and designing user studies to understand how people interact with these systems. The position also involves evaluating and improving LLM behavior for concrete use cases, and contributing to LLM-based workflows such as prompting, tool use, retrieval-augmented generation, adaptation, and related system design choices.

The ideal applicant has a master’s degree in computer science, machine learning, HCI, or a related field, plus strong foundations in machine learning and familiarity with current AI tools and practices. The posting specifically seeks someone with a solid understanding of LLM reliability, security, and explainability, as well as awareness of the technical and human-factors dimensions of human-computer interaction. Experience with LLM APIs, open models, evaluation pipelines, orchestration frameworks, fine-tuning, MLOps/LLMOps, containerization, cloud infrastructure, or frontend/backend development is considered a plus.

The appointment starts in August or September 2026 and is initially offered for 18 months, with the prospect of extension to the usual four- to five-year doctoral duration depending on satisfactory progress. ETH Zurich states that it offers internationally competitive working conditions, and the salary follows the standard rate for PhD students at ETH Zurich. The broader environment includes KOF’s vibrant community of economic researchers, workshops and conferences in Zurich, and connections to academia, policy, central banks, and public institutions.

Applications should be submitted online by 31 July 2026. Candidates must provide a CV, a short cover letter, a full transcript of records, and two to three recommendation letters. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled, and submissions by email or post are not accepted. Questions about the position should be directed to KOF HR Services at [email protected].