2018 PhD Funding at Keele

Keele has a strong and vibrant postgraduate research community of over 300 full- and part-time students in a broad range of Humanities and Social Science disciplines. Philosophy at Keele is a member of the AHRC Northwest Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NWCDTP) with the Manchester Metropolitan University, Lancaster University, University of Liverpool and Manchester University. Keele also funds its own studentships or co-funds studentships with other external funding bodies.

We invite applications for Masters and PhD research projects. We have research strengths in all the main areas of Philosophy, with particular expertise in the following areas: Kantian philosophy, philosophy of mind and action, metaphysics, history of philosophy, metaphilosophy, political philosophy, environmental philosophy, and moral philosophy. For AHRC studentships, joint supervision between Keele and one of the other members of the Consortium is also possible.

The postgraduate funding opportunities for 2018 include:

– Fully funded AHRC studentships (including MRes+PhD studentships)

– Keele funded full studentships (fees at UK/EU rate and annual maintenance grants)

– Graduate Teaching Assistantships (fees at UK/EU rate and annual maintenance grant)

– Bursaries and Fee Waivers (fees/part fees at UK/EU rate).

The closing date for applications is 5 February 2018.

A full studentship includes an annual tax-free stipend at RCUK rate plus tuition fee (currently £14,553 and £4,195 for three years).

For more information, see: https://www.keele.ac.uk/spire/philosophy/postgraduatephilosophyfunding/

Job: Dean of Research and Director of the Institute for Social Inclusion

Announcement below and complete here:

http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BEA679/dean-of-research-and-director-of-the-institute-for-social-inclusion/

Do you know any philosopher who could be a potential candidate? If so, please let me know (s.baiasu@keele.ac.uk) – self-nominations are welcome too.

————————————

Keele University has ambitious plans for its future growth and development, building upon its reputation as a research-led campus University with a broad academic base. The University is large enough to have high impact and profile, but small enough to sustain its commitment to community and individuals. Whilst being rooted in its locality, the University is international in outlook and character and in the reach and impact of its education and research programmes.

Reporting to the PVC and Executive Dean, Professor Shane O’Neill, the Dean of Research and Director of the Institute for Social Inclusion will shape, in two important ways, the approach the Faculty, Institute and University will take in delivering on its research strategy. Firstly, the Faculty is seeking to ensure that each of the Schools is well equipped to provide a suitable foundation of disciplinary excellence, by demonstrating qualities in their outputs and partnerships that will impact positively on national and international debates on a wide range of relevant subjects. Secondly, through the launch of the Institute for Social Inclusion, the Faculty is seeking to provide a thriving context for interdisciplinary research of contemporary relevance that will establish Keele as a global leader in producing research that is explicitly focused on the need to create more inclusive societies in local, regional, national and global contexts.

Candidates will be of professorial status with a strong current personal research track-record and successful history of grant funding. They must demonstrate the confidence and creativity to lead research across a broad and diverse Faculty, which has set itself ambitious targets. They must demonstrate strategic vision and well-honed leadership skills, with a proven ability to work collaboratively. Experience of leading a substantial team of researchers to successful outcomes over a sustained period, as a Head of School, Director of a Research Institute, or in some comparable role, will be expected. This is an opportunity to join the leadership team of an ambitious Faculty, and to drive a significant improvement in research performance. The successful candidate will take on a mission-critical role.

Keele University strives to ensure that its workforce is representative of broader society and therefore actively welcomes applications from under-represented groups, including women and Black, Asian and minority ethnic, for this role.

For further details on the role, please visit www.minervasearch.com/keele. To apply, please send a full curriculum vitae and a covering letter outlining how you meet the job description and person specification, by close of business on 5 October 2017, to keele@minervasearch.com.

Kant and Artificial Intelligence

Credit: unknown

On the 4th of September, I gave a presentation on Kant and AI as part of a panel on “Recent Kant Scholarship” organised for the 2017 UK Kant Society Annual Conference at the University of St Andrews (organiser of the conference, Michael Walschots). For the presentation, I referred mainly to the general problem of the possibility of constructing artificial intelligence starting from Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, and I drew mainly on texts 2 and 3 below.

In case you are aware of other relevant literature, could you let me know? Many thanks in anticipation!

I. KANT AND AI (GENERAL)

1. Chalmers, D.; French, R.; Hofstadter, D. (1992): “High-Level Perception, Representation, and Analogy: A Critique of Artificial Intelligence Methodology”, in Journal of Experimental & Theoretical Artificial Intelligence 4(3):185–211.
2. Evans, R. (2016): “Kant on Constituted Mental Activity”, APA Presentation.
3. Evans, R. (2017[2016]): “A Kantian Cognitive Architecture”, IACAP Presentation. Forthcoming in Philosophical Studies.
4. Evans, R.; Sergot, M. (2017):  “Interpreting Kant’s Rules as Conditional Imperatives”, unpublished manuscript.

II. KANT AND AI (PATTERN RECOGNITION)

1. Krausser, P. (1976) “Kant’s schematism of the categories and the problem of pattern recognition”, in Synthese 33 (1):175–192.
2. Castagnoli, A; Pelilloa, M; Scantamburloa, T; Turoldo, F. (2017) “A Kantian Reads Pattern Recognition Letters”, in Pattern Recognition Letters. Forthcoming.

 

Grant Success: Philipp Schwartz Humboldt Fellowship

The KOSAK Research Centre

Dr Ruhi Demiray (Honorary Research Fellow in Philosophy, SPIRE and co-holder with Professor Sorin Baiasu – Philosophy, SPIRE – of a British Academy Newton Advanced Fellowship) was one of the signatories of the famous Peace Petition calling for the end of violence in the South-East of Turkey. As a result, he was arrested and then dismissed from his academic post at Kocaeli University in September 2016.

Through the research network of the Keele-Oxford-St Andrews Kantian (KOSAK) Research Centre (Director – Professor Baiasu), Dr Demiray was supported by the ZetKIK (Zentrum für Kommentarische Interpretationen zu Kant – Centre for Interpretive Commentary on Kant – Director: Professor Dieter Schönecker) at the University of Siegen, in Germany, to apply for a Philipp Schwartz

Dr Demiray (Keele/Siegen)

Fellowship, advertised by the prestigious Humboldt Foundation precisely for scholars under threat in their countries of origin. The application was successful and the 2-year research fellowship started at the beginning of 2017.

This new affiliation is expected to facilitate also work as part of the British Academy Advanced Newton Fellowship. Research within the framework of this grant was made difficult by the situation in Turkey and Kocaeli University’s lack of cooperation. Work on the Newton Fellowship will resume once an agreement between Keele University and Siegen University will be signed. This is currently under discussion and it is expected to be completed shortly.

JOB: Lecturer in Philosophy (Full-time, Indefinite)

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
School of Politics, Philosophy, International Relations & Environment
Lecturer in Philosophy
Grade 7a Salary in the range: £33,943 to £39,324

Keele University is renowned for its exciting approach to higher education, innovative research, beautiful campus, strong community spirit and excellent student experience.  With a turnover in excess of £134 million, over 10,000 students and a total staff of approximately 2000, the University provides high quality teaching across a wide range of academic and vocational subjects and promotes world-class research.  Further information can be found at http://www.keele.ac.uk.

The School of Politics, Philosophy, International Relations & Environment wishes to appoint a talented academic to the full-time indefinite post of Lecturer in Philosophy.  It is expected that you will commence in post in September 2017.  The successful applicant will have a PhD in Philosophy, an excellent research profile relative to her or his career stage, and abilities to convene and teach undergraduate modules in their respective areas of competence.  Further information on the existing programme can be found at: http://www.keele.ac.uk/catalog ue/2016-17/Philosophy.html

Excellent candidates from any areas of specialisation in Philosophy will be considered, but those with research interests and teaching experience that complement or extend existing areas of strength might be preferred.  Evidence of engagement with the impact agenda would also be an advantage.

The position is designed to complement existing teaching and research strengths in the Philosophy Programme which we offer as both a Single Honours and as a Dual Honours degree.  Student satisfaction is one of Keele University’s great strengths, so we would hope to recruit an enthusiastic and dedicated teacher able to build on this reputation.  The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to teaching and supervision at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, to discharge any administrative duties as required by the Head of School, as well as to conduct research and/or entrepreneurial activities in the field of Philosophy.  Early career researchers are encouraged to apply.  The successful candidate will join a friendly and intellectually stimulating programme, which is part of a cosmopolitan and interdisciplinary school.

Informal enquiries may be made in confidence to the Director of the Philosophy Programme, Professo r Sorin Baiasu: s.baiasu@keele.ac.uk

We are committed to the principles of the Athena SWAN charter, and value equality and diversity across our workforce.

For full post details please visit: http://www.keele.ac.uk/vacancies

Keele University employees wishing to apply should login to Employee Self Service and click on the ‘View current vacancies’ link.

Closing date for applications:  21 June 2017

Interviews planned to be held on: Thursday 6th July 2017

Post reference: KU00000503

Promoting Equality, Valuing Diversity.

See job description for further details.