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The Harvard Center for Research on Computation and Society (CRCS) solicits applications for postdoctoral fellows for the 2024-2025 academic year. CRCS provides postdoctoral fellows with an annual salary plus travel and research funding to allow them to engage in independent research. We seek computer science researchers who are enthusiastic about collaborating with colleagues from other disciplines and who have a demonstrated interest in connecting their research agenda with societal issues. Fellows spend up to two years at CRCS.

Areas of specific research interest for the 2024-2025 academic year include wildlife conservation/sustainability and public health. Research in this arena may involve, among myriad other possibilities, the use of AI for protecting endangered wildlife, fisheries, and forests; the use of technology to detect and prevent disease; public health challenges such as housing insecurity, pandemic prevention, and/or strategies to promote health equity; and ethics and fairness in the application of technological innovation to societal problems.

Many of these topics involve interdisciplinary collaboration. To that end, CRCS researchers have collaborated in interdisciplinary work with other centers at Harvard, including the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics (CCDD), Edmund J. Safra Center for Ethics, Embedded EthiCS at Harvard, and the Harvard Chan India Research Center.

The ideal CRCS Postdoctoral Fellow will have a technical background in computer science (or related area) and a desire to creatively use those skills to address problems of societal importance. CRCS is a highly collaborative environment, and we expect fellows to engage with researchers both within and beyond computer science. CRCS researchers have made contributions to important outcomes such as the development of PAWS for conservation and the Privacy Tools Project.

CRCS offers postdoctoral fellows numerous opportunities to engage with Harvard faculty, students, and scholars in computer science and other disciplines, including the CRCS lunch seminar series, professional development panels, informal CRCS lunches, and other research group meetings. Annual salary for CRCS fellows is $80,000, paid monthly, with additional support for research and conference travel.

Harvard University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. We are particularly interested in attracting women and underrepresented groups to participate in CRCS.  The health of our workforce is a priority for Harvard University.  With that in mind, we strongly encourage all employees to be up to date on CDC-recommended vaccines.

For further information about the Center and its activities, see https://crcs.seas.harvard.edu/.

We encourage candidates to apply by December 1, 2023, but will continue to review applications until the positions are filled.

Candidates are required to have a doctorate or terminal degree in Computer Science or a related area by the expected start date.

Required application documents include a cover letter, cv, a statement of research interests, and up to three representative papers. Candidates are also required to submit the names and contact information for at least three and up to five references, and the application is complete only when three letters have been submitted.

The cover letter should address your specific interest in the CRCS Fellowship, goals while at CRCS, and the names of up to three faculty members with whom you would like to work.

Center for Research on Computation and Society
SEC 2.101
150 Western Avenue
Boston, MA 02134

Harvard is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, age, protected veteran status, disability, genetic information, military service, pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions, or other protected status.