Doctoral Position: Human Factors in Crisis for Informing AI-based Agents in Training Simulation

The Security, Privacy and Society Group is an interdisciplinary research group in the Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences (D-GESS) at ETH Zürich.

We are looking for a doctoral student to support us in a joint 3-year project with armasuisse Science and Technology. The project aim is to develop a realistic training simulation for crisis situations such as natural disasters, cyberattacks, or physical attacks in Switzerland. To allow for a high degree of realism, the simulation will include AI-based agents that are supposed to represent the Swiss popoulation. The task of the doctoral candidate will be to inform the AI-based agents, e.g., with regards to the distribution of user characteristics and exploring realistic human bahevior in different crisis situations. An additional focus will be on ensuring privacy aspects, i.e., while the agents should closely represent the Swiss public, no individuals should be identifiable.

The project will take place in close collaboration with a doctoral candidate at the IVIA lab led by Prof. Menna El-Assady who will focus on the technical aspects of the modelling and implementation of the AI-based agents.

The Security, Privacy and Society Group performs research at the intersection of humans and technology, especially focusing on human-computer interaction and the human aspects of IT security, privacy, and safety. Exemplary research projects include phishing detection support for users, designing expert-AI collaboration for cybersecurity tasks, analysing inferential privacy, and exploring interrelations between safety and cybersecurity in critical infrastructures.

As a member of the group, you will contribute to the group's research activities, i.e., with a specifc focus on the project described above, and gradually build your research profile according to your interests and talents. You will work towards a doctoral degree and participate in the group's teaching and other activities.

We welcome highly motivated and curious applicants with a completed Master's degree in disciplines related to human-technology interaction. Relevant disciplines include Psychology or related Humanities/Social Sciences as well as technical disciplines such as Computer Science, IT Security, Data Science or related fields.

• You should have previous experience working at the intersection of humans and technology or AI, respectively.
• You should ideally be familiar with usable security, privacy, or safety topics.
• As the project will include the collection and analysis of user data, e.g., related to human behavior in crisis situations, experience in designing and conducting empirical user studies (qualitative and/or quantitative)  and with analyzing statistical data with programs such as Excel, SPSS, Python, or R is highly beneficial.
• You should be fluent in English (written and spoken), speaking German is an added value.
• Besides, you should be open to interdisciplinary teamwork, have strong analytical and critical thinking skills and take initiative, e.g., in coming up with new research ideas.
• In addition, programming skills or experience with web/interface design are an added value.

We offer full-time doctoral positions initially for 18 months but with the option to extend the contract for the full duration of your doctoral studies. The Security, Privacy and Society group offers a dynamic and interdisciplinary research environment within which you can shape your research profile and extend your skill set through insights into related disciplines. Together, we tackle up-to-date security and privacy challenges impacting humans and society.

ETH Zurich is a family-friendly employer with excellent working conditions and competitive salaries. You can look forward to an exciting working environment, cultural diversity and attractive offers and benefits.