Doctoral student position in legal science, Quantum Law project - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

The Faculty of Law is offering one doctoral student position for a Doctor of Laws Degree in legal science, Quantum Law Project. One of the intended supervisors is associate senior lecturer Valentin Jeutner.

The research programme in legal science and the project quantum law is conducted in one of the following subjects: jurisprudence, labour law, banking law, private law, EU law, fiscal law, public international law, administrative law, international environmental law, private international law, comparative law, constitutional law, environmental law, human rights, public law, civil and criminal procedure, law and economics, legal history, social and welfare law, and criminal law.

The Quantum Law Project is the first research project dedicated specifically to the study of the legal implications of quantum computing. The project is funded by and forms part of the Wallenberg Foundations’ ‘Initiative for Humanistic and Social Scientific Research in AI and Autonomous Systems’ (WASP-HS). In the course of this 10-year initiative, the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation and the Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg Foundation will invest 660 million SEK into research projects that study the ethical, economic, labour market, social and legal aspects of the ongoing technological transformation of society.

Substantively, the Quantum Law Project aims to make a significant contribution to the understanding of the legal implications of the emergence of quantum computing with respect to autonomous systems and AI. Every autonomous system, every application of artificial intelligence relies at its core on the collection, computation and correlation of information. Traditionally, such tasks are carried out by computers that process information in ‘bits’ which can exist in one of two states: 0 or 1. Quantum computers are fundamentally different. They utilise ‘qubits’ which can be both 0 and 1 at the same time, and this number of states doubles with each additional qubit. As a result, information can be processed much faster, significantly more information can be stored and, crucially, calculations too complex for classical computers can be undertaken. This will dramatically enhance the capacities of autonomous systems and AI. Already, car companies, pharmaceutical corporations, energy providers etc. race to harness the powers of quantum computing. Apart from more applied questions, the emergence of quantum computers, like any technology or architecture, also raises normative questions concerning the (in)deterministic nature of the universe or the ability to capture complex social processes by digital means. 

While the Quantum Law Project aims to carry out a comprehensive appraisal of the legal implications of quantum computing on autonomous systems and AI, the project focusses on three question in particular: How does quantum computing affect the practice of law? How does quantum computing affect the legal process? How does quantum computing affect metaphysical assumptions about law? The activities of the Quantum Law Project are coordinated by Valentin Jeutner, who serves as the project’s principal investigator and who is also anticipated to act as the supervisor for the presently advertised doctoral student position.

The doctoral project should develop research questions related to the relationship between law and computer science (broadly construed). The doctoral student should possess a good understanding of the foundations of computer science or should be prepared to quickly equip themselves with the technological knowledge required to undertake a rigorous legal analysis of their chosen field of study. Though the guiding question of the Quantum Law Project may serve as a point of departure, the faculty also welcomes proposals that engage with the relationship between law and computer science more broadly. Thus, possible research areas include, but are certainly not limited to:

- The automatization of legal reasoning / of legal decision-making

- The utilisation of artificially intelligent algorithms for the application or analysis of law

- The promises and pitfalls of computational law

- The legal significance of text-mining and text-as-data approaches

- The legal significance of the ability of quantum computers to overcome most conventional encryption protocols

- The legal significance of quantum phenomena like ‘superposition states’ on legal theory

- The legal significance of employing quantum computing to optimise conventional dispute settlement mechanisms due to enhanced data mining possibilities

- Any other original / innovative approach to the study of law & technology

Throughout the tenure of the doctoral position, the doctoral student will also be embedded in the national WASP-HS graduate school. The WASP-HS graduate school addresses challenges and consequences of autonomous systems and AI in society, and provides integrated training in philosophy, social science, policy research, organisational science, psychology, and other humanities and social science disciplines, together with a sound knowledge of the technical aspects of AI, software and autonomous systems.

The graduate school takes a cohort-based approach bringing together students from a wide variety of backgrounds in interdisciplinary teams to address real problems taking account of the individual, societal, and ethical implications.

The doctoral student will join a cohort of 20 interdisciplinary doctoral candidates across Sweden in 2020. The school aims to achieve an active community of researchers across Sweden through courses, joint study trips and summer- and winter seminars. Doctoral students in the WASP-HS program are expected to work together with researchers on the WASP-AI and WASP-AS programs.

Job assignments

Those appointed to doctoral studentships shall primarily devote themselves to their studies.

Those appointed to doctoral studentships may, however, work to a limited extent with educational tasks, research and administration. Before a doctorate has been awarded, however, duties of this kind may not comprise more than 20 per cent of a full-time post. (Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 section 2)

The researchers and teachers at the Faculty are expected to contribute to a dynamic research environment as well as to other Faculty activities, and to perform work primarily in the workplace provided by the Faculty.

Eligibility/Entry Requirements

Only those who are or have been admitted to third-cycle courses and study programmes at a higher education may be appointed to doctoral studentships. (Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 section 3)

A person meets the general entry requirements for third-cycle courses and study programmes if he or she:

• has been awarded a second-cycle qualification,
• has satisfied the requirements for courses comprising at least 240 credits of which at least 60 credits were awarded in the second-cycle, or
• has acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad.

(Higher Education Ordinance chapter 7 section 39)

The special requirements are fulfilled by those who have completed a law programme and obtained the degree Master of Laws (juris kandidatexamen/juristexamen). The special requirements may also be fulfilled by those who can demonstrate other educational or particular professional experience where this is judged to provide the necessary qualification for doctoral studies comparable to that provided by the degree of Master of Laws (juris kandidatexamen/juristexamen) regarding both the subject for doctoral study and general legal education of importance for that subject.

Applicants with Swedish juristexamen/juris kandidatexamen degrees must have attained a grade average of Ba in the compulsory courses of the undergraduate programme. Applicants holding other degrees must have attained in principle an equivalent grade average in comparable portions of the degree programme. Only where very special circumstances apply may the Faculty Board approve exemptions from this rule.

The applicant must have obtained the degree of Master of Laws or the equivalent no later than 18 March 2020.

Basis of Assessment

For regulations concerning employment of Doctoral Students etc, see Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 sections 1-7.

For regulations concerning admission to third-cycle courses and study programmes, see Higher Education Ordinance chapter 7 sections 34-41.

Admittance of a doctoral student is based on an assessment of the candidate’s ability to benefit from third-cycle studies (Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 section 5, chapter 7 sections 35, 41).

The applicant’s ability to benefit from third-cycle studies and research will be assessed with reference to the selection criteria stated in the general study plan for third-cycle studies at the Faculty of Law, which are given in no particular order of importance.

The applicant's general competence:

- quality and content of the applicant's previous written work, such as a master's thesis

- ability to participate actively in the faculty´s research environment

- relevant educational background and grades/grade average

- relevant work experience

The scientific quality of the project description:

- ability to describe, question and discuss the current state of research

- sufficient clarity and logical coherence in the formulation of the aim and the research questions

- stringency of legal reasoning and analysis

- adequate selection of theory and methods

- capacity for creativity and innovation in the formulation of the research questions and approaches

- clear expression and sufficient detail.

Appointment Procedure

The application should be submitted through Lund University job application portal.

Your application should contain a curriculum vitae, grade transcripts, project description, a master thesis or similar degree projects, one or two references (manager, supervisor etc.) and other documents that you wish to submit.

The applicant's project description should identify the objectives of the doctoral project, suggest proposed research questions, provide information on favoured methodological / theoretical approaches to the study of the proposed questions and contextualise the proposed project with reference to relevant legal regulations and the current state of research. In the project description, the applicant should also describe his or her knowledge, abilities and experiences of relevance to the doctoral project and its successful implementation.

The project description, enclosed in the electronic application, must not exceed 15 000 characters including spaces, footnotes, list of references etc.) (n.b. – any text that exceeds the 15 000 character limit will not be considered) and must be written in English, Swedish, Danish or Norwegian.

Please refer to the Guidelines for the project description for guidance, but please note that in this case the general framework of the doctoral project already follow from the larger research project.

For further questions, please contact Valentin Jeutner (valentine.jeutner@jur.lu.se).

The Committee on Doctoral Education will call a limited number of candidates to interviews to be held on May 12 or 13, either by personal meetings or by video conference/telephone. Notification regarding who will be called for an interview is given no later than April 23. The interview will be based on the project description and is intended to give the research committee an opportunity to gauge each applicant's capacity for research and ability to complete the project described.

Type of employment

Limit of tenure, four years according to HF 5 kap 7§.