Fellows Program: Postdoc Research Associate, Visiting Professional, & Visiting Research Scholar

The Center for Information Technology Policy Fellows Program is a competitive, fully-funded, in-residence program that supports scholars and practitioners in research and policy work tied to the Center’s mission. CITP research falls into the following three areas: Platforms and Digital Infrastructure; Data Science, AI and Society; and Privacy and Security. Fellows accepted into this program conduct research with members of the Center’s community — including faculty, scholars and other fellows — across disciplines, and engage in our public programs, such as workshops and conferences. The program offers three fellowship tracks:

• Postdoctoral track: for people who recently received a Ph.D. or doctorate degree
• Visiting professional track: for academics and professionals (e.g., lawyers, journalists, technologists, former government officials, etc.)
• Microsoft Visiting Research Scholar/Visiting Professor track: for academics

Find additional information and compare each track below.

Application Process

We hire for the Fellows Program each year. Applicants may apply for more than one track. Both CITP and Princeton University place high value on in-person collaborations and interactions. As such, candidates are expected to participate in-person research at CITP.

CITP’s fellows committee begins reviewing applications mid-December every year. Candidates are encouraged to apply by the start-of-review date, Monday, December 2, 2024, 11:59 p.m. EST, for full consideration. Applications received after that date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.

Contact information for three references must be included in the application materials. References will only be contacted if the candidate becomes a finalist.

Postdoctoral Research Associate

The postdoctoral track is for people who have recently received or are about to receive a Ph.D. or doctorate degree, and work on understanding and improving the relationship between technology and society. Selected candidates will be appointed at the postdoctoral research associate or more senior research rank. These are typically 12-month appointments, commencing on or about September 1, and can be renewed for a second-year, contingent on performance and funding. Fellows in the postdoctoral track have the option of teaching, subject to sufficient course enrollments and the approval of the Dean of the Faculty.

Most postdocs are matched to a specific faculty adviser. A list of CITP Associated Faculty and the areas in which they are looking for postdocs are following. More topics/advisers may be added:

1. Professor Peter Henderson: Empirical or sociotechnical approaches to AI law and policy with the goal of advancing civil/labor rights, effective governance, democratic values, or decentralization of power.

2. Professor Andrés Monroy-Hernández: “AI and labor” to contribute to the Workers’ Algorithm Observatory.

3. Professors Matthew Salganik and Arvind Narayanan: ML in social settings. Topics include (but not limited to): distribution shift; identifying limits to predictability; strengthening reproducibility; ethical impacts.

4. Professor Prateek Mittal: (1) Network security and privacy (example: enhancing the security of our public key infrastructure) and (2) AI security and privacy.

5. Professor Aleksandra Korolova: (1) AI auditing and (2) Approaches that leverage algorithmic thinking to provide new solutions spaces in privacy, algorithmic fairness, accountability and transparency.

6. Professor Molly Crockett: (1) Ethical and epistemic risks of AI, (2) AI and diversity in scientific research and (3) sociotechnical approaches to AI value alignment.

7. Professor Manoel Horta Ribeiro: (1) Societal impact of AI, (2) Impact of moderation policies, recommender systems, and monetization in online platforms, and (3) AI for social sciences.

Candidates are expected to have their Ph.D. on the start date of the appointment. The appointment will not be finalized, and an exact start date will not be set, until the candidate has successfully defended their thesis or provided proof of their doctorate degree. The application process is now open. Please apply here.

Visiting Professional

The Visiting Professional track is for professionals who hold an advanced degree —such as a M.A., Ph.D. or J.D. — and will be on leave from their full-time job. This includes professors on sabbaticals or journalists on leave from their newsrooms. This fellowship appointment is roughly nine months long and will begin on or about September 1. However, CITP does offer some flexibility between May 1 and October 1. The primary appointment will be at the rank of “Visiting Research Scholar” or “Visiting Professional Specialist” depending on experience.

In addition to a current curriculum vitae, research statement, and cover letter describing your background, interest in the program, and salary requirements, applicants to the Visiting Professionals track should provide a breakdown of all of the sources of financial support you will receive during the fellowship. This includes sabbatical funding or financial support from your home institution. Upon hire, written proof of employment, leave dates, and salary must be provided by the candidate’s home institution for the appointment period while at CITP.

The application process is now open. Please apply here.

Microsoft Visiting Research Scholar/Visiting Professor

The Microsoft Visiting Research Scholar/Visiting Professor track is for visiting academics who are nationally or internationally recognized experts in technology policy. Appointments are typically for a term of up to nine months with an expected start date in September. The Microsoft Visiting Research Scholar/Visiting Professor must hold a Ph.D. or J.D., be on leave from their home institution.

The Microsoft Visiting Research Scholar/Visiting Professor is expected to collaborate and contribute to CITP’s mission in at least one of the following ways:

1. Teach one course related to their research during their nine-month term, subject to sufficient enrollment and with the approval of the Dean of the Faculty.
2. Envision and lead a conference or a series of workshops during their time at CITP.
3. Collaborate with existing faculty members on research and jointly mentor students or CITP’s emerging scholars.

Please include a proposal in your cover letter elaborating on how you plan to contribute to CITP during your term. For example, if you are proposing to teach, please include details about potential topics you are willing to teach (provide a sample syllabus and reading list). If you are proposing to develop a conference or workshop series, please include a proposal describing the series, potential speakers, audience, and output of the conference. Finally, if you are proposing to collaborate on research with existing faculty members, please describe the joint project and potential mentorship opportunities associated with the project.

The Microsoft Visiting Professor track will carry the title of Microsoft Visiting (Assistant/Associate) Professor in the semester of teaching. Their primary appointment will be at the rank of “Visiting Research Scholar” or “Visiting Professional Specialist,” depending on experience. Typically, there will be one Microsoft Visiting Professor per year.

In addition to a current curriculum vitae, research statement, and cover letter describing your background, interest in the program, and salary requirements, applicants to the Visiting Professionals track should provide a breakdown of all of the sources of financial support you will receive during the fellowship. This includes sabbatical funding or financial support from your home institution.

Upon hire, written proof of current employment, leave dates. and salary must be provided by candidate’s home institution for the appointment period while at CITP. The application process is now open. Please apply here.