Contract lecturer-researcher – Ethics, technology, engineering

Teaching

The successful applicant will deliver lectures in the Ethics of Technology and Engineering and teach courses within the UTC’s engineering curriculum, as well as within the UTC/EDHEC Bachelor’s program in Digital Engineering and Management. This role includes responsibility for existing courses— including Ethics: A Multidisciplinary Approach and Ethics, Values and Sustainability—as well as a doctoral-level training in research ethics in engineering. In addition, the successful applicant will design and implement a course on ethics for engineering faculty members and researchers at UTC.

Research

The successful applicant will join the Costech laboratory and be affiliated with the “Care, Inclusion, Technologies” (EP2) and “Cognition, Epistemology, Technology” (EP5) project teams. They will conduct research in the philosophy and ethics of technology and engineering and, with a strong commitment to interdisciplinarity, will focus in particular on developing collaborations with UTC’s engineering research laboratories. They will also play an active role in initiating and developing collaborative research partnership projects.

The successful applicant will also be expected to play a major role within UTC’s Sustainable Development and Social and Environmental Responsibility Department (DD&RSE). They will organize and facilitate ethical discussion forums for researchers across all engineering laboratories within the university. They will also organize scientific events focusing on the ethics of technological research and engineering.

Additional information

Additional activities

Participate in the implementation of the UTC Sustainable Development & Social and Environmental Responsability (SD&SER) Master plan.

Ressources

The successful applicant will have access to everything they need to fulfil their teaching and research duties: an office, IT equipment, books, software, etc.

The institution

The université de technologie de Compiègne (UTC), a member of the Sorbonne University Alliance (ASU) and the network of universities of technology (UT), is ranked among the top French engineering schools in a number of national rankings, and offers a particularly favorable environment for teaching and research.

https://www.utc.fr/en/

The Department

Among UTC's six departments, the Technology, Society, and Humanities (TSH) department provides cross-disciplinary courses for the entire UTC program:

• In the Humanities & Technology curriculum (integrated preparatory cycle);

• In the core curriculum (integrated preparatory cycle);

• In specialized fields (engineering cycle: student and apprentice status training, continuing education);

• In graduate studies (master's and doctorate).

UTC-TSH offers an innovative teaching programme approach based on the various situations faced by engineers today. It aims to highlight the inextricable links between technical and technological developments and the socio-economic world, between work situations and ethical, societal, and political responsibility. Its goal is to build, teach, and promote: 1. Knowledge and research paradigms that can renew the analysis and understanding of these situations. The department is interdisciplinary, drawing on and combining knowledge from cognitive sciences, information and communication sciences, economics and management, social sciences, philosophy, etc. 2. Approaches and tools for acting in these situations (design of interfaces and interaction devices, management of innovative projects, etc.). 

The department hosts the Costech laboratory.

It maintains strong relationships with industry in both training and research. It cultivates close ties with national and international institutions.

Transverse training courses: Technology, Societies, Humanities - UTC

The Laboratory

With some thirty permanent members, UTC-Costech Laboratory (Knowledge, Organization and Technical Systems) interdisciplinary research unit is developing a technological research program in the social and human sciences to study contemporary sociotechnical environments.

Costech is committed to carrying out original and far-reaching research that it simultaneously puts to the test in technical, organizational and social projects.

Members of Costech are therefore involved in concrete developments: interfaces and coupling devices, new tools for teaching and cooperation, and strategies for technology transfer.

https://www.utc.fr/en/research/utc-research-units/knowledge-organization-and-technical-systems-costech/

Contract type and excepted start date

Three-year fixed-term contract, renewable, to start on 1 September 2026

Gross monthly salary

From €2,590 to €5,000 depending on experience

Application dates

From 13 May 2026 to 12 June 2026

Contacts

Xavier Guchet, contact

xavier.guchet@utc.fr

Guillaume Carnino, Director of the Technology, Society and Humanities (TSH) Department

guillaume.carnino@utc.fr

Frédéric Huet, Head of Teaching of the Technology, Society and Humanities (TSH) Department

frederic.huet@utc.fr

Olivier Gapenne, Head of the Knowledge, Organisation and Technical Systems (Costech) Laboratory

olivier.gapenne@utc.fr

Profile and keywords

Profile: Ethics, technology, engineering

Keywords: Ethics, engineer, philosophy, engineering, technology

Qualification, education

The successful applicant must hold a PhD in Philosophy or in Epistemology, History of Science and Technology.

The successful candidate’s work should demonstrate a keen interest in technology and the ethical issues it raises.

She must also demonstrate the ability to work effectively within a multidisciplinary team; the ability to teach in English; experience of interdisciplinary research involving engineering sciences; and experience of teaching engineering students.