[Air-L] PhD position in AI and Law @ KIT

[Paul Friedl]

Dear AoIR Community,

I am delighted to share the following call for applications for a 
position as Doctoral Researcher.

Prof. Frederike Zufall’s chair offers a truly fantastic 
interdisciplinary environment for research at the intersection of AI and 
public law.

Best regards
Dr. Paul Friedl


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Doctoral Researcher (f/m/d) in AI and Law / Computational Law 

@ Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)

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Details: https://www.zar.kit.edu/downloads/Karriere/2026/Zufall_PhD.pdf 



Job description:

The chair of public law and computer science (T.T.-Prof. Dr. iur. 
Frederike Zufall) is looking for a doctoral researcher with a keen 
interest in interdisciplinary research between public law and computer 
science. The chair is located at the computer science faculty of the 
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), one of Germany's leading 
technical universities. For lawyers this environment offers the unique 
opportunity to actively collaborate with computer scientists and pursue 
new ideas as to the interdependence of law and computer science.

The candidate will write a PhD thesis in law, located in the area of 
public law and computer science, and conduct interdisciplinary research 
with computer scientists. Ideally, the thesis should draw on the 
insights gained through this interdisciplinary research.


Research topics connect

-   AI and law / Computational law / Agentic AI / Legal NLP / Legal 
informatics

with research questions in public law on

-   Fundamental rights / Democratic legitimacy / Rule of law / Procedure 
/ Administrative decision-making 

How can legal concepts be carried over to computational systems while 
upholding public law principles such as the protection of fundamental 
rights and democratic legitimacy?

The position should be filled with a lawyer. Additional technical/CS 
background and/or expertise are a plus.

Teaching obligations are subject to German state law. 

Qualification:

·       Master degree / First State Exam / JD (or equivalents) in law 
with top grades

·       English fluency 

·       Affinity with technological questions, especially regarding AI 
and machine learning

·       Interest in bridging research questions in public law to CS 
concepts and AI approaches + willingness to conduct interdisciplinary 
research

·       Strong skills as to coordination, communication and 
collaboration

We offer:

We offer a young and international team☺︎, an attractive and modern 
workplace with access to the excellent equipment of the KIT, a varied 
work, a wide range of training opportunities, flexible working time 
models, an allowance for the job ticket BW and a casino/cafeteria. 

Salary:

Salary category TV-L E13, 50 % (around 2.300 - 2.600 EUR depending on 
the fulfillment of professional and personal requirements)

Contract duration:

2 years with planned contract extension for the PhD

Starting date:

at your earliest convenience

Application up to:

15 February 2026

Application:

Please send your application including a motivation letter, your CV, and 
relevant certificates in electronic form 
to: lawcs-applications at zar.kit.edu
Feel free to also state and suggest specific research ideas and 
interests.

We prefer to balance the number of employees (f/m/d). Therefore, we 
kindly ask female applicants to apply for this job.

Recognized severely disabled persons will be preferred if they are 
equally qualified.