We are looking for candidates for a three-year PhD scholarship that will be carried out at the Human Interfaces in Information Systems (HIIS) Laboratory at CNR-ISTI
The fellowship is associated with the PhD school at the Computer Science department of the University of Pisa and is to be trained and carry out research in the area of Responsible Artificial Intelligence for Accessible Interactive Systems. The specific PhD topic will be defined taking into account the background and the interests of the candidate.
As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in interactive systems, its growing complexity raises critical challenges for accessibility, transparency, and user control.
Current AI-driven solutions often operate as opaque systems, limiting their usability for diverse populations and creating barriers for people with disabilities. At the same time, existing accessibility approaches struggle to cope with the dynamic and adaptive nature of AI-based interactions.
Responsible Artificial Intelligence (RAI) is an approach to developing, assessing, and deploying AI systems safely, ethically, and with trust. In this broad design space, we focus on RAI for obtaining accessible interactive systems. Digital accessibility refers to the practice of designing and developing digital services, platforms, and interfaces to ensure usability by individuals across a broad spectrum of functional abilities and disabilities.
The HIIS Laboratory is a creative and multi-disciplinary interactive technologies research laboratory, with deep and extensive research collaborations at the national and international levels, several
partners, and a supportive and inclusive working environment.
Pisa is a lively small town located in Tuscany, near the coast, characterised by the presence of a rich research ecosystem (three Universities and many research centres), very active in the ICT area.
We are therefore looking for deserving candidates. It is useful to have some computational thinking abilities, interest and passion for the considered topics, and to carry out research activities.
The application procedure is available at
https://www.unipi.it/didattica/corsi/dottorati/bando2026-27/bando-b-2026-2027/
The deadline is 10 August 2026 at 13.00 Italian time.
The candidate should select the scholarship in Computer Science associated with the topic INFO08_B on “Responsible Artificial Intelligence for Accessible Interactive Systems”.
Applicants must have earned a master degree by the end of October 2026.
The PhD fellowship will start on 1 November 2026
For more information, you can contact fabio.paterno@isti.cnr.it