Prof. Dr. Judith Simon

Photo: Christian Thiel/Deutscher Ethikrat

Professor for Ethics in Information Technology

Address

University of Hamburg

Bundesstraße 56 B

20146 Hamburg

Office

Room: 04-657 (access via 04-655)

Contact

Email: judith.simon"AT"uni-hamburg.de

For interview and talk requests please contact our EIT Office(eit-office.inf"AT"uni-hamburg.de).

Judith Simon is Full Professor for Ethics in Information Technologies at the Universität Hamburg. She is interested in ethical, epistemological and political questions arising in the context of digital technologies, in particular in regards to artificial intelligence. Judith Simon served as vice chair of the German Ethics Council until June 2026, where she also served as co-chair for the council’s opinions on "Humans and Machines – Challenges of Artificial Intelligence" and “Protection, Participation and Empowerment of Children and Adolescents in the Digital World” (2026). In June 2026, she was appointed to the European Commission's AI Act Scientific Panel. She has been serving on various other committees of scientific policy advice such as the Data Ethics Commission of the German Federal Government (2018-2019). She is the editor of the Routledge Handbook of Trust and Philosophy (2020) and serves on the editorial and advisory boards of the journals “Philosophy and Technology”, "Big Data & Society" and "Digital Society”.

Find here Judith Simon's short biography in German language, and below an extended English version.

Research Area

Computer Ethics & Philosophy of Computing
Critical Big Data Studies
Philosophy of Technology & Philosophy of Science
Socio-Technical Epistemology
Science and Technology Studies & Technology Assessment
Values in Design & Responsible Research and Innovation

CV

Since February 2017 Judith Simon holds the chair for Ethics in Information Technologies at the University of Hamburg. Furthermore, since 2018 she is member of the German Ethics Council, the the Commission on Data Ethics of the Federal Government of Germany, and the Joint Committee of Leopoldina and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) on the Handling of Security-Relevant Research. Before joining the University of Hamburg, Judith Simon was associate professor for philosophy of science and technology at the IT University Copenhagen as well as principal investigator of the project “Epistemic Trust in Socio-Technical Epistemic Systems” (FWF-P23770) at the University of Vienna.

She holds a MA in psychology from the Free University Berlin and a PhD in philosophy from the University of Vienna. After completing her Master in 2002 she has worked as a freelance worker in usability testing of software applications. From 2003 to 2005 she has been research assistant in the research group on “Bioethics and Science Communication” (cooperation of RC Juelich & MDC Berlin). From 2005 to 2009 she has been research assistant in the research group “Philosophy of Science: Cultures and Technologies of Knowledge” at the University of Vienna. From 2009 to 2011 she has been post-doctoral fellow at the Institute Jean Nicod (Ecole Normale Supérieure) in Paris, analyzing changes in research and scientific publishing due to Web2.0 technologies (EU FET-Open project LiquidPublications). From 2011 till 2014 she was employed as senior researcher at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis focusing on technology assessment of ICT. She was a visiting scholar at Stanford University and has been a guest researcher at the Department of Information Engineering and Computer Science at University of Trento as well as the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (CSIC-IIIA) in Barcelona.

In 2013 Judith Simon received the Herbert A. Simon Award of the International Association of Computing and Philosophy (IACAP) for outstanding research in philosophy & computing.

Teaching

WS 2026/27
64-030 Vorlesung Informatik im Kontext
64-110 Methodenkompetenz - Einführung in das wissenschaftliche Arbeiten
64-752 Lecture Epistemology, Ethics and Privacy
64-753 Exercises Epistemology, Ethics and Privacy
64-690/64-691 Ringvorlesung Taming the Machines
64-692 Seminar zur Ringvorlesung Taming the Machines

SoSe 2026
64-207 Vorlesung Philosophie, Gesellschaft und IT
64-208 Seminar Philosophie - Gesellschaft und IT
64-690 Ringvorlesung Taming the Machines
64-639 Seminar zur Ringvorlesung Taming the Machines

Awards and Scholarships

2013	Herbert A. Simon Award of the International Association of Computing and Philosophy (IACAP)
2010	Appointment as Research Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies on Science, Technology and Society (IAS-STS) (declined due to research position at Institut Jean Nicod)
05–12/2009	Research Scholarship F-605, University of Vienna
03–09/2008	Scholarship by the Advanced Graduate Student Exchange Program, Stanford University – University of Vienna
05–06/2007	CEEPUS Teacher Mobility Grant by the Austrian Exchange Service (ÖAW)
09/1998 –05/1999	Student-Exchange Scholarship by the University of Marburg

Academic Service and Advisory Boards

Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Federal Agency for Civic Education / Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (since 2026)
Member of the AI Act Scientific Panel of the European Commission (since 2026)
Member of the Board of Trustees of the Klaus-Tschira Stiftung (since 2024)
Member of the Focus Group Digitalization (formerly Standing Committee "Digital Society", Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften (since 2019)
Member of the Working Group 3 “IT Security, Privacy, Ethical and Legal Frameworks” for the Plattform “Lernende Systeme – Germany’s Platform for Artificial Intelligence (2017-2022), German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (since 2018)
Member of the Expert Commission on "Protecting Children and Young People in the Digital World" of the German Federal Government (2025-2026)
Member of the Selection Committee for the Allocation of the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship - International Award for Research in Germany (2021-2024)
Member of the German Ethics Council (2018-2026) and its Vice-Chair (since 2024), Co-Chair of the Working Group "Humans and Machines" (2020-2023)
Member of the Advisory Board of the non-profit association and think tank D64 – Zentrum für digitalen Fortschritt e.V. (2020-2023)
Member of the Advisory Board on Employee Data Protection of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (2020-2022)
Member of the Joint Committee on the Ethics of Security-Relevant Research, Leopoldina & Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (2018-2023)
Member of the Working Group "Digitization & Democracy", Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften (2018-2019), Spokesperson of the Working Group
Member of the Data Ethics Commission of the German Federal Government (2018-2019)
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) Expert Commission on the “Sciences and Humanities in the Digital Age” (2018-2019)
Chair of the Ethics Review Board at the Department of Informatics (Universität Hamburg) (since 2018)
Member of the Advisory Group on Societal Challenge 6, Development of the Work Program 2018-2020, European Commission (2016)
Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of various institutes, such as the Institute for Digital Ethics at the Stuttgart Media University (since 2017)
Member of the Onlife Initiative, DG Connect, European Commission: http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/onlife-initiative (2011-2012)

Editorial Boards

Associate Editor for Epistemology and Technology of the Journal “Philosophy and Technology” (Springer)
Founding Co-Editor and Member of the Advisory Board of the Journal “Big Data & Society: Critical Interdisciplinary Inquiries” (Sage)
Review Editor of the Book Series “Philosophy, Technology and Society” (Rowman & Littlefield International)
Section Editor for Philosophy of the German Editorial Team of the Open Library of Humanities (OLH)

Projects

Study Group Societal Distribution of Labour in the Polycrisis (Arbeitskreis Gesellschaftliche Arbeitsteilung in der Multiplen Krise), Fritz-Thyssen Stiftung.
STEAM. Regulatory Reasoning on Algorithmic Systems in Societal Communication, Co-Applicant, Funded by VolkswagenStiftung
DFG Graduate Program Collective Decision-Making

Completed Projects

ZiF Research Group. Economic and Legal Challenges in the Advent of Smart Products
GOAL. Governance von und durch Algorithmen
Information Governance Technologies, Co-Applicant. Funded by Behörde für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Gleichstellung, Landesforschungsförderung Hamburg.
CIBS - Center for Information and Bubble Studies (PI: V.F. Hendricks), Co-Applicant & Core Faculty. Funded by the Carlsberg Foundation (2015-2020). http://bubblestudies.ku.dk
FWF-P23770 - Epistemic Trust in Socio-Technical Epistemic Systems (Principal Investigator). Funded by the Austrian Science Fund (2011-2016)
COST Action TD1306 PEERE – New Frontiers in Peer Review (PI: F. Sqazzoni), Co-Applicant & Substitute Member of Management Committee. Funded by the European Commission. http://www.peere.org

Memberships

INSEIT, the International Society for Ethics and Information Technology: https://inseit.net
IACAP, the International Society for Computing and Philosophy: http://www.iacap.org
Netzwerk Technikfolgenabschätzung: https://www.openta.net/de/netzwerk-ta