Research Fellow (PhD/Post-doc position)

Job advertisement for: research assistant (f/m) / project coordinator (f/m) / postdoctoral researcher (f/m)

Research group: Knowledge-Based Systems
Contact: Markus Krötzsch
Application deadline: August 15, 2016

The Chair of Knowledge-Based Systems within the Cluster of Excellence ‘Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden’ (cfaed) offers 2 positons as

Research Fellow (PhD/Post-doc position)

(subject to personal qualification employees are remunerated according to salary group E 13 TV-L)

Research area: Knowledge Graph Management and Ontology-Based Queries

cfaed Investigators: Prof. Dr. Markus Krötzsch

Terms: The positions start asap and are fixed term until 31.10.2017 (with the option to be extended). The period of employment is governed by § 2 Fixed Term Research Contracts Act (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz – WissZeitVG). The positions offer the chance to obtain further academic qualification (e.g. PhD, Habilitation). Balancing family and career is an important issue. The posts are basically suitable for candidates seeking part-time employment.

Position and Requirements

The Chair of Knowledge-Based Systems designs, builds, and studies intelligent information systems. We develop formal approaches of representing human knowledge in computer systems, and we put them into practice to produce working solutions. Application areas of our research include large-scale data management, Web information systems, and ontological modeling. Mathematical foundations of our research include formal logic, complexity theory, as well as automata and languages. We are hiring for two specific areas:

1. Knowledge Graphs: We study graph-based data management ranging from information modeling and storage to analytical computations over knowledge graphs.

2. Ontology-Based Queries: We investigate formal knowledge models to describe schema relationships and constraints, and we apply this knowledge to augment query results.

Additionally, we will explore possible applications of knowledge-based systems in advanced electronics applications in tight collaboration with the other paths of the cfaed.

The chair is embedded into an inspiring environment, e.g. in the International Center for Computational Logic (ICCL) of faculty of Computer Science, which is one of the biggest research centers for formal methods, logic, and artificial intelligence. The Cluster of Excellence Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden (cfaed) fosters cross-disciplinary collaborations with many researchers in computer science and beyond. TU Dresden is one of the leading universities in Germany, and one of the eleven German universities that have been awarded excellence status in the national Excellence Initiative. The city of Dresden is also a great place to live.

We search for highly motivated and talented researchers to work at the interface of theoretical and applied computer science with an interest in meaningful applications. We look for:

Postdoc candidates: university degree in computer science or related field, PhD and an outstanding performance in knowledge representation and reasoning, artificial intelligence, or databases especially as related to the aforementioned topics of the chair,
PhD candidates: excellent university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in computer science or a related field, and a keen interest or initial expertise in one or more of the aforementioned topics of the chair,
creativity and efficient problem solving skills,
a broad interest in computer science, its foundations, and cross-disciplinary applications,
excellent communication skills,
an independent, result-driven work attitude,
fluency in English, spoken and written – we work in a completely international research environment where German is not required, but German skills can still be beneficial.

What we offer

You will join a team of enthusiastic scientists who pursue creatively their individual research agenda inspired by the cluster’s innovative approach and support. Your research will be fostered by the cfaed philosophy to promote young researchers which includes: access to state of the art research of leading academic institutes; for PhD candidates: individual supervision by a Thesis Advisory Committee; possibility to earn (seed) grants of up to € 10.000; promotion of gender equality and family-friendly work environment. Applications from women are particularly welcome. The same applies to people with disabilities.

For informal enquiries, please contact Prof. Markus Krötzsch at markus.kroetzsch@tu-dresden.de.

Application Procedure

Your application (in English only) should include: a motivation letter, your CV with publication list, the names and contact details of two references, copy of degree certificate, and transcript of grades (i.e. the official list of coursework including your grades), proof of English language skills. Post-doc candidates: please include also copies of 1-2 original publications and a link to your PhD thesis. Complete applications should be submitted preferably by e-mail as a single PDF-document quoting the reference number PhD/PD1606_Z-KBS in the subject header recruiting.cfaed@tu-dresden.de (Please note: We are currently not able to receive electronically signed and encrypted data.) or alternatively by post to: TU Dresden, cfaed, Frau Anett Eichner, 01062 Dresden, Germany. The closing date for applications is 15th Aug 2016 (extended; stamped arrival date of the university central mail service applies). Please submit copies only, as your application will not be returned to you. Expenses incurred in attending interviews cannot be reimbursed.

About cfaed

cfaed is a cluster of excellence within the German Excellence Initiative. As a central scientific unit of TU Dresden, it brings together 300 researchers from the university and 10 other research institutes in the areas of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Materials Science, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Mathematics. cfaed addresses the advancement of electronic information processing systems through exploring new technologies which overcome the limits of today’s predominant CMOS technology. For more information please see www.cfaed.tu-dresden.de

About TU Dresden

The TU Dresden is among the top universities in Germany and Europe and one of the eleven German universities that were identified as an ‘elite university’ in June 2012. As a modern full-status university with 14 departments it offers a wide academic range making it one of a very few in Germany.