Research assistants / doctoral candidates (m/f/d)

As the Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology - German National Library of Science and Technology (TIB) - our forward-looking services ensure the infrastructural prerequisites for a high-quality supply of information and literature for research in science and industry. With the Open Research Knowledge Graph (ORKG), we are working to revolutionize the exchange and use of scientific knowledge in the digital age.

The German National Library of Science and Technology (TIB), Program Area D, Open Research Knowledge Graph, is looking for two:

Research assistants / doctoral candidates (m/f/d)

to join the Artificial Intelligence for Scholarly Communication Group (Dr. Sahar Vahdati) at the next possible date.

The positions are initially limited to three years, with the aim of continued employment thereafter.

The regular weekly working time is 29.85 hours (part-time, 75%) per position. The positions are classified in pay group 13 TV-L.

Your task

• Support Foundational AI Research for Scholarly Communication: Conduct literature reviews, develop and test mathematical models, and validate theoretical approaches in areas such as probability theory, optimization, and physics-informed AI, ensuring models are robust and interpretable.
• Advance Knowledge Graphs: Participate in the design, construction, and optimization of knowledge graphs, develop algorithms for efficient reasoning, and test new methods for knowledge representation to enhance AI's decision-making capabilities.
• Contribute to Language and Vision Models: Assist in training, fine-tuning, and evaluating large-scale language and vision models, conducting experiments to improve their reasoning abilities and integrating them into broader AI systems.
• General Research Support: Document findings, present research progress, contribute to proposals and publications, and collaborate with senior researchers to advance the group's mission in nature-inspired machine intelligence.

You will also have the opportunity

• To promote the development and application of AI-based tools on the Open Research Knowledge Graph (ORKG).
• To publish and present research findings at prestigious research conferences and in peer-reviewed journals.
• To develop a dissertation in the area of AI for scholarly communication.
• Contributing to ORKG's research and development and being part of an exceptional team of PhD students, software engineers, and postdoctoral researchers.

Your qualities

We are looking for creative thinkers, efficient doers, able to grasp new knowledge quickly, combine abstract reasoning with concrete problem solving, interested in tackling complex challenges, with solid academic writing and communication skills. Your competences and research interests should be rooted in computer sciences and data science or similar, with demonstrable interest in research data, its management, and the implementation of the FAIR data principles.

The following qualifications are expected

• A successfully completed academic university degree (Master's or equivalent) in a relevant field of study such as computer science, data science, artificial intelligence, or a related discipline, with very good grades.
• Proven expertise in natural language processing (NLP), AI, and machine learning (ML), with a strong foundation in developing and fine-tuning large language models (LLMs) and Transformer-based architectures.
• Excellent software development skills, particularly in front-end development and/or web-based API and back-end development, as well as proficiency in script-based data processing and analysis (especially in Python, using frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, or Hugging Face Transformers).
• Relevant practical experience with knowledge graphs, semantic web technologies, ontology development and management, and tools such as graph databases, along with experience in integrating these with LLMs.
• Demonstrable knowledge of data and metadata standards, particularly in the context of research data management, with an understanding of the challenges and best practices for training and deploying large-scale language models.
• A strong interest in collaborating with research communities, understanding their needs, and translating their requirements into high-quality AI-driven solutions, especially in the context of language models and AI reasoning.
• Very good command of written and spoken English, along with excellent communication skills.

Desirable additions to your profile

• Experience with Multimodal AI and Explainable AI (XAI): Working knowledge of integrating language with other modalities (e.g., vision, audio) and developing interpretable AI models, particularly in the context of large language models.
• Advanced Knowledge in Reinforcement Learning (RL): Experience with reinforcement learning techniques, particularly in the context of natural language processing or decision-making systems.
• Agentic Workflows in LLMs: Experience with prompting language models to build agent-based workflows or using agent frameworks.
• Publication Record: A track record of publishing high-quality papers in top-tier AI/ML and NLP conferences or journals.

What we offer

Our mission is to keep rethinking and innovating the provision and use of research data and information. In TIB’s Open Research Knowledge Graph Department, you have the opportunity to advance your career in a sizable, dynamic, and excellent research and development environment. We provide an intellectually inspiring environment with an entrepreneurial mindset embedded in a leading technical university and one of the largest technical information centers, part of the Leibniz Association. TIB collaborates closely with the L3S Research Centre at Leibniz University Hannover, one of the world's leading research institutes in the field of Web & Data Science.

Furthermore, we offer

• Financing for necessary equipment, conference and research visit travel.
• Work in the context of national and international research and innovation projects.
• A portfolio of technology components to build on, including ORKG.
• A modern workplace in a central location of Hannover with a collegial, attractive and versatile working environment.
• Flexible working hours (flexitime) as well as offers for reconciling work and family life, such as mobile work, home office, and remote work options.
• An employer with a wide range of internal and external further education and training measures, workplace health promotion, and a supplementary pension scheme for the public sector (VBL).
• Discount for employees in the canteens of the Studentenwerk Hannover as well as the possibility to use the various offers of the University Sports Hannover.
• A salary in pay scale group 13 TV-L according to the provisions of the collective agreement for the public service in Germany (TV-L), including a special annual payment.

If you are interested, questions regarding the position can be addressed to Lisa Fricke, HR Department, by mail at Lisa.Fricke@tib.eu.

How to apply

We look forward to receiving your application. To submit your application, please use our Online-application-form.

Paper applications are also possible on an equal basis. In this case, please send your complete application documents with the subject 53/2024 before October 23, 2024 addressed to

Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB)
Personalservice
Frau Lisa Fricke
Welfengarten 1 B
30167 Hannover
Germany

or alternatively as a single PDF document file to bewerbung@tib.eu. For applications in digital form, please send a PDF file with a maximum size of 10 MB.

In the case of foreign university degrees, it is mandatory to submit a Statement of Comparability from the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB) for the final assessment of the hiring requirements during the hiring process. A fee will be charged for this. This obligation does not apply if the foreign university degree has already been assessed by an expert and is listed in the ANABIN database of the ZAB as an equivalent university degree.

Who we are

TIB, being part of the Leibniz Research Association, is with around 600 employees one of the largest technical information centres in Germany, having three main functions:

1. Acting in the capacity of the Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology, our forward-looking services secure the infrastructural requirements for providing researchers in science and industry with high-quality information and literature.

2. Carrying out cutting edge research to further expand TIB’s role as a German information centre for the digitisation of science and technology.

3. Offer library services for the Leibniz University Hannover.

TIB is an equal opportunity employer, providing ideal working conditions, and continuously taking action to enable its employees to combine career interests with family life. It is particularly keen to promote professional equality between women and men and therefore strongly encourages qualified women to apply.

Severely disabled candidates with comparable qualifications will be given preferential treatment. We welcome applications from all nationalities.

Please note that your application documents will not be returned and application and travel costs cannot be reimbursed.

Please indicate in the subject line of your application through which job board you became aware of our offer.

For more information about the TIB, please visit: www.tib.eu/en/