PhD Student positions
Saarland University (Saarbruecken, Germany)
MMCI - Cluster of Excellence
There are currently several PhD student positions available within the cluster of
excellence "Multimodal Computing and Interaction" (MMCI), hosted at
the Saarland University, in Saarbruecken, Germany.
Positions are available in the following research groups:
-"Efficient Search in Semistructured Data Spaces"
(headed by Dr.-Ing. Ralf Schenkel, http://www.mpi-inf.mpg.de/~schenkel/)
-"Querying, Indexing and Discovery in Dynamic Data"
(headed by Dr.-Ing. Sebastian Michel, http://www.mpi-inf.mpg.de/~smichel/)
Requirements:
- Completed degree in computer science, applied mathematics, or similar,
with outstanding performance (Diploma, Master, or equivalent)
- Substantial background in mathematics and familiarity with at least one of:
database technology, information retrieval, efficient algorithms
- Substantial experience with implementation work in C++ or Java
- Personal initiative, creativity and ability to effectively work in a team
- Good level of written and spoken English (German language skills are not required)
Applicants with experience in one or more of the following topics are preferred:
-Distributed algorithms
-Data streams
-Search in high dimensional data
-Algorithms on modern hardware (multicores, GPUs, solid state disks)
-Knowledge extraction and integration
The positions are immediately available, but we are prepared also to wait
for as long as it takes for the right candidates.
Applications should be sent through email to [log in to unmask]
and [log in to unmask], including an application letter, a curriculum vitae,
a detailed list of completed courses in computer science and mathematics,
a complete set of academic certificates, a list of two people willing to write
reference letters for the candidate, and the diploma/master thesis (all as pdf documents).
Applications from non-native English speakers should also include copies
of their GRE, TOEFL, CPE or similar scores if available.
The positions are fully funded with the standard salary TV-L
(German: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarifvertrag_f%C3%BCr_den_%C3%B6ffentlichen_Dienst_der_L%C3%A4nder)
which is in the beginning approximately 3000 Euro before taxes and around 1700 Euro net per month.
Given the relatively inexpensive living conditions in Saarbruecken (e.g., 350 EURO per month
for a decent 60-70m^2 apartment, basic rental charge), 1700 EURO net per month allows for a comfortable life.
About the M2CI Cluster of Excellence (http://www.mmci.uni-saarland.de/):
The Excellence Initiative spearheaded by the German federal and state governments
aims to allow more worldclass research in Germany in the coming years.
To this end funding of 1.9 billion Euros is being made available nationwide up to the year 2011.
These funds should contribute to enhancing the international competitiveness of German universities.
The cluster is strongly connected to the Computer Science Department of the Saarland University, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), the Max-Planck Institute for Software Systems, and the Max-Planck-Institute for Informatics.
Goals:
Daily interpersonal communication is based on a wide range of different modalities.
Our first goal is to enable natural multimodal interaction with information systems
anytime and anywhere, exploiting the wealth of modalities present in everyday
human-to-human interaction. The systems must be aware of each user’s environment
and situation, must react to speech, text, and gestures, and must respond with speech,
text, video, virtual 3D environments and virtual characters.
Our second goal is to enhance the ability of computer systems to acquire, process,
and present different modes of data in an efficient and robust way. We aim for systems
that can analyze and interpret multimodal information even when it is large, distributed,
noisy and possibly incomplete; that can organize the obtained knowledge for powerful querying.
We refer to this type of computing as multimodal computing. (text taken from http://www.mmci.uni-saarland.de/)
About Saarbruecken (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saarbr%C3%BCcken, http://www.saarbruecken.de/en/home):
Saarbruecken is a mid-sized town located in the heart of Europe, with good connections to Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, and Paris.
It combines inexpensive living with a lively "savoir vivre