Postdoctoral Researcher as a Project Coordinator (m/f/d) in the research area of Explainable Artificial Intelligence

The Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy is a pioneer and a driver of bioeconomy research. We create the scientific foundation to transform agricultural, food, industrial and energy systems into a comprehensive bio-based circular economy. We develop and integrate techniques, processes and management strategies, effectively converging technologies to intelligently crosslink highly diverse bioeconomic production systems and to control them in a knowledge-based, adaptive and largely automated manner. We conduct research in dialogue with society - knowledge-motivated and application-inspired.

To strengthen the Department Data Science in Bioeconomy and for the coordination of the project "Explaining4.0: Artificial Intelligence – Efficiency and Transparency”, funded by the BMBF call “Förderung von KI-Nachwuchswissenschaftler*innen”, we are looking for a

in the research area of Explainable Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) has achieved remarkable success in various fields, such as autonomous driving and cancer diagnosis. However, there is a risk that decision-making systems make incorrect predictions, which raises legal, social, and ethical concerns. To this end, the field of eXplainable AI (XAI) has been established, which deals with understanding AI models and their decisions, aiming to make them more transparent and accountable.

Our research group UMI (Understandable Machine Intelligence ) lab, focuses on local and global explanations of AI models, aiming to understand the inner representations of the models, detect learned artefacts and visualize uncertainties within the network. Furthermore, we focus on the evaluation of the XAI methods themselves to ensure their accurate and reliable usage. We conduct both, fundamental research as well as the application on socially highly relevant areas, such as medical diagnosis, climate science, food security and protection of biodiversity.

As part of the BMBF-funded project: “Explaining 4.0: Artificial Intelligence - Transparency and Efficiency “, we are looking for a highly skilled and experienced group leader to lead UMI lab. The project aims to develop XAI methods that enable both local and global understanding of AI models, while being efficient, comprehensible, and robust. If you are an XAI researcher who is passionate about building AI models that are both powerful and transparent, then we encourage you to apply for this exciting leadership position.

Your responsibilities

• Management of the interdisciplinary research group UMI lab
• Leading the BMBF project Explaining4.0: Artificial Intelligence – Efficiency and Transparency
• Conception and coordination of own scientific projects in fundamental and applied research (including project planning, dataset research/generation/preprocessing, model training, coding, and comparison with state of the art)
• Scientific processing of the project Explaining4.0 with a focus on local and global explanations, evaluation of explanation methods and their applications in diverse areas
• Publication of scientific results in internationally renowned journals and their presentation at national and international top-tier conferences and workshops
• Integrate XAI techniques into real-world applications
• Promotion of young scientists, in particular supervision of Bachelor, Master, and PhD students
• Communication and transfer of project results to project partners
• Acquisition of third-party funding projects
• Participation in teaching tasks and development as well as independent implementation of courses
• Establishment and maintenance of international scientific cooperations
• Participation in relevant national and international committees

Your qualifications

• University degree (diploma/master’s degree) and completed doctorate in the field of computational sciences or in a comparable subject
• Profound knowledge in the field of machine learning, in particular deep neural networks
• Excellent knowledge and practical experience in the development and application of explainable AI
• Strong mathematical background
• An excellent publication record in the field of ML (and XAI is of advantage)
• Proven success in attracting external funding is of advantage
• Sound programming skills (especially in Python) and excellent experience with ML and linear algebra libraries (PyTorch, Tensorflow, NumPy, scipy, sklearn, etc.)
• Experience in using version control tools, e.g. Git/Github
• Excellent written and spoken English skills
• Good written and spoken German skills are a plus
• Experience in supervising scientists and students is an advantage
• Experience in leading project teams and in project management
• Flexibility, creativity, willingness to cooperate and excellent communication skills
• High sense of responsibility, reliability, personal commitment and goal-oriented and independent work

We offer

• Exciting research tasks in the field of ML with socially highly relevant fields of application
• The opportunity to make valuable contributions to cutting-edge XAI research
• Access to national and international networks for your scientific advancements
• A highly motivated, international team
• Independent project work
• Supervision of bachelor, master and PhD students
• Close cooperation with the Berlin Institute for the Foundations of Learning and Data (BIFOLD), the research group Machine Learning of the HHI and the Department of Computer Science of TU Kaiserslautern and many others
• Flexible working hours and excellent equipment
• Family-friendly working conditions that promote the compatibility of work and family
• Participation on the VBB company ticket
• Company-owned electric bicycles and vehicles for business trips
• Our institute is located on the edge of a picturesque park-like landscape and is reachable by public transport or by bike

The salary depends on your qualifications and professional experience according to TV-L 14. The position is full-time (100 %) until 31.8.2024.

For further information please contact Frau Prof. Dr. Marina Höhne (E-Mail: mhoehne(at)atb-potsdam.de ) and visit our website www.atb-potsdam.de .

We are looking forward to receiving your application, including a strong motivation letter that demonstrates your suitability for the advertised work group leader position, CV, all credentials with grades (A level, Bachelor and Master/Diploma), recommendation letters and at least 3 reference contacts by the following deadline Mai 23th, 2023 using ATB’s online application form for the job advertisement, code 2023-DS-4, at https://www.atb-potsdam.de/en/career/vacancies . Applications received after the application deadline cannot be considered.

Equality of opportunity is part of our personnel policy. Disabled applicants with adequate qualification will be preferentially considered.

By submitting an application, you agree that your job application documents will be stored for a period of six months, even in the case of an unsuccessful application. Further information on the processing, storage and protection of your personal data can be found https://www.atb-potsdam.de/en/services/data-protection-declaration-for-the-application-process .