Research Associate – Information Retrieval

GESIS – Leibniz-Institute for the Social Sciences is an internationally active research institute, funded by federal and state governments and member of the Leibniz Association.

For the next possible date our department Knowledge Technologies for the Social Sciences (KTS), Team FAIR Data and Human Information Interaction located in Cologne, is looking for a

(Salary group 13 TV-L, working time 75 %, limited to 31.12.2023)

The department Knowledge Technologies for Social Sciences (KTS)  conducts research at the intersection of information retrieval, knowledge graphs, human information interaction and machine learning as foundation for innovative web portals and platforms for the search and use of research data. KTS innovations are based on a state-of-the-art software stack and research-based innovations in the aforementioned fields.

In the context of the consortium KonsortSWD  of the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) KTS develops innovative services with the goal to improve the visibility and findability of research data on the web.

• Applied research in the areas of data search, web data discovery, web information retrieval or knowledge graphs
• Development of a sustainable strategy to improve search and findability of our research data on the web, evaluation with users, impact monitoring
• Implementation of data search and findability approaches with appropriate Web technologies (e.g. applying web standards such as schema.org, search engine optimization, automated annotation of data with web vocabularies)
• Contributing to the standardization and enrichment of dataset metadata in continuous exchange with the NFDI community
• Publication of project results

• University degree in Computer Science or related fields
• Research interests in data search, data & information retrieval, knowledge graphs or human information interaction
• Expertise in metadata and web standards, web search, (web) information retrieval, interest in search engine optimization and data findability
• Experience in software development with Java, Web- and XML-technologies, database and search engine technologies
• Ability to communicate fluently in English, basic knowledge of the German language desirable

• Access to unique research data, web archives and behavioral data
• Support of collaborations with international research labs and experts through an extensive international exchange programme
• Flexible working hours and possibility of mobile working within Germany
• Very good conditions for reconciling work and family life, e.g. subsidies for childcare for children who have not yet attained the age of compulsory schooling
• Holistic company health management and discounted participation in the university's sports programme
• Generous support for your pension provision as a direct insurance policy
• Promotion of your skills through further training measures

For further information concerning the tasks please contact Dr. Brigitte Mathiak via phone +49 (0221) 47694 - 510 or via E-Mail . If you have questions about the application process, please contact Franca Tosetti via E-Mail .

Please apply via our Online-application portal.

Our reference number is: KTS-33.