Research Associate/PhD Candidate (m/f/d)

As the German National Library of Science and Technology our future-oriented services ensure the infrastructural requirements for a high-quality supply of information and literature for research in science and industry. Our services as a university library secure the local supply for the Leibniz University Hannover.

The Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB) – Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology – Program Area C, Research and Development, is looking to employ a

Research Associate/PhD Candidate (m/f/d)

to join the Learning and Skills Analytics Research Group (Dr. Gábor Kismihók) at the earliest possible opportunity.

The position is initially limited to three years with envisioned extension. The working time is 75% of the regular weekly working time (part-time, 29.85 weekly hours). The remuneration is based on pay scale group 13 TV-L.

Your challenge

The objective of this interdisciplinary PhD project is to conduct applied research on open, Artificial Intelligence driven, personalised learning processes and individual skill development. The successful candidate will be a member of the international team working on a “Personalized, Open Educational Resource (OER) Recommender for Continuous Skill Improvement ” (eDoer) platform with a special focus on elderly care related professions. This role includes (but is not limited to) front-end and back-end development (fullstack); developing AI driven methods for skill assessment; visualising personalized learning paths and skill requirements.

The PhD programme is also closely linked to the project "Bildungswissenschaftliche Grundlegung eines smarten KI-basierten digitalen Weiterbildungsraums für die Altenhilfe mittels personalisierter Empfehlungssysteme" (WBsmart), funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the innovation competition "INVITE". The TIB team will work in cooperation with the University of Siegen to further develop the existing eDoer platform with knowledge graphs based recommendation mechanisms.

Furthermore, as a PhD student, the successful candidate will need to

• Co-design and conduct empirical studies together with partner organizations
• Publish and present research results in peer-reviewed research journals and conferences

Your qualities

Your competence area should be rooted in the area of Technology Enhanced Learning or a related field (computer science and data science). You should be able to think creatively, have solid academic writing skills, grasp new knowledge quickly, be able to combine abstract reasoning with concrete problem solving skills and be interested in tackling complex challenges.

The following qualifications are mandatory

• University degree (Master or equivalent) preferably in Data Science (or related fields)
• Excellent command of both written and spoken German and English
• Proficiency in the following areas:
  • Statistics especially designing and testing hypotheses
  • Data Science including data cleaning, exploratory data analysis, building and testing machine learning models
  • Recommender systems (especially in the area of education)
• Well-developed analytical skills, creativity, precision and perseverance
• Ability to work both in a team and independently
• Willingness to go on business trips

Desired additions to your profile

• Experience with any kind of semantic technologies (e.g. ontologies and knowledge graphs) would be a plus
• Experience with any kind of health care related data and services would be a plus
• Experience in designing and implementing knowledge assessment services
• Experience in physiological user data
• Expertise in, knowledge of and interest to social science, educational science or psychology

What we offer

In TIB’s Research and Development Department , you have the opportunity to further your scientific development in a dynamic and excellent research environment. We provide a scientifically and intellectually inspiring environment with an entrepreneurial mindset embedded in a leading technical university and one of the largest technical information centres being part of the Leibniz Association.

The research department at the TIB is relatively young and offers many opportunities. There is a close cooperation with the L3S Research Centre at Leibniz University Hannover, one of the world's leading research institutes in the field of Web & Data Science, within the Leibniz Joint Lab Data Science & Open Knowledge.

Last but not least, we attach great importance to an open and creative working atmosphere in which it is fun to work.

Furthermore, we offer

• Financing for necessary equipment, conference and research visit travel
• Work in the context of a national research and innovation project
• A portfolio of technology components to build on, including ORKG , OpenResearch.org , TIB AV-Portal , DBpedia.org and other
• A modern workplace in a central location of Hanover 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 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 job in the public service with 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 Dr. Gábor Kismihók, head of Learning and Skill Analytics Group, by mail at Gabor.Kismihok(at)tib.eu .

How to apply

We look forward to receiving your application. To submit your application, please click here .

Paper applications are also possible on an equal basis. In this case, please send your complete application documents with the subject 82/2021 before December 12th 2021 addressed to Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB), Personalservice, Herrn Daniel Eilers, Welfengarten 1 B, 30167 Hannover, Germany or alternatively as a single PDF document file to Bewerbung(at)tib.eu . For applications in digital from, please send a PDF file with a maximum size of 10 MB.

The application should include:

• Professional CV
• Two reference contacts
• Copy of diplomas and certificates
• Copy of Master Thesis or other evidence of skills in data science and statistics
• Copies of Publications (if available) or other evidence of academic English writing ability

Who we are

TIB, being part of the Leibniz Research Association, is with around 550 employees one of the largest technical information centres in Germany, having three main functions:

• 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
• Carrying out cutting edge research to further expand TIB’s role as a German information centre for the digitisation of science and technology
• 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 wants to promote equal career opportunities for women and men in particular and therefore urges 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/ .