UniversitätsbibliothekEducational Infrastructure & Software Engineer (m/f/d) in the FMER funded project "IMPACT" full-time job limited to 30.11.2025 Entgeltgruppe 13 TV-L FU Reference code: UB/2022/7 Bewerbungsende: 08.08.2022

The university library of Freie Universität Berlin provides more than 35,000 students and 2,000 academics with information, literature and services for research, teaching and study at various locations. It provides physical and virtual learning and communication spaces to enable analogue and digital encounters and exchange. As a modern, service-oriented information service provider for members of Freie Universität, it creates reliable access to data, information and knowledge - among other things, by providing over 9 million media (books, e-books, journals, databases, etc.), central systems such as learning platforms, blogs and wikis, as well as almost 3,500 individual and group workstations on campus.

The Services of the Center for Digital Systems (CeDiS) at the University Library support all institutions of Freie Universität in the use of digital media and technologies in teaching and research. The CeDiS services include the conception and implementation of technology-supported teaching, learning and examination scenarios, web-based publication solutions and electronic research environments, the provision of central systems such as CMS, LMS, blogs and wikis as well as extensive consulting, training and media services. Further information is available at http://www.cedis.fu-berlin.de .

Our international team is involved in many interdisciplinary third-party funded projects. One focus is on the Bund-Länder-Initiative for the Promotion of Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education

(https://www.bmbf.de/bmbf/shareddocs/bekanntmachungen/de/2021/02/3409_bekanntmachung.html ).

The initiative aims to develop AI-related study programmes as well as to develop and use AI-based technologies in higher education. The study programmes and technologies are to be used across the board in higher education.

The BMBF-funded IMPACT project "Implementation of AI-based Feedback and Assessment with Trusted Learning Analytics in Higher Education" is being carried out by a consortium of five German universities under the leadership of Goethe University Frankfurt. It focuses on improving higher education through the scalable use of artificial intelligence (AI) methods for the (partially) automated analysis of text data. Along the student life cycle, prospective students, freshman and students receive text-based, highly informative and personalised feedback during the study orientation and study entry phase, during the course of studies (formative assessment) and at the end of studies (summative assessment).

Within the framework of the consortium, Freie Universität Berlin is responsible for the sub-project "Implementation of AI in the study entry phase and for summative assessment and feedback". The E-Learning and E-Examinations work area conducts the sub-project together with the Departments of Mathematics and Computer Science (Prof. Dr. Tim Landgraf, Dahlem Center for Machine Learning and Robotics, Institute of Computer Science) and Veterinary Medicine (Prof. Dr. Vitaly Belik, Head of the Working Group for System Modelling, Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Biostatistics). The subproject hast two focal points: First, the expansion of counseling services for prospective students through the implementation of chatbot technologies to support this target group in deciding on a suitable field of study. Second, the development of AI applications for text analysis in the context of summative examination scenarios with the goal of supporting teachers in the evaluation of free-text answers from summative examinations through a (partially) automated evaluation and providing students with qualitative feedback.

As one of the universities of excellence, Freie Universität Berlin offers you the opportunity to contribute scientifically to this project together with an international and interdisciplinary team. We are very much looking forward to meeting you.

Job description:
Monitoring, exploration, analysis, and conceptual and technical development of (university) infrastructure solutions for the scalable use of artificial intelligence (AI) methods for (partially) automated analysis of text corpora:
- Provision of chatbot frameworks (for obtaining dialogue data from prospective student queries)
- Provision of natural language processing frameworks (for analysing text corpora within the framework of the central e-assessment system of Freie Universität)
- Implementation and testing of interfaces or software modules to university software systems already in use (LPLUS TestStudio, Blackboard Learning Management System, NPS Infopark Content Management System)
- Ensuring interoperability through standardisation of data structures (dialogue data and text corpora) and integration into existing cross-university network structures (e.g. in the las2peer network)
- DSGVO-compliant protection of project data
- Analysis of the state of scientific research on infrastructure solutions for the scalable use of AI processes in the higher education context
- Strategic assessment of technological decisions taking into account existing infrastructures
- Active participation in scientific exchange with the collaborative project partners

The advertised position is located in the E-Learning and E-Examination work area.

Requirements:
Academic degree (Master, Diploma) in Computer Science, Data Science, Educational Technologies, or comparable qualification.

Desirable:
- Experience in the technical conception, implementation and application of educational technologies
- Experience in the specification, implementation and testing of interfaces as well as in the development and operation of server and database infrastructures
- Profound knowledge of software development tools and frameworks (Java, Python, Ruby on Rails, Ajax, R, etc.)
- Experience in the conception and implementation of web interfaces (RestAPI, xAPI, etc.)
- Experience in the conception, implementation and application of Platform-as-a-Service technologies (Docker, etc.)
- Experience in the implementation and application of chatbot technologies (Rasa, etc.)
- Knowledge of big data and machine learning, research data management, data protection and data ethics
- Ability to work scientifically and indepently
- Experience in project work with interdisciplinary teams
- Initiative and ability to work in a team
- Pragmatic and goal-oriented approach to work
- Good knowledge of German and English

For further information, please contact the coordinator of the work area Alexander Schulz ([email protected] , fon: +49.30.838-52844).