Open Position: Research Assistant in the area of Knowledge Representation and Applied Reasoning

[announce at teco.edu]

The  Karlsruhe Institute  of Technology  (KIT)  is the  result of  the
merger  of  the  University  of  Karlsruhe  and  the  Research  Center
Karlsruhe. It is  a unique institution in Germany,  which combines the
mission of a university with  that of a large-scale research center of
the Helmholtz Association. With 8000 employees and an annual budget of
EUR 720  millions, KIT  is one of  the largest research  and education
institutions worldwide.

The Chair for Pervasive Computing Systems and the TECO group are
looking asap for a

Research assistant (doctoral or post-doctoral level, TV-L 13)

in the area of knowledge representation and applied reasoning.

TECO is an internationally recognized research unit at KIT in
Ubiquitous and Pervasive Computing since 1993. The group is associated
with the Chair for Pervasive Computing Systems of the Institute of
Telematics, but distinguishes itself in being close to industry, both
with respect to its funding model and its participation in "real-world
projects" with a range of partners in the software and hardware
industries. Their research in applied telematics and Ubiquitous
Computing focuses on the domains of Intelligent and Context-Sensitive
Systems, Human-Computer Interaction and Communications. TECO has
significant experience in the area of knowledge-based reasoning in
Context-Sensitive Systems, intelligent self-organizing Distributed
Systems (especially in the area of Wireless Sensor Networks), and
middleware architectures for bridging extremely heterogeneous
computing environments from networks consisting of tiny sensor nodes
to distributed ERP systems.

We are looking for graduates (MSc or PhD) in area of Computer Science
or related disciplines to complement our team working on Intelligent
and Context-Sensitive Systems with skills the area of:

 * Knowledge representation
 * Ontology engineering
 * Conceptual modeling and domain modeling

Candidates are ideally knowledgable and interested in at least one of
the following fields:

 * Reasoning (e.g. F-Logic, OWL-DL)
 * Machine learning (e.g. clustering, classification)
 * Semantic web service composition
 * Data mining, process mining, predictive analytics
 * Optimization and planning

The position will be funded by the TIMBUS FP7 project (Timeless
Business: http://timbusproject.net/ and
http://www.teco.edu/research/projects/timbus/index.html). The project
endeavors enlarging the understanding of so-called digital
preservation (DP) techniques. It will ensure continued access to
services and software necessary to (re)produce the context within
which information can be accessed and semantically interpreted.

The candidate will cooperate with international industry partners
(e.g. SAP) and academic research groups (e.g. TU Vienna) to perform
novel research on knowledge representation, modeling and reasoning in
the context of digital preservation. The goal of this research is to
design and implement a reasoning system that is able to learn and
reason about dependencies in service-oriented and distributed
systems. The research will be performed in a vibrant interdisciplinary
environment involving researchers from a wide range of areas. Concerns
addressed in TIMBUS range from legal and economic aspects to technical
aspects of software development, virtualization, and sensor
technologies. Application areas include multimedia productions, the
Internet of Services, civil engineering, and particle physics.

The project work will include collaboration with European project
partners and reporting to the European Commission in oral
presentations and written deliverables. Therefore the candidate should
be business fluent in English. We further expect team members to have
basic German language skills.

Besides project work, candidates are encouraged to pursue a doctoral
degree in Computer Science. Therefore, the candidate will be
responsible for the supervision of bachelor's, master's, diploma and
seminar theses, and is expected to publish at internationally
recognized scientific conferences.

The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology is an Equal Opportunity Employer
and encourages applications from minority group members and
women. Applicants with disabilities and equivalent qualifications will
receive preference. Please submit your detailed applications,
including cover letter and position statement, CV as well as copies of
all relevant credentials, transcripts and certificates, the latest by
2012-01-31 either electronically to Irina.Schierholz at kit.edu or by
mail the following address. Please note that a personalized cover
letter and position statement is very important to us to understand
your motivation in applying for this position and the project.

Irina Schierholz
TECO, Chair for Pervasive Computing Systems
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Prof. Michael Beigl
Postfach 6980
76049 Karlsruhe
Germany