Connectionists: Three PhD students, one postdoc on neurosymbolic models

[Mariya Toneva]

The Research Training Group 2853 “Neuroexplicit Models of Language, Vision,
and Action” is looking for

3 PhD students and 1 postdoc

November 2023 or later

Neuroexplicit models combine neural and human-interpretable (“explicit”)
models in order to overcome the limitations that each model class has
separately. They include neurosymbolic models, which combine neural and
symbolic models, but also e.g. combinations of neural and physics-based
models. In the RTG, we will improve the state of the art in natural
language processing (“Language”), computer vision (“Vision”), and planning
and reinforcement learning (“Action”) through the use of neuroexplicit
models and investigate the cross-cutting design principles of effective
neuroexplicit models (“Foundations”).

The RTG is scheduled to grow to a total of 24 PhD students and one postdoc
by 2025. Through the inclusion of ~20 further PhD students and postdocs
funded from other sources, it will be one of the largest research centers
on neuroexplicit or neurosymbolic models in the world. The RTG brings
together researchers at Saarland University, the Max Planck Institute for
Informatics, the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, the CISPA
Helmholtz Center for Information Security, and the German Research Center
for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI). All of these institutions are colocated
on the same campus in Saarbrücken, Germany.

In a previous round of recruiting, we have already filled three PhD
positions, leaving three positions free for applicants with a later MSc
graduation date. The positions are funded as follows:


   -

   PhD students will be funded for up to four years at the TV-L E13 100%
   pay scale. You should have or be about to complete an MSc degree in
   computer science or a related field and have demonstrated expertise in one
   of the research areas of the RTG, e.g. through an excellent Master’s thesis
   or relevant publications.

   -

   The postdoc will initially be funded for three years, with the
   possibility of extension up to five years, at the TV-L E13 100% pay scale.
   As the RTG postdoc, you will pursue your own research agenda in the field
   of neuroexplicit models and work with the PhD students to identify and
   pursue opportunities for collaborative research. You should have or be
   about to complete a PhD in computer science or a related field and have
   demonstrated your expertise in one or more of the RTG’s research areas
   through publications in top venues.


The RTG is part of the Saarland Informatics Campus, one of the leading
centers for research in computer science, artificial intelligence, and
natural language processing in Europe. The Saarland Informatics Campus
brings together 900 researchers and 2500 students from 81 countries. The
CISPA Helmholtz Center, located on the same campus, is home to an
additional 350 researchers and on track to grow to 800 by 2026. Researchers
at SIC and CISPA are part of the ELLIS network and have been awarded more
than 35 ERC grants.

Each PhD student in the RTG will be jointly supervised by two PhD advisors
from the list of Principal Investigators below. Each student will freely
define their own research topic; we encourage the choice of topics that
cross the traditional boundaries of research fields. Students may be
affiliated with Saarland University or with one of the participating
institutes.

Vera Demberg, Saarland University - Computational Linguistics

Jörg Hoffmann, Saarland University - AI Planning

Eddy Ilg, Saarland University - Computer Vision, Machine Learning

Dietrich Klakow, Saarland University - Natural Language Processing

Alexander Koller, Saarland University - Computational Linguistics

Bernt Schiele, MPI for Informatics - Computer Vision, Machine Learning

Philipp Slusallek, DFKI and Saarland University - Computer Graphics,
Artificial Intelligence

Christian Theobalt, MPI for Informatics - Visual Computing, Machine Learning

Mariya Toneva, MPI for Software Systems - Computational Neuroscience,
Machine Learning

Isabel Valera, Saarland University - Machine Learning

Jilles Vreeken, CISPA - Machine Learning, Causality

Joachim Weickert, Saarland University - Mathematical Data Analysis

Verena Wolf, DFKI and Saarland University - Modeling and Simulation,
Reinforcement Learning

Ellie Pavlick, Brown University and Google AI, will join us regularly as a
Mercator Fellow.

Please send your application by 31 July 2023 to apply at neuroexplicit.org.
Include the reference number W2350 for the postdoc position and the
reference number W2351 for the PhD positions. We aim to conduct job
interviews in September, ideally in person in Saarbrücken, Germany.

Make sure to check the RTG website for details on the application process
and what materials to include in the application:
https://www.neuroexplicit.org/jobs
<https://www.neuroexplicit.org/jobs/#phd-2023>

For all further information about the RTG, check out our website:
https://www.neuroexplicit.org/
<https://www.neuroexplicit.org/jobs/#phd-2023>
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