PhD Candidate / Software Developer for Aerospace Knowledge Base (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. With the Open Research Knowledge Graph (ORKG), we are working to revolutionise the exchange and use of scientific knowledge in the digital age.

The Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB) – Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology – Program Area D, Open Research Knowledge Graph, is seeking a

PhD Candidate / Software Developer for Aerospace Knowledge Base (m/f/d)

to join the Data Science & Digital Libraries Research Group (Prof. Dr. Sören Auer) at the earliest possible date, subject to final approval of third-party funding.

The position is initially limited to the duration of the third-party-funded project, which is two years, with the possibility of an extension. The regular weekly working hours are 29.85 hours (part-time, 75%). The remuneration is based on pay scale group 13 TV-L.

Your main task within the framework of the “Aerospace Knowledge Base: Linked (Semi-)Open Data for AeroSpace Engineering” project, funded by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture (MWK), will be the development of a knowledge base for the aerospace engineering domain. This position is designed as a PhD position and offers the opportunity to pursue a doctoral degree, combining practical development work with independent scientific research in the field of knowledge engineering and semantic technologies.

The goal is to ensure that the knowledge and research data generated in this field are findable, accessible, and reusable in the long term. A major challenge arises from the highly heterogeneous data protection requirements, which range from open research data to security-sensitive data from industry. The project will be carried out in cooperation with aerospace engineers from TU Braunschweig. TU Braunschweig will focus on data from the aviation sector, while TIB will be responsible for implementing the information infrastructure.

Your tasks include

• Supporting the development of an ontology for the aerospace engineering domain
• Developing programmatic and graphical user interfaces for interacting with the aerospace knowledge base
• Establishing security protocols for knowledge base users
• Setting up CI/CD pipelines for the deployment of the knowledge base
• Creating software to extract relevant knowledge from research data and publications
• Integrating with external knowledge infrastructures, such as ORKG and Wikidata
• Collaborating with aerospace engineers to curate the knowledge base content
• Contributing to the preparation of scientific publications on the knowledge base

• A university degree (Master or equivalent), preferably in software engineering, computer science, information systems or a related field
• Very good command of written and spoken English
• Experience in the development of Python and web applications
• Experience in DevOps
• Ability to work in an interdisciplinary team distributed across several locations

Desired additions to your profile

• Strong motivation and commitment to pursue a doctoral degree
• Familiarity with knowledge representation languages such as RDF, OWL, SPARQL
• Experience with Semantic Web technologies, including graph databases (GraphDB, Neo4j), relevant libraries (RDFLib, owlready2) and other software (Protégé)
• Experience with NLP methods
• Experience in writing scientific publications

Our mission is to keep rethinking and innovating the provision and use of research data and information. In TIB's Research and Development Department you have the opportunity to advance your career in a sizable, dynamic and excellent 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 centers being part of the Leibniz Association. TIB collaborates closely with the L3S Research Center 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, creative and fun work atmosphere.

Furthermore, we offer

• A job in the public service oriented towards the common good on the basis of the collective agreement for the public service of the German states (TV-L) with a salary in pay scale group 13 TV-L.
• A flexible workplace in terms of time and space with offers to reconcile work and family life, such as mobile and remote work options as well as flexible working time models (flexitime).
• A special annual payment at the end of the year and 30 days of vacation per year with a five-day working week as well as additional days off on Christmas Eve (December 24th) and New Year's Eve (December 31st).
• A modern workplace in a central location of Hannover with a collegial, attractive and versatile working environment.
• 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).
• Employee discount in the canteens of the Studentenwerk Hannover as well as the possibility to use the various offers of the University Sports Hannover at a discount.
• Independent and future-oriented activities that offer variety and room for personal development.
• Funding for necessary equipment, conference and research visit travel.
• Work in the context of a national, European or international research and innovation project.
• A portfolio of technology components to build on, including ORKG, OpenResearch.org, TIB AV-Portal, DBpedia.org and other.

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