One month after the official launch of the project, SECAI has now announced the opening of its first batch of 11 new AI researcher positions in its Graduate School. “One of our main goals in establishing the School was to work with talented students who want to engage in ambitious AI research with us“, says SECAI director Markus Krötzsch, “So we are very excited to welcome the first new team members very soon.“ Indeed, the new positions are marked to start as soon as possible. “Realistically, we expect that most of the new members will take up their work in Dresden or Leipzig in October or November,“ says Krötzsch. Incoming international researchers will also be supported in practical matters related to settling down in Germany, e.g, by the Dresden Welcome Center.

The positions are fully funded for 3 years according to salary grade salary group E 13 TV-L, but SECAI also offers a lot of additional support to its doctoral students. In the tandem mentoring program, new members of the SECAI graduate school will be assigned a senior graduate researcher whose practical support complements that of the supervisors. Graduate school members actively participate in regular research seminars and reading groups in their research focus area. SECAI’s special program for mini projects allows graduate researchers to obtain small-scale funds for activities of their own choice, e.g., for special equipment, compensations for participants in empirical studies, or organization of own events or guest invitations. Applications follow a simple and unbureaucratic process, but will receive expert feedback to prepare candidates for own future proposals. During the mobility window, researchers are encouraged to spend a research stay of one to three months at an international academic partner or at a research-oriented industry partner. On top of the specific offers within SECAI, graduate researchers also benefit from established university-wide structures that provide support on a general level: The Graduate Academy at TU Dresden and Research Academy at Leipzig University offer comprehensive programs for training, consulting, funding, and networking.

However, the first step for interested candidates is to apply. The official job announcement has all relevant details. In order to find their coordinates in the interdisciplinary landscape of SECAI, candidates are asked to pick one or more research topics from the list of currently available AI topics in SECAI. Questions about the positions and the application process can be directed to Markus Krötzsch (TUD), Peter Stadler (UL), or direclty to the mentors given for specific topics.