Graduate School
The in-depth research-oriented training after the master's degree is a central activity area of SECAI. Due to the special, interdisciplinary orientation of the school, there are not only doctoral students but also so-called clinician scientists, who have already completed a doctoral thesis and whose goal in SECAI is a (first) major publication.
Each year SECAI hires a cohort of about ten doctoral students and clinician scientists, typically starting in September. Calls for the positions of the Graduate School are usually published in spring of the corresponding year. You can find them on our job portal when they are open. The school favors a “tight” three-year model for completing doctoral theses, but also understands that this plan may need adjustment due to interdisciplinary differences, e.g., clinician scientists finishing in two years, personal circumstances and professional causes.
In addition to the doctoral students and clinician scientists directly funded by SECAI, other AI researchers of comparable career stages will be integrated into the School. These associate members will be closely integrated scientifically and organizationally and will have access to all SECAI funding programs. In addition, SECAI networks with other thematically relevant graduate programs and implements joint activities.
Doctoral Students and Clinical Scientists
Carolin Schimmelpfennig
Supervisor:
Kristin Reiche
Doctoral Student
from October 2022 to September 2023
Simon Hosemann
Supervisor:
Carsten Lutz,
Sebastian Rudolph
Topic: Intuitive Modelling support for Knowledge-Based Systems
Topic: Intuitive Modelling support for Knowledge-Based Systems
Doctoral Student
since December 2022
Rajab Aghamov
Supervisor:
Christel Baier,
Markus Krötzsch
Topic: Explaining Composite AI: From Formal Analysis to Overall Understanding
Topic: Explaining Composite AI: From Formal Analysis to Overall Understanding
Doctoral Student
since January 2023
Max Braungardt
Supervisor:
Martin Bogdan,
Thomas Mikolajick
Topic: Neuromorphic Information Processing: Hardware Realization of the Modified Stochastic Synaptic Model
Topic: Neuromorphic Information Processing: Hardware Realization of the Modified Stochastic Synaptic Model
Doctoral Student
from January 2023 to April 2024
Tim Langer
Supervisor:
Christian Mayr,
Stefanie Speidel
Topic: Surg-Morph: Neuromorphic Surgical Video Processing on the SpiNNaker2 Platform
Topic: Surg-Morph: Neuromorphic Surgical Video Processing on the SpiNNaker2 Platform
Doctoral Student
since January 2023
Johnny Alexander Jimenez Siegert
Supervisor:
Christian Mayr,
Jens Meiler
Topic: Spinnaker Cloud Computing for Computer-aided Drug Discovery
Topic: Spinnaker Cloud Computing for Computer-aided Drug Discovery
Doctoral Student
since January 2023
Danush Kumar Venkatesh
Supervisor:
Bjoern Andres,
Stefanie Speidel
Topic: Sim2Real: Simulated Training and Test Data for Biomedical Image Analysis
Topic: Sim2Real: Simulated Training and Test Data for Biomedical Image Analysis
Doctoral Student
since January 2023
Max Beining
Supervisor:
Christian Mayr,
Jens Meiler
Topic: Spinnaker Cloud Computing for Computer-aided Drug Discovery
Topic: Spinnaker Cloud Computing for Computer-aided Drug Discovery
Doctoral Student
since January 2023
Adnan Haidar
Supervisor:
Ronald Tetzlaff,
Thomas Mikolajick
Topic: MemAI: Memristive Dynamic Models for Smart AI Systems
Topic: MemAI: Memristive Dynamic Models for Smart AI Systems
Doctoral Student
since March 2023
Deianira Fejzaj
Supervisor:
Martin Bogdan,
Thomas Mikolajick
Topic: 2D-Material-Based Synapses for Neuromorphic Computing
Topic: 2D-Material-Based Synapses for Neuromorphic Computing
Doctoral Student
since March 2023
Radhika Juglan
Supervisor:
Jakob Kather,
Sayan Mukherjee
Topic: AI in Oncology
Topic: AI in Oncology
Doctoral Student
since April 2023
Christian Vielhaus
Supervisor:
Frank H.P. Fitzek,
Stefanie Speidel
Topic: AI Controlled Wireless Mesh Networks for Medical Applications in Crisis Situations (AWESOME)
Topic: AI Controlled Wireless Mesh Networks for Medical Applications in Crisis Situations (AWESOME)
Doctoral Student
since September 2023
Susu Hu
Supervisor:
Guido Montúfar,
Stefanie Speidel
Topic: GeoSOP: Geometry for surgical outcome prediction
Topic: GeoSOP: Geometry for surgical outcome prediction
Doctoral Student
since September 2023
Julia Belyaeva
Supervisor:
Jens Meiler,
Sayan Mukherjee
Topic: Teaching artificial intelligence conformational dynamics of proteins
Topic: Teaching artificial intelligence conformational dynamics of proteins
Doctoral Student
since September 2023
Johannes Klier
Supervisor:
Jens Meiler,
Kristin Reiche
Topic: Personalization in oncology – Prediction of cancer therapy effectiveness from Omics data through structural modeling and AI
Topic: Personalization in oncology – Prediction of cancer therapy effectiveness from Omics data through structural modeling and AI
Doctoral Student
since September 2023
Charlotte Langer
Supervisor:
Sabine Müller-Mall,
Stephanie Schiedermair
Topic: The Use of AI by the Civil Service in Light of the Principles of Democracy and the Rule of Law
Topic: The Use of AI by the Civil Service in Light of the Principles of Democracy and the Rule of Law
Doctoral Student
since September 2023
Supervisor:
Jakob Kather,
Jochen Hampe
Topic: Adaptive / Context Sensitive Data Provision in Mobile Applications
Topic: Adaptive / Context Sensitive Data Provision in Mobile Applications
Doctoral Student
since October 2023
Zdravko Dugonjić
Supervisor:
Roberto Calandra,
Stefanie Speidel
Topic: SuperTouch - Data-driven tactile sensing for robot-assisted cancer surgery
Topic: SuperTouch - Data-driven tactile sensing for robot-assisted cancer surgery
Doctoral Student
since October 2023
Hoang Dao
Supervisor:
Ivo Sbalzarini,
Peter Stadler
Topic: Features of Fitness Landscapes
Topic: Features of Fitness Landscapes
Doctoral Student
since November 2023
Supervisor:
Martin Bogdan,
Peter Stadler
Topic: Spiking Neural Network Model of Homeostatic Affective Regulation
Topic: Spiking Neural Network Model of Homeostatic Affective Regulation
Doctoral Student
since January 2024
Supervisor:
Ronald Tetzlaff,
Stefanie Speidel
Topic: Temporal Explainability Methods for Surgical Skill Assessment, Concept Based Explainability, AI Alignment, Technical AI Safety
Topic: Temporal Explainability Methods for Surgical Skill Assessment, Concept Based Explainability, AI Alignment, Technical AI Safety
Doctoral Student
since January 2024
Charvi Jain
Supervisor:
Ivo Sbalzarini,
Jens Lehmann
Topic: External Systems Biology Knowledge Integration in Large Language Models
Topic: External Systems Biology Knowledge Integration in Large Language Models
Doctoral Student
since February 2024
Maximilian Salomon
Supervisor:
Peter Stadler,
Sayan Mukherjee
Topic: What are GPCR’s and why are they important?
Topic: What are GPCR’s and why are they important?
Doctoral Student
since September 2024
Tom Friese
Supervisor:
Bjoern Andres,
Markus Krötzsch
Topic: Large Language Models (LLMs) and the Formalization of Mathematics
Topic: Large Language Models (LLMs) and the Formalization of Mathematics
Doctoral Student
since October 2024
Jonas Karge
Supervisor:
Markus Krötzsch,
Sebastian Rudolph
Topic: Multi-agent Belief Management
Topic: Multi-agent Belief Management
Doctoral Student
since October 2024
Moritz Hehl
Supervisor:
Guido Montúfar,
Max von Renesse
Topic: Theoretical Foundations of Ethical and Interpretable Diffusion Models
Topic: Theoretical Foundations of Ethical and Interpretable Diffusion Models
Doctoral Student
since October 2024
Deniz Kucukahmetier
Supervisor:
Ivo Sbalzarini,
Sayan Mukherjee
Topic: StochasticAI – Integrating Stochastic Modeling with AI
Topic: StochasticAI – Integrating Stochastic Modeling with AI
Doctoral Student
since October 2024
Dominik Rusovac
Supervisor:
Markus Krötzsch,
Sebastian Rudolph
Topic: Answer Set Navigation alongside Quantitative Reasoning
Topic: Answer Set Navigation alongside Quantitative Reasoning
Doctoral Student
from November 2024 to May 2025
Supervisor:
Markus Krötzsch,
Sebastian Rudolph
Topic: Reliable and Robust Rule-Based Reasoning in Large-Scale Data Analysis
Topic: Reliable and Robust Rule-Based Reasoning in Large-Scale Data Analysis
Doctoral Student
since April 2025
Toni Oestereich
Supervisor:
Christian Mayr,
Jens Meiler
Topic: Artificial Intelligence-Accelerated Drug Discovery on the SpiNNaker2 Platform
Topic: Artificial Intelligence-Accelerated Drug Discovery on the SpiNNaker2 Platform
Doctoral Student
since September 2025
Supervisor:
Jens Lehmann,
Kristin Reiche
Topic: Integration of Structured Knowledge into Language Models for Cell Biology
Topic: Integration of Structured Knowledge into Language Models for Cell Biology
Doctoral Student
since September 2025
Supervisor:
Carsten Lutz,
Peter Stadler
Topic: Learning the Rules of Molecular Design
Topic: Learning the Rules of Molecular Design
Doctoral Student
since September 2025
Max Haufe
Supervisor:
Christian Mayr,
Roberto Calandra
Topic: Tact-Morph: Tactile Sensor & Robotics Processing on the SpiNNaker2 Neuromorphic Compute Platform
Topic: Tact-Morph: Tactile Sensor & Robotics Processing on the SpiNNaker2 Neuromorphic Compute Platform
Doctoral Student
since October 2025
Supervisor:
Carsten Lutz,
Markus Krötzsch
Topic: Rule-based Reasoning in Knowledge Representation
Topic: Rule-based Reasoning in Knowledge Representation
Doctoral Student
since October 2025
Fatima Rani
Supervisor:
Frank H.P. Fitzek,
Ivo Sbalzarini,
Stefanie Speidel
Topic: BioAI: Bio-Computing for Sustainable and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence Computation
Topic: BioAI: Bio-Computing for Sustainable and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence Computation
Doctoral Student
since October 2025
Pascal Kettmann
Supervisor:
Carsten Lutz,
Markus Krötzsch,
Sebastian Rudolph
Topic: Non-Monotonic Uncertainty Handling and Learning
Topic: Non-Monotonic Uncertainty Handling and Learning
Doctoral Student
since November 2025
Supervisor:
Bjoern Andres,
Stefanie Speidel
Topic: SAVi: Semantic Analysis of Surgical Videos
Topic: SAVi: Semantic Analysis of Surgical Videos
Doctoral Student
since January 2026