Research Assistant - salary grade E 13 TV-L Berliner Hochschulen
Exzellenzcluster Science of Intelligence (SCIoI)
Reference number: SCIoI-C4-40B (starting not later than from 01/10/22 / for 3 years / closing date for applications 25/11/21)
The Technische Universität Berlin invites applications for a research assistant position at the Cluster of Excellence “Science of Intelligence”. What are the principles of intelligence, shared by all forms of intelligence, no matter whether artificial or biological, whether robot, computer program, human, or animal? And how can we apply these principles to create intelligent technology? Answering these questions - in an ethically responsible way - is the central scientific objective of the new Cluster of Excellence Science of Intelligence (https://www.scioi.de), where researchers from a large number of analytic and synthetic disciplines - artificial intelligence, machine learning, control, robotics, computer vision, behavioral biology, psychology, educational science, neuroscience, and philosophy - join forces to create a multi-disciplinary research program across universities and research institutes in Berlin. Interdisciplinary research projects have been defined (https://www.scienceofintelligence.de/research/projects), which combine analytic and synthetic research and which address key aspects of individual, social, and collective intelligence.
Working field
Project: Big Mouse Data: Designing “natural” tasks from a mouse-centric perspective
Field of activity: Model-based design of natural learning tasks for mice
Learning tasks are a standard approach to studying the behavior and intelligence of animals. Naturally, the choice of task is central to this approach. Unfortunately, it is hard to choose tasks that are free of anthropocentric projections. In this project, the successful candidate would work closely with our collaboration partners to establish a monitoring system for mice that allows to simultaneously track their movement, identity and ultrasonic utterances in a semi-natural environment. Based on the obtained data, the candidate will i) use existing and customized state-of-the-art deep networks to generate a high-level description of the behavior of the mice, ii) build individualized computational models of the extracted behavioral sequences and iii) use this model to design novel tasks that mimic the natural behavioral repertoire of the animal, on which the mice will then be trained by our collaborators.
Responsibilities include scientific research within the project and academic services in the Cluster. If the successful candidate should aspire a PhD, this would require the enrollment in the Cluster's doctoral program. All positions require participation in research colloquia, lecture series and workshops, as well as an active engagement in the Cluster's research activities.
Requirements:
Applicants must hold a Diploma/Master’s degree in Computer Science or related
sciences and must have proven skills/background in following topics:
- profound expertise in computer vision and/or machine learning,
- excellent mathematical skills,
- in depth programming skills (e.g., C/C++ or Python),
- a good command of English and/or German, and a willingness to learn the missing language skills,
- a keen interest in understanding intelligence,
- the strong communicative skills required for interdisciplinary research
- a high level of motivation, good time management, and ability to work in a team
Application procedure:
Candidates should upload their application preferably via the portal http://jobs.scienceofintelligence.de in order to receive full consideration. Please quote the SCIoI Ref number, SCIoI-C4-40B
Applications should include: motivation letter, curriculum vitae, transcripts of records (for both BSc and MSc), copies of degree certificates (BSc, MSc, PhD if applicable), proof of English skills, abstracts of Bachelor-, Master- and (if applicable) PhD-thesis, list of publications and one selected manuscript (if applicable), two names of qualified persons who are willing to provide references, and any documents candidates feel may help us assess their competence.
Please go here for the official, legally binding German version of this job post.
Contact person: Henning Sprekeler
