The Graduate School CAUSE invites applications for eight openings for doctoral students who are employed full-time and fully funded until completion of their doctorate for three years plus a possible extension for a fourth year. The remuneration corresponds to E13 TV-L. The second group, comprising eight doctoral students, starts between September 1st and November 1st, 2025

DOCTORAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES
(m/f/d) / PHD STUDENTS (m/f/d)
WISSENSCHAFTLICHE MITARBEITER
(m/w/d)
on the Topic of Self-Explainig Digitally Controlled Systems

No.: 2225WE13

The three universities Hamburg University of Technology, University of Bremen and Carl-von-Ossietzky-University of Oldenburg work jointly in CAUSE. While you, as the future job holder, work full-time at one of these three universities, you will participate in an intensive research, cooperation and exchange program jointly supervised by internationally renowned researchers from all three locations.

The acronym CAUSE stands for Concepts and Algorithms for - and Usage of - Self-Explaining Digitally Controlled Systems. Digitally controlled systems are ubiquitous in our everyday lives, from transportation to healthcare. CAUSE aims to make digitally controlled systems self-explaining for the benefit of developers, operators, interoperability and other systems. CAUSE is a research, education and networking hub for future researchers. Thematically, CAUSE covers all levels of digital systems, from system-of-systems over software stacks to digital hardware. PhD students in CAUSE will cooperate closely to investigate cross-level aspects of self-explanation, using a virtual wind farm as a demonstrator.

The eight topics for open positions can be found here. Applicants should explain their interest in one or more of these topics indicating one or more project numbers 11 to 18.

OUR OFFER

• Complete a doctorate in a structured graduate school
  
• Become part of our network of researchers cooperating on the research topic Self-Explanation
  
• Experience an international environment, scientific guests and a joint qualification program
  
• Present your research results at international top conferences
• Experience research stays at international partner universities or in industry 
• Receive a highly competitive salary. Salaries are based on the German E13 TV-L and include German public service benefits such as courses on personal talent management. The net income is around 2800 EUR per month (after taxes, social security, health insurance). The initial contract runs for three years; a fourth year will be granted upon appropriate progress
• Work and live in a vibrant northern German city
• Become part of a family-friendly and sustainable university with high performance and quality standards
  

YOUR TASKS

• Research on self-explanation in one of the CAUSE topics 11 to 18
  

• Publish your research results in journals and present at international peer-reviewed conferences
  
• Interact and collaborate with other CAUSE PhD students
  
• Collaborate with our industry partners and other researchers
  

YOUR PROFILE

Required Qualifications

• Outstanding Master of Science degree in Computer Science or a closely related field (possibly ongoing at the time of application, completed before starting in CAUSE)
  
• Good skills in written and spoken English
  
• Very good skills in programming
  
• Interest in scientific problems and the motivation for independent and goal-oriented research

Advantageous Qualifications

• Ability to work in a research team
• Very good skills in scientific communication and writing
• Experience related to one or more CAUSE topics
  

For further information please contact Prof. Görschwin Fey (TU Hamburg), Prof. Rolf Drechsler (Univ. of Bremen), or Prof. Martin Fränzle (Univ. of Oldenburg).