PhD Student Position (m/f/d)

FULL TIME 100 % | PAYMENT ACCORDING TO E13 TV-L | TEMPORARY FOR THE DURATION OF 3.5 YEARS
The University of Stuttgart represents outstanding, world-renowned research and first-class teaching in one of Europe's most dynamic industrial regions. As a reliable employer, the university supports and promotes the academic careers of its researchers. It is proud of its employees, who currently come from over 100 different countries. The university is a partner for knowledge and technology transfer and focuses on multidisciplinarity.

The Cluster of Excellence "Data-Integrated Simulation Science" (EXC 2075) is an interdisciplinary research center with more than 200 scientists of different ages, gender identities, nationalities and different subject areas, jointly performing research towards a common goal: We target a new class of modeling and computational methods based on available data from various sources, in order to take the usability, precision and reliability of simulations to a new level.

This is why we seek applicants from all parts of society. The open PhD student position is integrated into the Graduate School of the Cluster. This position is part of the project "Simulation-Based Prior Distributions for Bayesian Models" in the Junior-Research Group for Bayesian Statistics of Dr. Paul-Christian Bürkner at the Cluster of Excellence SimTech of the University of Stuttgart.

PhD Student Position (m/f/d, full time 100%, payment according to E13 TV-L, temporary for the duration of 3.5 years)

Your tasks:

• Development of methods to compute simulation-based prior distributions, primarily by means of normalizing flows realized via invertible neural networks
• Execution of extensive simulations to evaluate the newly developed methods and compare them to competing approaches
• Development of software to implement the new methods in open-source programming languages such as Python, R, or Julia
• Close cooperation with other scientists within the research group and at the Cluster of Excellence SimTech
• Publication of research results in international scientific journals and conference proceedings
• Active participation at national and international conferences

Your qualifications:

• Master’s degree in a field with strong quantitative focus (e. g. statistics, computer science, mathematics, physics, biology, or psychology)
• Strong interest in research questions focused on statistical modelling of complex data
• Previous experience in applied statistics, mathematical statistics, or machine learning
• Ideally previous experience in Bayesian statistics or probabilistic machine learning as well as with artificial neural networks
• Previous experience in at least one programming language common in quantitative fields (e. g. Python, R, Julia, or C++)
• Previous experience in the probabilistic programming language Stan or another probabilistic programming language as well as with Tensorflow or Pytorch is an asset
• Proficient English skills (spoken and written); German skills are not required
• High amount of commitment, cognitive flexibility, as well as the ability to work both independently and in a team

We offer:

• An inspirational and supportive research environment at the Cluster of Excellence SimTech
• A nationally and internationally well-connected research group including close collaborations within the Stan Development Team
• Diverse and responsible tasks in a dynamic and friendly team
• Extensive opportunities to participate in training programs to support your first steps as an early career scientist

Please submit your complete application, including one-page motivation letter, academic CV, academic certificates, and transcript of records, as well as a reference (i. e. scontact details of a person who has worked with you and is willing to be contacted about your work), via paul.buerkner@simtech.uni-stuttgart.de until June 5^th, 2022. If you have any questions regarding this application, please contact us via the above email address.

We cannot reimburse any costs arising from the performance of job interviews. However, we offer interviews to be held online.

At the University of Stuttgart and the Cluster of Excellence EXC 2075, we actively promote diversity among our employees. We have set ourselves the goal of recruiting more women scientists and employing more people with an international background, as well as people with disabilities. We are therefore particularly pleased to receive applications from such people. Regardless, we welcome any good application.

As a certified family-friendly university, we support the compatibility of work and family, and of professional and private life in general, through various flexible modules. We have an employee health management system that has won several awards and offers our employees a wide range of continuing education programs. We are consistently improving our accessibility. Our Welcome Center helps international scientists get started in Stuttgart.

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