University assistant predoctoral Universität Wien

Job description:

The University of Vienna is a community of almost 11,000 individuals, including approximately 7,700 academic staff members, who passionately pursue answers to the profound questions that shape our future. They represent individuals driven by curiosity and a relentless pursuit of excellence. With us, they find the space to try things out and unfold their potential. Are you inspired by their passion and determination? We are currently seeking a/an

University assistant predoctoral

Among the many good reasons to want to research and teach at the University of Vienna, there is one, which has convinced around 7,500 academic staff members so far. They see themselves as personalities who need space for their continuous striving and curiosity to be able to be scientifically successful. Does that sound like something for you? Welcome to our team!

Your personal sphere of play:

As a PhD student (PraeDoc) you will work in the Spatial Data Science and GeoCommunication group lead by professor Krzysztof Janowicz consisting of a dozen international and interdisciplinary researchers including PhD students, postdocs, faculty, and other scientific project personnel with a diverse set of backgrounds and expertises including GeoAI, geo-semantics, cognitive/behavioral geography, geographic information retrieval, social sensing, knowledge graphs, geocommunication, and geo-visualization. Our topical and cultural diversity and varied academic backgrounds are key to our success (https://geographie.univie.ac.at/arbeitsgruppen/kartographie-und-geoinformation/team/). It is particularly important to us, that every employee is highly motivated, enjoys being part of a team, is open to challenges, and can work independently. While we remain flexible about the exact dissertation topic, an intellectual connection to our research agenda is important. These broad overview papers may serve as an example of our overall research agenda for the next years: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.3233/FAIA260466 and https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13658816.2025.2543038 (section 4). Tell us what you are most interested to work on.

Your future tasks:

You actively participate in research, teaching & administration, which means:

• While your key task will be research, work will also include teaching and administration (e.g., co-organizing academic events such as workshops)
• Participation in research projects/research studies
• Participation in publications/academic articles/presentations
• You work on your dissertation and its completion.
• Involvement in the organization of meetings, conferences, symposiums.
• International travel, e.g., to conferences.
• Communicate and collaborate with international partners including major international industry players and NGOs.
• Independent teaching in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement
• You will become an active member of the "Vienna International School of Earth and Space Sciences"
  (VISESS) doctoral school.

This is part of your personality:

• Completed Master's/Diploma degree in Geoinformatics, GIScience, Cognitive Science, Computer Science, Data Science, Geography, Digital Humanities, Philosophy, Communication Studies, Computational Social Sciences, or related disciplines. If you have not yet finished your Master’s thesis, it needs to be completed by the start of the position in fall/winter 2026.
• We are currently not hiring candidates with core interests in physical geography, civil engineering, and remote sensing; there are far better groups in Vienna focusing on these areas.
• Clearly able to identify and explain the overlap between our research (GeoAI, knowledge graphs, knowledge representation, AI ethics, social sensing, …) and your own ideas.
• Grit: You are self-motivated, creative, eager to grow, and able to work independently on your and our joint long-term goals.
• Strong team skills and able to work in international, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary teams
• You are able to manage project work. e.g., write documentations, deliver project results in time, to present them to others.
• English language skills are required.
• At least some experience in using (Spatial) Data Science libraries and/or Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
• At least some software engineering and programming skills.
• At least some experience in scientific writing and research methods (e.g. as part of your Master’s thesis).
• German language skills are a plus (but not required).
• Technical knowledge on servers (linux), versioning, research data managements, reproducible research practices, and so on are a plus.

What we offer:

Work-life balance: Our employees enjoy flexible, family-friendly working hours, and partly remote work (within Austria / "telework" / upon agreement).

Inspiring working atmosphere: You are a part of an international academic team in a healthy and fair working environment.

Good public transport connections: Your workplace in the center of beautiful Vienna is easily accessible by public transport.

Internal further training & Coaching: Opportunity to deepen your skills on an ongoing basis. There are over 600 courses to choose from – free of charge.

Fair salary: The basic salary of EUR 3.776,10 (on a full-time basis / 14 times per year / amount as of 1 January 2026) increases if we can credit professional experience.

Equal opportunities for all: We look forward to diverse personalities in the team!

The employment duration is 4 years. Initially limited to 1 year, the employment relationship is automatically extended to 4 years if the employer does not terminate it within the first 12 months by submitting a non-extension declaration.

It is that easy to apply:

• With your (scientific) curriculum vitae
• One page motivation statement including your research interests and how they relate to our research (this has to be authored by you, not your AI)
• Degree Certificates
• List of publications (if available)
• Via our job portal/ Apply now -  button

If you have any questions, please contact:

Krzysztof Janowicz  

krzysztof.janowicz@univie.ac.at

We look forward to new personalities in our team! 
The University of Vienna has an anti-discriminatory employment policy and attaches great importance to equal opportunities, the advancement of women and diversity. We place particular emphasis on enhancing women’s representation among the academic and general university staff, particularly in leadership roles, and therefore expressly encourage qualified women to apply. Given equal qualifications, preference will be given to female candidates.

University of Vienna. Space for personalities. Since 1365.

Data protection
​Application deadline: 09/11/2026 

Apply now