Germany – PhD and Postdoc Positions in Intelligent Language Systems at FAU Erlangen–Nürnberg

Job Summary

Are you passionate about pushing the boundaries of language technology and eager to contribute to the next generation of intelligent systems that can reason, interpret, and understand diverse languages and domains? If so, this is your opportunity to join a pioneering research team at one of Germany’s leading universities. The newly established Chair of Intelligent Language Systems at Friedrich‑Alexander‑Universität Erlangen–Nürnberg (FAU) is seeking highly motivated and talented PhD and postdoctoral researchers to advance the state of the art in large language models (LLMs) and vision‑language models (VLMs), focusing on reasoning, interpretability, neuro‑symbolic methods, memory, and multilinguality. This is your chance to work in a world‑class academic environment, collaborate across disciplines, and access cutting‑edge computational resources.

University & Location

• University: Friedrich‑Alexander‑Universität Erlangen–Nürnberg
• Country: Germany
• Deadline: 2026‑03‑01
• Fields: Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Computational Linguistics

About The University or Research Institute

Friedrich‑Alexander‑Universität Erlangen–Nürnberg (FAU) is one of Germany’s most prestigious research universities, located in the vibrant region of Bavaria. FAU is renowned for its excellence in interdisciplinary research, strong industry partnerships, and a dynamic international community. The university is situated in the cities of Erlangen and Nuremberg, offering a high quality of life, rich cultural experiences, and proximity to leading technology companies such as Siemens and adidas. FAU is home to a diverse student and researcher body, and its supportive academic environment fosters innovation and collaboration across fields including computer science, linguistics, digital humanities, medicine, and applied sciences. The university’s High Performance Computing (HPC) Center provides researchers with access to powerful GPU clusters, ensuring the computational resources necessary for cutting‑edge machine learning and artificial intelligence research.

Research Topic and Significance

The Chair of Intelligent Language Systems at FAU focuses on advancing large language and vision‑language models, with a particular emphasis on reasoning, interpretability, neuro‑symbolic approaches, memory, and multilinguality. The overarching goal is to develop novel machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), and reinforcement learning (RL) methods that enable these models to perform effectively in “long tail” scenarios—unseen languages, tasks, and domains that are underrepresented in current datasets and benchmarks. This research addresses critical challenges in AI: how to make models more transparent and interpretable, how to enable them to generalize beyond their training data, and how to empower them to support a broader range of languages and applications. The outcomes of this work have the potential to impact a wide array of domains, from digital humanities to medicine and industrial applications, making AI more inclusive, robust, and trustworthy.

Project Details

The positions are based in the newly founded Chair of Intelligent Language Systems, led by Dr. Gözde Gül Şahin. The research group is committed to interdisciplinary collaboration, bringing together expertise from computer science, linguistics, digital humanities, and applied research. The team benefits from FAU’s excellent research ecosystem and strong ties to industry partners such as Siemens, adidas, and Fraunhofer IIS, providing ample opportunities for applied research and real‑world impact. Researchers will have access to FAU’s state‑of‑the‑art GPU clusters via the HPC Center, enabling large‑scale experiments in ML and NLP. The working language of the group is English, and no knowledge of German is required.

Candidate Profile

Ideal candidates for these positions are ambitious, creative, and driven to make significant contributions to the field of language technology. Applicants should have a strong background in computer science, artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing, computational linguistics, or related fields. Experience with reasoning, interpretability, neuro‑symbolic methods, memory architectures, or multilingual NLP is highly desirable. Candidates should possess strong analytical and programming skills, a collaborative mindset, and the ability to articulate and pursue a concrete research agenda. The positions are open to both PhD and postdoctoral researchers, and the working environment is fully English‑speaking.

Application Process

• Positions: Fully funded PhD and Postdoc (TV‑L E13, 100%)
• Application deadline for full consideration: 2026‑03‑01
• Preferred start date: 2026‑05‑01 (or shortly after)
• The position remains open until filled
• Application materials should be submitted as a single PDF and include:
  • Cover letter (max. one page)
  • Research statement with a concrete research agenda (up to two pages including references)
  • Curriculum vitae (including publication list, if available)
  • Bachelor’s and Master’s diplomas
  • Transcripts
  • Names and contact details of two referees
• Application instructions and further information can be found in the original advertisement:

Also See

• Canada – PhD & Postdoc in Robotics at Toronto Metropolitan University
• United Kingdom – PhD in Brain‑Machine Interfaces at University of Southampton
• Germany – PhD in Behavioral Economics at Max Planck Institute
• Canada – Fully Funded PhD in Parkinson’s Disease at University of Waterloo
• UK – PhD in AI‑Driven Medical Imaging at Cardiff University

Conclusion

This is a unique opportunity to join a cutting‑edge research group at one of Germany’s top universities, collaborate with leading experts across disciplines, and contribute to the next generation of intelligent language and vision‑language systems. If you are passionate about advancing AI and NLP, and eager to tackle real‑world challenges in reasoning, interpretability, and multilinguality, we encourage you to apply. Stay tuned for similar opportunities and follow the latest updates in the field.