PhD and Postdoc Positions in Sustainable Software Engineering and AI/ML at University of Mannheim University of Mannheim in Germany

PhD and postdoctoral opportunities are open in the Sustainable Software Engineering Group at the University of Mannheim, Germany. The positions sit at the intersection of Computer Science, Software Engineering, AI/ML, and software sustainability, with a strong emphasis on green software engineering, energy-aware systems, and performance optimization.

Open roles: one full-time PhD position in Sustainable Software Engineering and one full-time Postdoctoral Researcher position in AI/ML for Sustainable Software Engineering. Both are TV-L 13, 100% positions, starting in June 2026 (other arrangements may be discussed). The PhD role is initially for 3 years with possible extension; the postdoc role is initially for 2–3 years with possible extension.

Research themes include software sustainability across technical, environmental, economic, social, and individual dimensions; source code analysis; software evolution; software architecture; code generation; sustainable deployment; energy-efficient code; and experiments on controlled servers to measure energy consumption. The postdoc role also includes co-supervision of BSc/MSc/PhD students and contribution to scientific funding proposals.

What the group offers: a collaborative research environment at Mannheim, links with the SEAL group at the University of Zurich, flexible working conditions, access to compute infrastructure, generous travel and research funding, teaching opportunities in BSc and MSc programs, and strong career support. The postdoc role additionally includes PhD co-supervision.

Eligibility highlights: PhD applicants should hold an MSc in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Machine Learning, or a closely related field, with strong programming skills, practical ML framework experience, good analytical ability, and excellent English. Postdoc applicants should hold a PhD in a related field, have a solid publication record, strong research interest in green software engineering and software performance optimization, and strong mentoring/collaboration skills. Experience with large-scale or HPC experimentation is a strong plus for both positions.

Application materials: PhD applicants should submit a cover letter, CV, transcripts, academic writing sample, short research proposal, and 2–3 references. Postdoc applicants should submit a cover letter, CV, publication list, top 3 publications with rationale, short research statement, short teaching statement, and 2–3 references. Applications should be sent as a single PDF by email to Prof. Pooja Rani.

Deadline: 10 May 2026. Review continues until the position is filled.

There is also a note for students interested in thesis or project work in green software engineering / software sustainability, including topics such as energy-aware dashboards, green IT support, and sustainability-aware LLM chatbots.