Michael Hahn

LaCoCo Lab at Saarland University is advertising fully funded PhD and postdoc positions in language models, LLM theory, mechanistic interpretability, efficient reasoning, new architectures, and theoretical AI safety . The group is led by Prof. Michael Hahn and works on the mathematical and theoretical foundations of modern AI and large language models. The lab highlights research on questions such as why transformers struggle with certain functions, how to read information inside neural networks, and the theoretical limits of in-context learning. Recent work spans venues such as NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, ACL, and COLM, and the lab emphasizes substantial freedom to shape your own research direction. PhD details: fully funded; typical duration 3-4 years; students with or without an MSc may apply through central portals, while direct application is intended for applicants who will have an MSc by the start date. The next direct-application deadline is 18 June 2026 , with flexible start dates possible from around August 2026 onward. Postdoc details: fully funded; start date is flexible and negotiated by agreement. Applicants should send a CV, transcripts, a short motivation statement referencing recent group publications, and contact details for 2 or 3 references. Research areas and keywords: mathematical foundations of LLMs, computational complexity, learning theory, mechanistic interpretability, AI safety, efficient reasoning, and model architecture design. How to apply: email Michael Hahn at [email protected] . For the direct PhD route, include a cover letter, CV, publication list, MSc thesis or comparable writing sample, degree certificates, two references, and a motivation statement. Quote reference number W2867 . If applying via IMPRS-TRUST or the Saarbrücken Graduate School of Computer Science, name Michael Hahn as preferred supervisor and notify him by email.