Siegfried Handschuh

PhD position at the Institute of Computer Science (ICS-HSG) , University of St. Gallen , in the DS-NLP Lab with Prof. Dr. Siegfried Handschuh. The project focuses on foundation models , efficient LLM training , and natural language processing , with research topics including training dynamics of large language models, scaling behavior, optimization, generalization, token weighting strategies, dataset construction, and large-scale data processing. The role combines doctoral research with teaching duties (about 2 SWS per semester), including tutorials, exercises, and supervision of Bachelor’s and Master’s theses and projects. The position also includes organizational and research-related support for the chair. Applicants should have a master’s degree in computer science, machine learning, computational linguistics, or a related field. Strong Python skills are required. Helpful experience includes NLP/ML research, publications, PyTorch or TensorFlow/Keras, and interest in efficient training methods such as LoRA, quantization, sparsity, and distillation. A background or strong interest in linguistics or computational linguistics is especially welcome. The position is fully funded and offers access to modern compute infrastructure, a collaborative international environment, and support for publishing at top-tier conferences. The post states a limited appointment starting 01.11.2026. Apply online using job ID 2800 via the provided application portal.