PhD Candidate / Software Developer for Aerospace Knowledge Base (Aerospace Engineering, Semantic Technologies, Data Science)

The Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB) – Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology, Germany’s National Library of Science and Technology, is offering a PhD position for a Software Developer focused on building an Aerospace Knowledge Base. This opportunity is part of the Data Science & Digital Libraries Research Group led by Prof. Dr. Sören Auer, within Program Area D, Open Research Knowledge Graph (ORKG). The position is contingent on final approval of third-party funding and is initially limited to two years, with the possibility of extension. The successful candidate will contribute to the 'Aerospace Knowledge Base: Linked (Semi-)Open Data for AeroSpace Engineering' project, funded by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture (MWK). The project aims to develop a knowledge base for the aerospace engineering domain, combining practical software development with independent scientific research in knowledge engineering and semantic technologies. The work will ensure that research data in aerospace engineering is findable, accessible, and reusable, addressing challenges related to heterogeneous data protection requirements from open research data to security-sensitive industry data. Key responsibilities include supporting ontology development for aerospace engineering, creating programmatic and graphical user interfaces, establishing security protocols, setting up CI/CD pipelines, developing software for knowledge extraction from research data and publications, integrating with external infrastructures like ORKG and Wikidata, collaborating with aerospace engineers from TU Braunschweig, and contributing to scientific publications. Applicants should hold a Master’s degree (or equivalent) in software engineering, computer science, information systems, or a related field. Essential skills include strong English proficiency, experience in Python and web application development, DevOps, and teamwork in distributed environments. Desirable qualifications are motivation for doctoral research, familiarity with RDF, OWL, SPARQL, Semantic Web technologies (GraphDB, Neo4j, RDFLib, owlready2, Protégé), NLP methods, and scientific writing. The position offers a salary according to pay scale group 13 TV-L (public service), part-time (75%), with special annual payment, 30 days of vacation, supplementary pension scheme, and funding for necessary equipment and travel. TIB provides a flexible, modern workplace in Hannover, with options for remote work, professional development, and a collegial, innovative environment. The research group collaborates closely with the L3S Research Center at Leibniz University Hannover and TU Braunschweig, offering exposure to national and international research projects. TIB is committed to equal opportunity and welcomes applications from all backgrounds. Severely disabled candidates and those with equivalent status will be given preferential consideration. For questions, contact Dr. Ildar Baimuratov at [email protected]. Applications should be submitted online or as a single PDF to [email protected], or by post, including the subject 1/2026 and annual salary expectations, before February 8, 2026. For more information, visit TIB’s website .