Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Streaming week in Denver: MOQ interim + Mile-High Video + SVTA Segments

The next Media over QUIC (MOQ) interim meeting will be hosted by Comcast in Denver (Feb. 6-8). It is open to public participation and it is free. Details are here: https://github.com/moq-wg/wg-materials/blob/main/interim-24-02/arrangements.md

Then, the ACM Mile-High Video conference will be just a few miles away (including a Latency Party during the Super Bowl) between Feb. 11-14. Details are here: https://www.mile-high.video/technical-program


Finally, SVTA Segments 2024 will take place at the same venue on Feb. 14th. Details are here: https://segments2024.svta.org/


You can benefit from the early (and combo) registration rates for Mile-High Video and Segments.



Thursday, December 7, 2023

Hat-Trick Victory: MPEG-DASH Papers Shine in ACM SIGMM Test of Time Awards

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Special Interest Group on Multimedia (SIGMM) provides a Test of Time Award. The details for this award can be found here, and I took the liberty to copy the main aspects as follows.

"This award is presented every year, starting in 2020, to the authors of the paper published either 10, 11 or 12 years previously at an SIGMM sponsored or co-sponsored conference (so the 2020 award would be for papers at a 2008, 2009 or 2010 SIGMM conference). The award recognizes the paper that has had the most impact and influence on the field of Multimedia in terms of research, development, product or ideas, during the intervening years, as selected by a selection committee. The contributions the selection committee will focus on may be theoretical advances, techniques and/or software tools that have been widely used, and/or innovative applications that have had impact on multimedia computing."

Interestingly, in the past three years, papers related to MPEG-DASH were always among the winners or honorable mentions as follows:

2021 Awards

Winner (MM Systems & Networking)

Thomas Stockhammer. 2011. Dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP --: standards and design principles. In Proceedings of the second annual ACM conference on Multimedia systems (MMSys '11). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 133–144. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1943552.1943572

Abstract: In this paper, we provide some insight and background into the Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) specifications as available from 3GPP and in draft version also from MPEG. Specifically, the 3GPP version provides a normative description of a Media Presentation, the formats of a Segment, and the delivery protocol. In addition, it adds an informative description on how a DASH Client may use the provided information to establish a streaming service for the user. The solution supports different service types (e.g., On-Demand, Live, Time-Shift Viewing), different features (e.g., adaptive bitrate switching, multiple language support, ad insertion, trick modes, DRM) and different deployment options. Design principles and examples are provided.

2022 Awards

Honorable Mention, in the category of “Multimedia Systems- Networks”

Saamer Akhshabi, Ali C. Begen, and Constantine Dovrolis. 2011. An experimental evaluation of rate-adaptation algorithms in adaptive streaming over HTTP. In Proceedings of the second annual ACM conference on Multimedia systems (MMSys '11). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 157–168. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1943552.1943574

Abstract: Adaptive (video) streaming over HTTP is gradually being adopted, as it offers significant advantages in terms of both user-perceived quality and resource utilization for content and network service providers. In this paper, we focus on the rate-adaptation mechanisms of adaptive streaming and experimentally evaluate two major commercial players (Smooth Streaming, Netflix) and one open source player (OSMF). Our experiments cover three important operating conditions. First, how does an adaptive video player react to either persistent or short-term changes in the underlying network available bandwidth. Can the player quickly converge to the maximum sustainable bitrate? Second, what happens when two adaptive video players compete for available bandwidth in the bottleneck link? Can they share the resources in a stable and fair manner? And third, how does adaptive streaming perform with live content? Is the player able to sustain a short playback delay? We identify major differences between the three players, and significant inefficiencies in each of them.

2023 Awards

Honorable Mention, in the category of "MM Systems & Networking"

Stefan Lederer, Christopher Müller, and Christian Timmerer. 2012. Dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP dataset. In Proceedings of the 3rd Multimedia Systems Conference (MMSys '12). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 89–94. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2155555.2155570

Abstract: The delivery of audio-visual content over the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) got lot of attention in recent years and with dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP (DASH) a standard is now available. Many papers cover this topic and present their research results, but unfortunately all of them use their own private dataset which -- in most cases -- is not publicly available. Hence, it is difficult to compare, e.g., adaptation algorithms in an objective way due to the lack of a common dataset which shall be used as basis for such experiments. In this paper, we present our DASH dataset including our DASHEncoder, an open source DASH content generation tool. We also provide basic evaluations of the different segment lengths, the influence of HTTP server settings, and, in this context, we show some of the advantages as well as problems of shorter segment lengths.

Tuesday, December 5, 2023

A Tutorial on Immersive Video Delivery: From Omnidirectional Video to Holography

 A Tutorial on Immersive Video Delivery: From Omnidirectional Video to Holography

IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials

[PDF]

Jeroen van der Hooft (Ghent University, Belgium), Hadi Amirpour (AAU, Austria), Maria Torres Vega (KU Leuven, Belgium), Yago Sanchez (Fraunhofer/HHI), Raimund Schatz (AIT, Austria), Thomas Schierl (Fraunhofer/HHI, Germany), and Christian Timmerer (AAU, Austria)

Abstract: Video services are evolving from traditional two-dimensional video to virtual reality and holograms, which offer six degrees of freedom to users, enabling them to freely move around in a scene and change focus as desired. However, this increase in freedom translates into stringent requirements in terms of ultra-high bandwidth (in the order of Gigabits per second) and minimal latency (in the order of milliseconds). To realize such immersive services, the network transport, as well as the video representation and encoding, have to be fundamentally enhanced. The purpose of this tutorial article is to provide an elaborate introduction to the creation, streaming, and evaluation of immersive video. Moreover, it aims to provide lessons learned and to point at promising research paths to enable truly interactive immersive video applications toward holography.

Keywords—Immersive video delivery, 3DoF, 6DoF, omnidirectional video, volumetric video, point clouds, meshes, light fields, holography, end-to-end systems

J. van der Hooft, H. Amirpour, M. Torres Vega, Y. Sanchez, R. Schatz, T. Schierl, C. Timmerer, "A Tutorial on Immersive Video Delivery: From Omnidirectional Video to Holography," in IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 1336-1375, Secondquarter 2023, doi: 10.1109/COMST.2023.3263252.

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

MPEG news: a report from the 144th meeting

The original blog post can be found at the Bitmovin Techblog and has been modified/updated here to focus on and highlight research aspects. Additionally, this version of the blog post will also be posted at ACM SIGMM Records.

MPEG News Archive

The 144th MPEG meeting was held in Hannover, Germany! For those interested, the press release with all the details is available. It’s great to see progress being made in person (cf. also the group pictures below).

Attendees of the 144th MPEG meeting in Hannover, Germany.
Attendees of the 144th MPEG meeting in Hannover, Germany.

The main outcome of this meeting is as follows:

  • MPEG issues Call for Learning-Based Video Codecs for Study of Quality Assessment
  • MPEG evaluates Call for Proposals on Feature Compression for Video Coding for Machines
  • MPEG progresses ISOBMFF-related Standards for the Carriage of Network Abstraction Layer Video Data
  • MPEG enhances the Support of Energy-Efficient Media Consumption
  • MPEG ratifies the Support of Temporal Scalability for Geometry-based Point Cloud Compression
  • MPEG reaches the First Milestone for the Interchange of 3D Graphics Formats
  • MPEG announces Completion of Coding of Genomic Annotations

We have modified the press release to cater to the readers of ACM SIGMM Records and highlighted research on video technologies. This edition of the MPEG column focuses on MPEG Systems-related standards and visual quality assessment. As usual, the column will end with an update on MPEG-DASH.

Visual Quality Assessment

MPEG does not create standards in the visual quality assessment domain. However, it conducts visual quality assessments for its standards during various stages of the standardization process. For instance, it evaluates responses to call for proposals, conducts verification tests of its final standards, and so on. MPEG Visual Quality Assessment (AG 5) issued an open call to study quality assessment for learning-based video codecs. AG 5 has been conducting subjective quality evaluations for coded video content and studying their correlation with objective quality metrics. Most of these studies have focused on the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) and Versatile Video Coding (VVC) standards. To facilitate the study of visual quality, MPEG maintains the Compressed Video for the study of Quality Metrics (CVQM) dataset.

With the recent advancements in learning-based video compression algorithms, MPEG is now studying compression using these codecs. It is expected that reconstructed videos compressed using learning-based codecs will have different types of distortion compared to those induced by traditional block-based motion-compensated video coding designs. To gain a deeper understanding of these distortions and their impact on visual quality, MPEG has issued a public call related to learning-based video codecs. MPEG is open to inputs in response to the call and will invite responses that meet the call’s requirements to submit compressed bitstreams for further study of their subjective quality and potential inclusion into the CVQM dataset.

Considering the rapid advancements in the development of learning-based video compression algorithms, MPEG will keep this call open and anticipates future updates to the call.

Interested parties are kindly requested to contact the MPEG AG 5 Convenor Mathias Wien (wien@lfb.rwth- aachen.de) and submit responses for review at the 145th MPEG meeting in January 2024. Further details are given in the call, issued as AG 5 document N 104 and available from the mpeg.org website.

Research aspects: Learning-based data compression (e.g., for image, audio, video content) is a hot research topic. Research on this topic relies on datasets offering a set of common test sequences, sometimes also common test conditions, that are publicly available and allow for comparison across different schemes. MPEG’s Compressed Video for the study of Quality Metrics (CVQM) dataset is such a dataset, available here, and ready to be used also by researchers and scientists outside of MPEG. The call mentioned above is open for everyone inside/outside of MPEG and allows researchers to participate in international standards efforts (note: to attend meetings, one must become a delegate of a national body).

MPEG Systems-related Standards

At the 144th MPEG meeting, MPEG Systems (WG 3) produced three news-worthy items as follows:

  • Progression of ISOBMFF-related standards for the carriage of Network Abstraction Layer (NAL) video data.
  • Enhancement of the support of energy-efficient media consumption.
  • Support of temporal scalability for geometry-based Point Cloud Compression (PPC).

ISO/IEC 14496-15, a part of the family of ISOBMFF-related standards, defines the carriage of Network Abstract Layer (NAL) unit structured video data such as Advanced Video Coding (AVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Versatile Video Coding (VVC), Essential Video Coding (EVC), and Low Complexity Enhancement Video Coding (LCEVC). This standard has been further improved with the approval of the Final Draft Amendment (FDAM), which adds support for enhanced features such as Picture-in-Picture (PiP) use cases enabled by VVC.

In addition to the improvements made to ISO/IEC 14496-15, separately developed amendments have been consolidated in the 7th edition of the standard. This edition has been promoted to Final Draft International Standard (FDIS), marking the final milestone of the formal standard development.

Another important standard in development is the 2nd edition of ISO/IEC14496-32 (file format reference software and conformance). This standard, currently at the Committee Draft (CD) stage of development, is planned to be completed and reach the status of Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) by the beginning of 2025. This standard will be essential for industry professionals who require a reliable and standardized method of verifying the conformance of their implementation.

MPEG Systems (WG 3) also promoted ISO/IEC 23001-11 (energy-efficient media consumption (green metadata)) Amendment 1 to Final Draft Amendment (FDAM). This amendment introduces energy-efficient media consumption (green metadata) for Essential Video Coding (EVC) and defines metadata that enables a reduction in decoder power consumption. At the same time, ISO/IEC 23001-11 Amendment 2 has been promoted to the Committee Draft Amendment (CDAM) stage of development. This amendment introduces a novel way to carry metadata about display power reduction encoded as a video elementary stream interleaved with the video it describes. The amendment is expected to be completed and reach the status of Final Draft Amendment (FDAM) by the beginning of 2025.

Finally, MPEG Systems (WG 3) promoted ISO/IEC 23090-18 (carriage of geometry-based point cloud compression data) Amendment 1 to Final Draft Amendment (FDAM). This amendment enables the compression of a single elementary stream of point cloud data using ISO/IEC 23090-9 (geometry-based point cloud compression) and storing it in more than one track of ISO Base Media File Format (ISOBMFF)-based files. This enables support for applications that require multiple frame rates within a single file and introduces a track grouping mechanism to indicate multiple tracks carrying a specific temporal layer of a single elementary stream separately.

Research aspects: MPEG Systems usually provides standards on top of existing compression standards, enabling efficient storage and delivery of media data (among others). Researchers may use these standards (including reference software and conformance bitstreams) to conduct research in the general area of multimedia systems (cf. ACM MMSys) or, specifically on green multimedia systems (cf. ACM GMSys).

MPEG-DASH Updates

The current status of MPEG-DASH is shown in the figure below with only minor updates compared to the last meeting.

MPEG-DASH Status, October 2023.

In particular, the 6th edition of MPEG-DASH is scheduled for 2024 but may not include all amendments under development. An overview of existing amendments can be found in the blog post from the last meeting. Current amendments have been (slightly) updated and progressed toward completion in the upcoming meetings. The signaling of haptics in DASH has been discussed and accepted for inclusion in the Technologies under Consideration (TuC) document. The TuC document comprises candidate technologies for possible future amendments to the MPEG-DASH standard and is publicly available here.

Research aspects: MPEG-DASH has been heavily researched in the multimedia systems, quality, and communications research communities. Adding haptics to MPEG-DASH would provide another dimension worth considering within research, including, but not limited to, performance aspects and Quality of Experience (QoE).

The 145th MPEG meeting will be online from January 22-26, 2024. Click here for more information about MPEG meetings and their developments.

Friday, August 11, 2023

MPEG news: a report from the 143rd meeting

The original blog post can be found at the Bitmovin Techblog and has been modified/updated here to focus on and highlight research aspects. Additionally, this version of the blog post will also be posted at ACM SIGMM Records.

MPEG News Archive

The 143rd MPEG meeting took place in person in Geneva, Switzerland. The official press release can be accessed here and includes the following details:

  • MPEG finalizes the Carriage of Uncompressed Video and Images in ISOBMFF
  • MPEG reaches the First Milestone for two ISOBMFF Enhancements
  • MPEG ratifies Third Editions of VVC and VSEI
  • MPEG reaches the First Milestone of AVC (11th Edition) and HEVC Amendment
  • MPEG Genomic Coding extended to support Joint Structured Storage and Transport of Sequencing Data, Annotation Data, and Metadata
  • MPEG completes Reference Software and Conformance for Geometry-based Point Cloud Compression

We have adjusted the press release to suit the audience here and emphasized research on video technologies. This blog post centers around ISOBMFF and video codecs. As always, I will conclude with an update on MPEG-DASH.

ISOBMFF Enhancements

The ISO Base Media File Format (ISOBMFF) supports the carriage of a wide range of media data such as video, audio, point clouds, haptics, etc., which has now been further extended to uncompressed videos and images.

ISO/IEC 23001-17 – Carriage of uncompressed video and images in ISOBMFF – specifies how uncompressed 2D image and video data is carried in files that comply with the ISOBMFF family of standards. This encompasses a range of data types, including monochromatic and color data, transparency (alpha) information, and depth information. The standard enables the industry to effectively exchange uncompressed video and image data while utilizing all additional information provided by the ISOBMFF, such as timing, color space, and sample aspect ratio for interoperable interpretation and/or display of uncompressed video and image data.

ISO/IEC 14496-15 (based on ISOBMFF), provides the basis for "network abstraction layer (NAL) unit structured video coding formats" such as AVC, HEVC, and VVC. The current version is the 6th edition, which has been amended to support neural-network post-filter supplemental enhancement information (SEI) messages. This amendment defines the carriage of the neural-network post-filter characteristics (NNPFC) SEI messages and the neural-network post-filter activation (NNPFA) SEI messages to enable the delivery of (i) a base post-processing filter and (ii) a series of neural network updates synchronized with the input video pictures/frames.

Research aspects: While the former, the carriage of uncompressed video and images in ISOBMFF, seems to be something obvious to be supported within a file format, the latter enables to use neural network-based post-processing filters to enhance video quality after the decoding process, which is an active field of research. The current extensions with the file format provide a baseline for the evaluation (cf. also next section). 

Video Codec Enhancements

MPEG finalized the specifications of the third editions of the Versatile Video Coding (VVC, ISO/IEC 23090-3) and the Versatile Supplemental Enhancement Information (VSEI, ISO/IEC 23002-7) standards. Additionally, MPEG issued the Committee Draft (CD) text of the eleventh edition of the Advanced Video Coding (AVC, ISO/IEC 14496-10) standard and the Committee Draft Amendment (CDAM) text on top of the High Efficiency Video Coding standard (HEVC, ISO/IEC 23008-2).

These SEI messages include two systems-related SEI messages, (a) one for signaling of green metadata as specified in ISO/IEC 23001-11 and (b) the other for signaling of an alternative video decoding interface for immersive media as specified in ISO/IEC 23090-13. Furthermore, the neural network post-filter characteristics SEI message and the neural-network post-processing filter activation SEI message have been added to AVC, HEVC, and VVC.

The two SEI messages for describing and activating post-filters using neural network technology in video bitstreams could, for example, be used for reducing coding noise, spatial and temporal upsampling (i.e., super-resolution and frame interpolation), color improvement, or general denoising of the decoder output. The description of the neural network architecture itself is based on MPEG’s neural network representation standard (ISO/IEC 15938 17). As results from an exploration experiment have shown, neural network-based post-filters can deliver better results than conventional filtering methods. Processes for invoking these new post-filters have already been tested in a software framework and will be made available in an upcoming version of the VVC reference software (ISO/IEC 23090-16).

Research aspects: SEI messages for neural network post-filters (NNPF) for AVC, HEVC, and VVC, including systems supports within the ISOBMFF, is a powerful tool(box) for interoperable visual quality enhancements at the client. This tool(box) will (i) allow for Quality of Experience (QoE) assessments and (ii) enable the analysis thereof across codecs once integrated within the corresponding reference software. 

MPEG-DASH Updates

The current status of MPEG-DASH is depicted in the figure below:


The latest edition of MPEG-DASH is the 5th edition (ISO/IEC 23009-1:2022) which is publicly/freely available here. There are currently three amendments under development:

  • ISO/IEC 23009-1:2022 Amendment 1: Preroll, nonlinear playback, and other extensions. This amendment has been ratified already and is currently being integrated into the 5th edition of part 1 of the MPEG-DASH specification.
  • ISO/IEC 23009-1:2022 Amendment 2: EDRAP streaming and other extensions. EDRAP stands for Extended Dependent Random Access Point and at this meeting the Draft Amendment (DAM) has been approved. EDRAP increases the coding efficiency for random access and has been adopted within VVC.
  • ISO/IEC 23009-1:2022 Amendment 3: Segment sequences for random access and switching. This amendment is at Committee Draft Amendment (CDAM) stage, the first milestone of the formal standardization process. This amendment aims at improving tune-in time for low latency streaming.

Additionally, MPEG Technologies under Consideration (TuC) comprises a few new work items, such as content selection and adaptation logic based on device orientation and signaling of haptics data within DASH.

Finally, part 9 of MPEG-DASH -- redundant encoding and packaging for segmented live media (REAP) -- has been promoted to Draft International Standard (DIS). It is expected to be finalized in the upcoming meetings.

Research aspects: Random access has been extensively evaluated in the context of video coding but not (low latency) streaming. Additionally, the TuC item related to content selection and adaptation logic based on device orientation raises QoE issues to be further explored.

The 144th MPEG meeting will be held in Hannover from October 16-20, 2023. Click here for more information about MPEG meetings and their developments.

Tuesday, July 25, 2023

University assistant predoctoral (all genders welcome) (in German: Universitätsassistent:in)

Department of Information Technology

Scientific Staff  | Part time
Application deadline:  9 August 2023
Reference code: 403/23

Announcement

The University of Klagenfurt, with approximately 1,500 employees and over 12,000 students, is located in the Alps-Adriatic region and consistently achieves excellent placements in rankings. The motto “per aspera ad astra” underscores our firm commitment to the pursuit of excellence in all activities in research, teaching and university management. The principles of equality, diversity, health, sustainability and compatibility of work and family life serve as the foundation for our work at the university.

The University of Klagenfurt is pleased to announce the following open position at the Department of Information Technology at the Faculty of Technical Sciences with a negotiable starting date, commencing on November 13, 2023 at the latest:

University assistant predoctoral (all genders welcome) (in German: Universitätsassistent:in)

within the Ada Lovelace Programme (Developing a Virtual-Reality Game that Fosters Empathy and Perspective-Taking). The successful candidate is expected to complete a dissertation project pertaining to the development of a virtual-reality game that fosters empathy and perspective-taking.

Level of employment: 75 % (30 hours/week)

Minimum salary: € 34,412 per annum (gross); Classification according to collective agreement: B1

Contract duration: 4 years

Application deadline: by August 9, 2023

Reference code: 403/23

Area of responsibility

  • Autonomous scientific work including the publication of research articles in the fields of game studies and game engineering and psychology
  • Conducting independent scientific research with the aim to submit a dissertation and acquire a doctoral degree in technical sciences
  • Teaching exercises and lab courses (e.g., in the game studies and engineering Master’s programme)
  • Participating in research projects of the department, especially within the Ada Lovelace Programme (Developing a Virtual-Reality Game that Fosters Empathy and Perspective-Taking)
  • Mentoring students
  • Assisting in public relations activities, science to public communication, and extra-curricular events of the department and the faculty

Requirements

  • Completed Diploma or Master’s degree from a recognized university in the field of Game Studies and Game Engineering or Computer Science. The completion of this degree must be fulfilled no later than two weeks before the starting date; hence, the last possible deadline for meeting this requirement is October 30, 2023
  • Strong background in one or more of the following fields: (video) games research, empirical research methods, design and creation of video games
  • Fluent in written and spoken English
  • Very good scientific communication and dissemination skills (scientific writing and oral presentations)
  • Programming experience in video game development

Desired skills

  • Experience in interdisciplinary research projects, ideally in the social sciences, as the project involves empirical research on relevant experiences
  • Social competences, reliability, and teamwork competency
  • Ability to communicate with researchers of different academic backgrounds
  • Scientific curiosity and enthusiasm for research in video games
  • First experiences with scientific publications
Additional information

The doctoral student will be co-supervised by Mathias Lux, Judith Glück, and Felix Schniz.

Our offer:

This position serves the purposes of the vocational and scientific education of graduates of Master’s or Diploma degree programmes and sets the global of completing a Doctoral degree / a Ph.D. in Technical Sciences. Applications by persons who have already completed a subject-specific Doctoral degree or a subject-relevant Ph.D. programme therefore cannot be considered.

The employment contract is concluded for the position as university assistant (predoctoral) and stipulates a starting salary of € 2,458 gross per month (14 times a year; previous experience deemed relevant to the job can be recognised in accordance with the collective agreement).

The university of Klagenfurt is a young and vibrant campus university hosting 12,000 students. It is located in the southern part of Austria, a region with outstanding quality of life at the intersection of Alpine and Mediterranean culture.

The University of Klagenfurt also offers:

  • Personal and professional advanced training courses, management and career coaching
  • Numerous attractive additional benefits, see also https://jobs.aau.at/en/the-university-as-employer/
  • Diversity- and family-friendly university culture
  • The opportunity to live and work in the attractive Alps-Adriatic region with a wide range of leisure activities in the spheres of culture, nature and sports

The application:

If you are interested in this position, please apply in English providing the following documents:

  • Letter of application
  • Curriculum vitae (with clear information about the degrees including date/place/grade, the experience acquired, the thesis title, the list of publications if any, and any other relevant information)
  • Copy of the degree certificates and transcripts of the courses
  • Any certificates that can prove the fulfilment of the required and additional qualifications listed above (e. g., the submission of the final thesis/dissertation if required by the degree programme, copy of publications programming skills certificates, language skills certificates etc.)
  • Final thesis or other study-related written work (like seminar reports) or excerpts thereof
  • If an applicant has not received the Diploma or Master’s degree by the application deadline, the applicant should provide a declaration, written either by a supervisor or by the candidate themselves, on the feasibility of finishing the Diploma or Master’s degree by October 30, 2023 at the latest.

To apply, please select the position with the reference code 403/23 in the category “Scientific Staff” using the link “Apply for this position”.

Candidates must furnish proof that they meet the required qualifications by October 30, 2023 at the latest.

For further information on this specific vacancy, please contact Assoc.-Prof. DI Dr. Mathias Lux (mathias.lux@aau.at). General information about the university as an employer can be found at https://jobs.aau.at/en/the-university-as-employer/. At the University of Klagenfurt, recruitment and staff matters are accompanied not only by the authority responsible for the recruitment procedure but also by the Equal Opportunities Working Group and, if necessary, by the Representative for Disabled Persons.

The university of Klagenfurt aims to increase the proportion of women and therefore specifically invites qualified women to apply for the position. Where the qualification is equivalent, women will be given preferential consideration.

People with disabilities or chronic diseases, who fulfil the requirements, are particularly encouraged to apply.

Travel and accommodation costs incurred during the application process will not be refunded.

Translations into other languages shall serve informational purposes only. Solely the version advertised in the University Bulletin (Mitteilungsblatt) shall be legally binding.

Apply for this position

Universitätsassistent:in

Institut für Informationstechnologie
Wissenschaftliches Universitätspersonal  | Teilzeit
Bewerbungsfrist:  9. August 2023
Kennung: 405/23

Ausschreibung

Die Universität Klagenfurt ist mit rund 1 500 Mitarbeitenden und über 12 000 Studierenden im Alpen-Adria-Raum angesiedelt und erreicht in Rankings regelmäßig exzellente Platzierungen. Das Motto „per aspera ad astra“ bringt den Anspruch des konsequenten Strebens nach Spitzenleistungen bei allen Tätigkeiten in Forschung, Lehre und Hochschulmanagement zum Ausdruck. Die Prinzipien der Gleichstellung, der Diversität, der Gesundheit, der Nachhaltigkeit und der Vereinbarkeit von Beruf und Familie bilden die Grundlage für das Arbeiten an der Universität.

Am Institut für Informationstechnologie an der Fakultät für Technische Wissenschaften wird voraussichtlich mit 1. Oktober 2023 folgende Stelle besetzt:

Universitätsassistent:in

Beschäftigungsausmaß: 75 % (30 Wo.std.); mit der Möglichkeit zur Erhöhung des Beschäftigungsausmaßes auf 100 % (40 Wo.std.) aus Drittmitteln

Mindestentgelt: € 34.412,-- brutto jährlich; Einstufung nach Uni-KV: B1

Befristung: 4 Jahre

Bewerbungsfrist: bis 9. August 2023

Kennung: 405/23

Aufgabenbereich

  • Selbstständiges wissenschaftliches Arbeiten, einschließlich der Veröffentlichung von Forschungsartikeln auf den Gebieten Game Studies, Game Engineering und Informatik
  • Durchführung unabhängiger wissenschaftlicher Forschung mit dem Ziel, eine Dissertation einzureichen und einen Doktorgrad der technischen Wissenschaften zu erlangen
  • Durchführung von Übungen und Laborpraktika auf Deutsch (z.B.: Rechnerorganisation, Betriebssysteme, Computernetzwerke)
  • Aktive Teilnahme an Forschungsprojekten am Institut
  • Betreuung von Studierenden
  • Unterstützung bei Öffentlichkeitsarbeit, Wissenschaftskommunikation und Veranstaltungen des Instituts und der Fakultät

Voraussetzungen

  • Abgeschlossenes Diplom- oder Masterstudium an einer anerkannten Universität im Bereich Game Studies und Game Engineering oder Informatik. Der Abschluss dieses Studiums muss spätestens zwei Wochen vor dem geplanten Dienstantritt erfolgen; daher ist die letztmögliche Frist zur Erfüllung dieser Anforderung der 17. September 2023
  • Solide Kenntnisse in einem oder mehreren der folgenden Bereiche: (Video-)Spielforschung, empirische Forschungsmethoden, Gestaltung und Erstellung von Videospielen
  • Sehr gute Beherrschung der deutschen und englischen Sprache in Wort und Schrift
  • Ausgezeichnete wissenschaftliche Kommunikationsfähigkeiten (wissenschaftliches Schreiben und wissenschaftliche Vorträge)
  • Programmiererfahrung, insbesondere im Bereich der Entwicklung von Videospielen

Erwünscht sind

  • Erfahrung in interdisziplinären Forschungsprojekten
  • Soziale Kompetenz, Zuverlässigkeit und Teamfähigkeit
  • Fähigkeit zur Kommunikation mit Forscher:innen aus unterschiedlichen akademischen Bereichen
  • Bereitschaft aktiv an Forschung, Lehre und Verwaltungsaufgaben teilzunehmen
  • Erste wissenschaftliche Veröffentlichungen

Zusatzinformation

Das Angebot:

Der Dienstvertrag wird mit einem Einstiegsentgelt von mtl. € 2.458,-- brutto (14x jährlich; eine Anrechnung tätigkeitsspezifischer Vorerfahrung gemäß Kollektivvertrag ist möglich) abgeschlossen.

Zudem bietet die Universität Klagenfurt:

  • Persönliche und berufliche Weiterbildungsangebote, Führungskräfte- und Karrierecoaching
  • Zahlreiche attraktive Zusatzleistungen, siehe dazu jobs.aau.at/arbeitgeber-universitaet-klagenfurt/
  • Diversitäts- und familienfreundliche Universitätskultur
  • Leben und arbeiten in der attraktiven Alpen-Adria-Region mit vielfältigen Freizeitmöglichkeiten in den Bereichen Kultur, Natur & Sport

Die Bewerbung:

Bei Interesse bewerben Sie sich in deutscher oder englischer Sprache mit den üblichen Unterlagen:

  • Bewerbungsschreiben
  • Lebenslauf
  • Zeugnisse / Bestätigungen
  • Konzept eines (möglichen) Dissertationsprojekts (maximal 1 Seite)

Diese Stelle dient der fachlichen und wissenschaftlichen Bildung von Absolvent:innen eines Master- bzw. Diplomstudiums mit dem Ziel des Abschlusses eines Doktoratsstudiums der technischen Wissenschaften (im Doktoratsprogramm Informatik). Bewerbungen von Personen, die bereits über ein facheinschlägiges Doktorat bzw. einen facheinschlägigen Ph.D. verfügen, können daher nicht berücksichtigt werden.

Bewerbungen sind ausschließlich bei der Stelle mit der Kennung 405/23 in der Rubrik „Wissenschaftliches Universitätspersonal“ über den Link „Für diese Stelle bewerben“ am Ende der Ausschreibung möglich.

Die erforderlichen Nachweise für die Einstellung müssen bis spätestens 17. September 2023 vorliegen.

Nähere Auskünfte zur konkreten Stellenausschreibung erteilen Assoc. Prof. DI Dr. Mathias Lux (mathias.lux@aau.at) oder Univ.-Prof. DI Dr. Christian Timmerer (christian.timmerer@aau.at). Allgemeine Informationen zur Universität als Arbeitgeberin finden sich unter www.aau.at/jobs/information. Die Personalverfahren werden an der Universität Klagenfurt neben der zuständigen ausschreibenden Stelle auch vom Arbeitskreis für Gleichbehandlungsfragen und ggfs. von der Behindertenvertretung begleitet.

Die Universität Klagenfurt strebt eine Erhöhung des Frauenanteils an und fordert daher qualifizierte Frauen ausdrücklich zur Bewerbung auf. Bei gleicher Qualifikation werden Frauen vorrangig aufgenommen.

Menschen mit Behinderungen oder chronischen Erkrankungen, die die geforderten Qualifikationskriterien erfüllen, werden ausdrücklich zur Bewerbung aufgefordert.

Es besteht kein Anspruch auf Abgeltung von Reise- und Aufenthaltskosten, die aus Anlass des Aufnahmeverfahrens entstehen.

Für diese Stelle bewerben