Doctoral Student Positions in "Adaptive Streaming over HTTP and Emerging Networked Multimedia Services" (2nd cohort)

The Institute of Information Technology at the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt invites applications for:

Doctoral Student Positions (100% employment; all genders welcome) 

within the Christian Doppler (CD) Pilot Laboratory ATHENA 

“Adaptive Streaming over HTTP and Emerging Networked Multimedia Services” 

at the Faculty of Technical Sciences. The monthly salary for these positions is according to the standard salaries of the Austrian collective agreement, min. € 3.058,60 pre-tax (14x yearly) (Uni-KV: B1, https://www.aau.at/en/uni-kv). The expected start date of employment is April 1st, 2023.

ATHENA (https://athena.itec.aau.at) stands for Adaptive Streaming over HTTP and Emerging Networked Multimedia Services and has been jointly proposed as a CD Laboratory (https://www.cdg.ac.at/) by the Institute of Information Technology (ITEC; https://itec.aau.at) at Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt (AAU) and Bitmovin GmbH (https://bitmovin.com) to address current and future research and deployment challenges of HTTP Adaptive Streaming (HAS) and emerging streaming methods.

AAU (ITEC) has been working on adaptive video streaming for more than a decade, has a proven record of successful research projects and publications in the field, and has been actively contributing to MPEG standardization for many years, including MPEG-DASH; Bitmovin is a video streaming software company founded by ITEC researchers in 2013 and has developed highly successful, global R&D and sales activities and a world-wide customer base since then.

The aim of ATHENA CD Lab is to research and develop novel paradigms, approaches, (prototype) tools and evaluation results for the areas (1) multimedia content provisioning (i.e., video coding), (2) content delivery (i.e., multimedia networking) and (3) content consumption (i.e., HAS player aspects) in the media delivery chain as well as for (4) end-to-end aspects, with a focus on, but not being limited to, HTTP Adaptive Streaming (HAS). The new approaches and insights enable Bitmovin to build innovative applications and services to account for the steadily increasing and changing multimedia traffic on the Internet. In addition, according to the CD Lab model of “application-oriented basic research,” the goal is to publish the results in international, high-quality professional journals and conference proceedings.

Your profile:

• Master or diploma degree of Technical Science in the field of Computer Science or Electrical Engineering, completed at a domestic or foreign university (with good final degrees);
• Interest and experience in one or more of the above-identified areas, namely (1) multimedia content provisioning (i.e., video coding with a special focus on using machine learning), (2) content delivery (i.e., multimedia networking) and (3) content consumption (i.e., HAS player aspects) in the media delivery chain as well as (4) end-to-end aspects (i.e., with a special focus video analytics and data science), with a focus on, but not being limited to, HTTP Adaptive Streaming (HAS);
• Excellent English skills, both in written and oral form. 

Desirable qualifications include:

• Excellent programming skills, especially in Python, C, C++, Java, or/and JavaScript;
• Relevant international and practical work experience;
• Social and communicative competencies and ability to work in a team;
• Experience with university teaching and research activities.

The working language and the research program are in English. There is no need to learn German for this position unless the applicant wants to participate in undergraduate teaching, which is optional.

Our offer:

The employment contract is concluded for the position of Project Assistant, and the monthly salary for these positions is according to the standard salaries of the Austrian collective agreement, min. € 3.058,60 pre-tax (14x yearly) (Uni-KV: B1, https://www.aau.at/en/uni-kv). 

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 German or English by providing the following documents:

• Letter of motivation
• Curriculum vitae 
• Copies of degree certificates and confirmations
• Proof of all completed higher education programs 
• Concept of a (potential) dissertation project (one-page maximum)

The University of Klagenfurt is aware of its social responsibility even during COVID-19. This is reflected by the high proportion of fully immunized persons among students and employees. For this reason, a continued willingness to be vaccinated in connection with COVID-19 is expected upon entering university employment.

The University of Klagenfurt aims to increase the proportion of women and explicitly invites qualified women to apply for the position. Where the qualification is equivalent, women will receive preferential consideration. 

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

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

Submit all relevant documents, including copies of all school certificates and performance records via here (note: we utilize Bitmovin’s recruitment infrastructure for processing applications, but the position will be at the University of Klagenfurt).

Application deadline (extended): October 1st, 2022. December 1st, 2022.

Contact information:
Dr. Christian Timmerer
Institute of Information Technology, Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt
Universitätsstraße 65 – 67, 9020 Klagenfurt, Austria
Email: christian(dot)timmerer(at)aau(dot)at
URL: http://blog.timmerer.com, http://itec.aau.at/, https://athena.itec.aau.at/

Klagenfurt, situated at the beautiful Lake Wörthersee – one of the largest and warmest alpine lakes in Europe – has nearly 100.000 inhabitants. Being a small city, with a Renaissance-style city center reflecting 800 years of history and with Italian influence, Klagenfurt is a pleasant place to live and work. The university is located only about 1.5 kilometers east of Lake Wörthersee and about 3 kilometers west of the city enter.

Predoc Scientist: Distributed (Multimedia) Systems

*** updated ***

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 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, employment to commence as soon as possible:

Predoc Scientist (all genders welcome)

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

Minimum salary: € 32,116.- per annum (gross); classification according to collective agreement: B1

Limited to: four years

Depending on the funds available the level of employment can be increased to 100 % during the length of employment. 

Application deadline: 7 December 2022

Reference code: 215_2/22

Tasks and responsibilities:

• Contributions to research and teaching
• Independent research with the aim of completing a doctoral thesis
• Participation in organizational and administrative tasks
• Participation in public relations activities
• Assistance in the acquisition and running of third-party funded projects 

Prerequisites for the appointment:

• Completed Diploma or Master’s studies in the field of Computer Science at a domestic or foreign higher education institution
• Strong background in one or more of the following fields:
• Distributed Systems
• Distributed Multimedia-Systems
• Machine Learning (Neuronal Network, Deep Learning); preferable in the context of Distributed (Multimedia-) Systems
• Excellent programming skills
• Excellent knowledge of English (fluent spoken and written English)

Additional desired qualifications:

• Communication and presentation skills
• International and practical experience within their field of activity
• Teaching experience and didactic competence
• First relevant publications (disregarding Master’s/Diploma thesis)
• German language skills (spoken and written German)

Our offer:

The employment contract is concluded for the position as Predoc Scientist Assistant and stipulates a starting salary of € 2,294.- gross per month (14 times a year, level of employment 75 %), respectively € 3,058.60 gross per month (14 times a year, level of employment 100 %); previous experience deemed relevant to the job can be recognised in accordance with the collective agreement. 

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 German or English by providing the following documents:

• Letter of motivation
• Curriculum vitae 
• Copies of degree certificates and confirmations
• Proof of all completed higher education programmes 
• Concept of a (potential) dissertation project (one page maximum)

Candidates must furnish proof that they meet the required qualifications by 7 December 2022 at the latest.

This position serves the professional and scientific education of graduates of a Diploma or Master’s programme to complete a doctorate programme in Computer Science. Applications from persons with a relevant doctorate or PhD cannot be considered.

To apply, please select the position with the reference code 215_2/22 in the category “Scientific Staff” using the link “Apply for this position” in the job portal, specifically at https://jobs.aau.at/en/job/predoc-scientist-all-genders-welcome-2/.

For further information on this specific vacancy, please contact Univ.-Prof. DI Dr Radu Prodan (radu.prodan@aau.at) and/or Assoc.-Prof. DI Dr Christian Timmerer (christian.timmerer@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 explicitly invites qualified women to apply for the position. Where the qualification is equivalent, women will receive 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 serve informational purposes only. Solely the version advertised in the University Bulletin (Mitteilungsblatt) is legally binding.