Open positions

Open positions are advertised here and on Bluesky.

Please send all inquiries (written in English) to mls-jobs@inf.uni-tuebingen.de, and reference specific postings below for necessary information to include in the email header.

PhD, Postdoc and Programmer positions at the intersection of Machine Learning and Computational Neuroscience (spring 2025)

We are looking for PhD, Postdoc and Scientific Programmer applicants interested in working with us on using deep learning to build, optimize and study mechanistic models of neural computations!

In a first project, funded by the ERC Grant DeepCoMechTome, we want to make use of connectomic reconstructions of the fruit fly to build large-scale simulations of the fly brain that can explain visually driven behavior—see, e.g., our prior work with Srinivas Turaga’s group, described in Lappalainen et al., Nature, 2024. In a second project, funded by the DFG through the CRC Robust Vision, we want to use differentiable simulators of biophysical models (Deistler et al., 2024) to build data-driven models of visual processing in the retina.

We are open to candidates who are more interested in neurobiological questions, as well as to ones more interested in machine learning aspects (e.g. training large-scale mechanistic neural networks, learning efficient emulators, coding frameworks for collaborative modelling, automated model discovery for mechanistic models, …) of these projects.

We are open to candidates who are more interested in neurobiological questions, as well as to ones more interested in machine learning aspects (e.g. training large-scale mechanistic neural networks, learning efficient emulators, coding frameworks for collaborative modelling, automated model discovery for mechanistic models, …) of these projects.

Please submit your application materials to mls-jobs@inf.uni-tuebingen.de, including a CV with publication list, relevant transcripts, a statement of research interests (max. two pages), contact details of two referees, and a link to a code repository (or work samples). Please apply before May 31, 2025. Our PhD students are typically part of the IMPRS-IS and/or the ELLIS PhD programs, and we will encourage successful applicants to subsequently apply for these programs.

For more details and how to apply, please see the full description

PhD Students & Postdocs

We recruit PhD students through the IMPRS Intelligent Systems and the IMPRS Mechanisms of Mental Function and Dysfunction (deadline in Novemmber).

We are sometimes able to accept postdocs (or students outside of the IMPRS application cycles), even when we do not have positions advertised. If you are interested in working with us, please send an inquiry in English to mls-jobs@inf.uni-tuebingen.de, with subject “Inquiry: research position at MLS Tübingen”. Please include a CV, relevant transcripts, and a brief description of research interests and why you would want to work with us. However, please understand that we are not able to respond to the majority of inquiries, especially for unadvertised positions.

B.Sc., M.Sc. theses, student jobs.

If you are a student at the University of Tübingen in a degree program at the department for Computer Science or the Graduate Training Center Neuroscience, and are interested in working with us (e.g. for a masters or bachelor thesis, research internship, essay rotation or as an SHK/Hiwi), please send an inquiry to mls-jobs@inf.uni-tuebingen.de, with subject “Inquiry: [one of: B.Sc. thesis/M.Sc. thesis/SHK/internship/etc] at MLS Tübingen”, and written in English.

Please in your email also include:

• i) a brief statement of what research you want to do and why you want to join our group, ideally in English (refer to the Research page for a description of research areas),
• ii) current CV including a description of previous research/work experiences,
• iii) a transcript of all previous courses and grades, and
• iv) information about desired starting-dates (for planning purposes).

If you are specifically interested in or have worked with someone in the group on a project, you can indicate this as well.

To streamline our application process and to make it more predictable for everybody involved we have six application deadlines during the year (15.1., 15.3., 15.5., 15.7., 15.9., 15.11.). While you can submit your application at any time, we will only make decisions and respond to your inquiry shortly after these dates.

Currently open projects and contact persons will be listed below.

We rarely have capacity to offer internships for external students, and are typically unable to respond to inquiries.

Open thesis and internship projects

– currently none advertised, please enquire —

Contact

Inquires should be directed (and written in English) to mls-jobs@inf.uni-tuebingen.de.