About
As the German National Library of Science and Technology our future-oriented services ensure the infrastructural requirements for a high-quality supply of information and literature for research in science and industry. With the Open Research Knowledge Graph (ORKG), we are working to revolutionise the exchange and use of scientific knowledge in the digital age.
TIB, being part of the Leibniz Research Association, is with around 600 employees one of the largest technical information centres in Germany, having three main functions:
1. Acting in the capacity of the Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology, our forward-looking services secure the infrastructural requirements for providing researchers in science and industry with high-quality information and literature.
2. Carrying out cutting edge research to further expand TIB’s role as a German information centre for the digitisation of science and technology.
3. Offer library services for the Leibniz University Hannover.
The Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB) – Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology – Program Area D, Open Research Knowledge Graph, is looking to employ a
Research Software Engineer for “Physics Ask” (m/f/d)
to work in Team Service and Software Development as of 1st January 2026.
The position is limited until 31st December 2028. The regular weekly working time is 39.8 hours (full-time). The position is only suitable for part-time work to a limited extent. The remuneration is based on pay scale group 13 TV-L.
Your tasks
As part of the DFG-funded “Specialised Information Service” programme, the TIB is going to develop a central research and information platform for researchers in physics, with an initial focus on plasma physics for this first three-year funding period. TIB is leading this joint project, to be carried out in close collaboration with our project partners, Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP) and Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Germany’s national metrology institute. The central product of the project will be a search and service portal, providing users with an added benefit by leveraging developments for several modes of search. By fostering in-depth exchange with the physics research community, we aim at establishing a trusted and innovative information hub.
We are looking for a committed individual with a strong expertise in software development to drive the development of new methods in information retrieval. Your responsibilities will revolve around providing researchers with novel and improved search functionalities by integrating three distinct technological pathways into a coherent service.
Your tasks include
- Firstly, adapting ORKG Ask, TIB’s existing semantic and natural-language based scholarly search system into a customised “Physics Ask” instance. Starting from a curated corpus of quality-assured physics resources, you are going to apply, e.g., the Low Rank Adaption technique to train the underlying Large Language Model (LLM), fitting it with an extended content window tailored towards high-quality results.
- Secondly, leveraging the LLM to translate user input into SPARQL queries, facilitating the retrieval of results from pre-existing knowledge graphs such as the ORKG.
- Thirdly, implementing a full text search for ranges in physical (unit-carrying) quantities, by adapting a modelling paradigm for semantic metadata templates. In the process, you will contribute to building bridges of semantic interoperability between knowledge graphs on the one and LLMs/natural language processing on the other hand.
- Contributing to quality assurance and quality control of these search functionalities.
- Integrating these three strands of innovation into a user-facing application as part of the search and service portal.
- Contributing to the user engagement efforts of the project team, especially in focus group sessions with selected researchers aiming at establishing common terminology usage in order to inform a controlled vocabulary to underpin various search functionalities. More general feedback regarding user experience will provide further valuable information shaping our services.
Your profile
- University degree (Master or comparable), preferably in computer science, physics or a related field.
- Demonstrable excellent software development skills in modern frontend development technologies (e.g. TypeScript and Javascript using React or Vue).
- Experience with web-based APIs and backend development (e.g. using Python, Java, database technologies) as well as script-based data processing and analysis (e.g. Python or R).
- Experience with agile development methods and DevOps tools such as Ansible and GitLab CI/CD.
- Experience and skillfulness in the use of research software.
- Strong self-organization and independent working style.
- Very good written and spoken English skills.
- Good communication skills.
- Ability to work in an interdisciplinary team distributed across several locations.
Desirable additions to your profile
- Good command of Semantic Web technologies (e.g. RDF and SPARQL), conceptual modelling with ontologies and related technologies and tooling such as JSON or graph databases.
- Experience with designing high-fidelity application mockups (e.g. using Figma).
- Experience with frontend frameworks (e.g. Next.js).
- Interest in contributing to digital scholarly infrastructures in the context of Open Science.
- Interest in working in a research and library environment.
- Good written and spoken German language skills are an advantage, but not a requirement.
Your benefits
Our mission is to keep rethinking and innovating the provision and use of research data and information. In TIB’s Research and Development Department you have the opportunity to advance your career in a sizable, dynamic and excellent environment. We provide a scientifically and intellectually inspiring environment with an entrepreneurial mindset embedded in a leading technical university and one of the largest technical information centers being part of the Leibniz Association. TIB collaborates closely with the L3S Research Center at Leibniz University Hannover, one of the world’s leading research institutes in the field of Web & Data Science, within the Leibniz Joint Lab Data Science & Open Knowledge. Last but not least, we attach great importance to an open, creative and fun work atmosphere.
Furthermore, we offer
- A job in the public service oriented towards the common good on the basis of the collective agreement for the public service of the German states (TV-L) with a salary in pay scale group 13 TV-L, provided that the requirements are met.
- A flexible workplace in terms of time and space with offers to reconcile work and family life, such as mobile and remote work options as well as flexible working time models (flexitime).
- A special annual payment at the end of the year and 30 days of vacation per year with a five-day working week as well as additional days off on Christmas Eve (December 24th) and New Year's Eve (December 31st).
- A modern workplace in a central location of Hannover with a collegial, attractive and versatile working environment.
- An employer with a wide range of internal and external further education and training measures, workplace health promotion and a supplementary pension scheme for the public sector (VBL).
- Employee discount in the canteens of the Studentenwerk Hannover as well as the possibility to use the various offers of the University Sports Hannover at a discount.
- Independent and future-oriented activities that offer variety and room for personal development.
- Funding for necessary equipment, conference and research visit travel.
- Work in the context of a national research and innovation project.
- A portfolio of technology components to build on, including ORKG, OpenResearch.org, TIB AV-Portal, DBpedia.org and other.
Your application
If you are interested, questions regarding the position can be addressed to Dr. Allard Oelen (Allard.Oelen@tib.eu), Dr. Holger Israel (Holger.Israel@tib.eu), or Dr. Lars Vogt (Lars.Vogt@tib.eu).
We look forward to receiving your application. To submit your application, please click here.
Paper applications are also possible on an equal basis. In this case, please send your complete application documents with the subject 51/2025 before November 15, 2025 addressed to
Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB)
Personalservice
Herrn Daniel Eilers
Welfengarten 1 B
30167 Hannover
Germany
or alternatively as a single PDF document file to bewerbung@tib.eu. For applications in digital from, please send a PDF file with a maximum size of 10 MB.
We kindly invite you to include your annual salary expectation with your application.
TIB is an equal opportunity employer, providing ideal working conditions and continuously taking action to enable its employees to combine career interests with family life. It wants to promote equal career opportunities for women and men in particular and therefore urges qualified women to apply.
Severely disabled candidates with comparable qualifications will be given preferential treatment.
Equal opportunity is one of our core organizational values. We therefore welcome applications regardless of nationality, ethnic and social origin, gender identity, gender expression and/or gender characteristics, religion and worldview, age, sexual orientation and identity.
Please indicate in the subject line of your application through which job exchange brought our offer to your attention.
Please note that your application documents will not be returned and application and travel costs cannot be reimbursed.
For more information about the TIB, please visit: www.tib.eu/en/
