W2 Professorship (W3 tenure track position) in Computer Science - AI for People and Society Universität des Saarlandes

Saarland University is a campus university with a strong international focus and a distinctive research profile characterized by the four core research hubs -Computer Science-, -BioMed-, -Europe- and -Sustainability-. With numerous internationally respected research institutes situated in the vicinity of the university and dedicated support for start-up companies, Saarland University is an ideal environment for research, teaching and innovation. The proportion of international students studying at Saarland University is well above the national average and is testimony to the university-s strong international focus. Saarland University has been officially certified as a family-friendly university since 2004.

Computer science at Saarland University has an outstanding international reputation. With 800 researchers, more than 2.000 students from 81 nations, the Saarland Informatics Campus (SIC) is one of the leading locations for computer science in Germany and Europe. All areas of computer science are covered at five globally renowned research institutes and three collaborating university departments that offer a total of 24 academic programmes.

The Department of Computer Science at Saarland University is inviting applications for the following position:

W2 Professorship (W3 tenure track position) in Computer Science – AI for People and Society
(m/f/x; Reference no.: W2671)

This professorial position is a fixed-term public sector appointment (-Beamtenverhältnis auf Zeit-) for a maximum period of six years. If the tenure evaluation procedure (teaching appraisal and external assessment of research work) is positive, the appointee will be promoted to a permanent professorship (lifetime tenure) at the German academic salary scale W3. Tenure track professors (W2) at Saarland University have the right to supervise Bachelor-s, Master-s and PhD students.

We are looking to appoint an outstanding individual in the field of AI for people and society who has made significant contributions in one or more of the following areas:

• Computational Social Science
• AI-supported decisions, collaborative work, markets and media
• Novel applications of data science for societal good
• Governance, policy and regulation of emerging (particularly, AI-driven) technologies
• Human-AI alignment and interaction
• Explainable AI systems and interpretability of AI models
• Privacy and security of AI systems

The successful candidate will have a clearly articulated and innovative research vision, a commitment to excellence in teaching and the capacity to contribute to and collaborate within Saarland University-s internationally recognized computer science ecosystem.

The successful candidate will be expected to actively contribute to departmental research and teaching. We therefore expect both experience in and an aptitude for academic teaching and some experience in acquiring external research funding. The language of instruction is English.

The appointment will be made in accordance with the general provisions of German public sector employment law (see legal recruitment requirements in § 41 Saarländisches Hochschulgesetz, current version available at https://recht.saarland.de/bssl/document/jlr-HSchulGSLrahmen).

At Saarland University, we view internationalization as a process spanning all aspects of university life. We therefore expect members of our professorial staff to promote and foster further internationalization. Special support will be provided for projects that expand collaboration within existing international cooperative networks, e.g. projects with partners in the European University Alliance Transform4Europe (www.transform4europe.eu) or the University of the Greater Region (www.uni-gr.eu).

In accordance with the objectives of its gender equality plan, Saarland University is actively seeking to increase the proportion of women in this field. Qualified women candidates are therefore strongly encouraged to apply. Preferential consideration will be given to applications from disabled candidates of equal eligibility. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates irrespective of gender, nationality, ethnic heritage or social background, religious beliefs, personal beliefs or values, disability, age, sexual orientation or identity.

Please complete the application form in Saarland University's online application portal at www.uni-saarland.de/berufungen and submit it with your application documents by no later than 18 September 2025. Application documents must be uploaded as a single PDF file (max. size 10 MB) and should include the following documents in the order specified: 

• a cover letter and curriculum vitae (including phone number and email address)
• a research statement (2–5 pages)
• a full list of publications
• full text copies of your five most important publications
• a list of three to five persons (including their email addresses) who can provide professional references
• a teaching statement (optional)
• copies of degree certificates
• proof of disability if you declared a disability in your application
• If you hold a university degree from a non-German university, please provide proof of equivalence from Germany's Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB) if available. If you have not yet requested proof of equivalence from ZAB, you must submit proof at a later date if so requested.

When you submit a job application to Saarland University, you will be transmitting personal data. Please refer to our privacy notice for information on how we collect and process personal data in accordance with Art. 13 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (www.uni-saarland.de/en/privacy). By submitting your application, you confirm that you have taken note of the information in the Saarland University privacy notice.