two openings
Research Associate
(m/f/d) /
Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiterin (m/w/d)
Institute
Remuneration EG 13
Start of employment August 16th 2025 and September 16th 2025
Application deadline April 22th 2025
Scope full time and for a maximum of four years
The Institute of Software Security is a research group focusing on the development of secure and privacy-friendly applications. At the institute, we acknowledge the important role played by the use of ML/AI to solve cybersecurity tasks. While our main interest is in the technical aspects of software security, we also investigate how security techniques can be made more effective and usable for the developers. Our work is characterized by the systematic use of empirical methods for security, including mining software repositories and controlled experiments.
The institute is hiring a total of two new researchers at doctoral level. In particular, we are looking for:
Topic 1) an excellent PhD student to work on automated repair of security vulnerabilities. The goal is to create novel, AI-supported techniques and tools to automatically generate and validate security patches/fixes.
Topic 2) an excellent PhD student to work on secure generation of code.
The goal is to create novel, AI-supported techniques and tools to automatically generate code that contains fewer vulnerabilities, as well as generate test cases that identify the presence of vulnerabilities.
The prospective PhD student will work under the supervision of Prof. Riccardo Scandariato, who is a dedicated and passionate supervisor. Prof. Scandariato is committed to leading his students on a path to academic excellence, with a keen eye on their work-life balance.
The working language at the institute is English. The institute is located in Hamburg, a vibrant and attractive city in the north of Germany, which is very well connected to both national and international destinations.

NOTICE FOR GRADUATES OF FOREIGN EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:

Please submit proof of all obtained university degrees and, if available, the recognition of your educational qualifications in Germany (e.g. anabin excerpts and/or acknowledgement of previous employers)

• Conducting independent world-class research in the field of security and privacy
• Publishing your research results in peer-reviewed journals, present at international conferences
• Collaborating with other researchers as well as visiting other research institutes for academic collaborations and exchanges
• Contributing to the teaching activities of the institute (including the supervision of master theses)
• Participating to the preparation of project proposals for the acquisition of external funding