[job]Open Research Associate position specialising in Knowledge Graphs

Open Research Associate position specialising in Knowledge Graphs


GESIS - Leibniz-Institute for the Social Sciences is an internationally active research institute, funded by federal and state governments and member of the Leibniz Association.
Starting on the next possible date our Department Knowledge Technologies for the Social Sciences (KTS), Team Information Extraction & Linking located in Cologne, is looking for a
Research Associate Knowledge Graphs
(Salary group 13 TV-L, working time up to 100 %, limited to December 31st 2027)
The department Knowledge Technologies for Social Sciences (KTS) (https://www.gesis.org/en/institute/about-us/departments/knowledge-technologies-for-the-social-sciences) conducts research at the intersection of information retrieval, natural language processing, semantic technologies and human information interaction as foundation for innovative web portals and platforms for the search and use of research data. KTS innovations are based on a state-of-the-art software stack and research-based innovations in the aforementioned fields.

The EU-funded project GRAPHIA (https://graphia-ssh.eu/) aims to advance the use of computational methods and Open Science practices to enhance the analytical potential of research in the social sciences and humanities (SSH), particularly in the areas of social inequality, demographic change, migration, armed conflict, misinformation, and cultural heritage. By developing a comprehensive knowledge graph for SSH and integrating applications based on artificial intelligence and large language models, GRAPHIA will convert heterogeneous SSH data into more interoperable and machine-readable formats. This infrastructure is expected to strengthen capacities for data visualisation and analysis, facilitate the identification of patterns in unstructured data, and support more systematic investigation of social and cultural dynamics.

Your tasks will be:
* Implementation of approaches for lifting (meta-)data into RDF and for integrating it into the GRAPHIA knowledge graph
* Adoption and evaluation of information extraction pipelines to identify mentions of entities in scholarly resources
* Collaborating in respective work packages in the GRAPHIA project with other project partners
* Applied research in fields like knowledge graphs, information extraction, machine learning or artificial intelligence in the context of scholarly data
* Publication of research and project results

Your profile:
* Scientific University degree (Master) in Computer Science or related fields
* Research interests in one or more of the following topics: knowledge graphs, information extraction, machine learning or artificial intelligence
* Expertise in software development with Python, database and search engine technologies, machine learning frameworks, semantic web technologies, Docker
* Desired: expertise in working with scholarly data, metadata-, and web standards
* Ability to communicate fluently in English, basic knowledge of the German language desirable

Our Benefits:
* A fast growing and international working environment with access to unique datasets
* Excellent career opportunities in software development and data engineering
* Flexible working hours and regulations for mobile working
* Very good conditions for reconciling work and family life, e.g. subsidies for childcare for children who have not yet attained the age of compulsory schooling
* Holistic company health management and discounted participation in the university's sports programme
* Generous support for your pension provision as a direct insurance policy
* Promotion of your skills through further training measures

Contact
For further information concerning the tasks please contact Dr. Benjamin Zapilko via E-Mail benjamin(dot)zapilko(at)gesis(dot)org. If you have questions about the application process, please contact Franca Tosetti via E-Mail franca(dot)tosetti(at)gesis(dot)org.

Please apply via our Online-application portal until 12.02.2026:
https://gesis.jobs.personio.de/job/2500891?language=de&display=en
Our reference number is: KTS-75


Dr. Benjamin Zapilko
Information Extraction and Linking
Knowledge Technologies for the Social Sciences (KTS)


[cid:image002.jpg@01DC9111.4D20D0A0]<http://www.gesis.org/>
Unter Sachsenhausen 6-8 | 50667 Köln
+49 (0) 221 47694 515
benjamin.zapilko@gesis.org<mailto:benjamin.zapilko@gesis.org>
www.gesis.org<https://www.gesis.org>


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