PhD Success: Dr. Niklas Paulig Defends Dissertation on Autonomous Inland Shipping

The Chair of Applied Statistics proudly announces that Dr. Niklas Paulig has successfully defended his PhD dissertation on July 2, 2026! 🎓

His dissertation, titled "Towards Autonomous Inland Shipping: Reinforcement-Learning-Based Control with Data-Driven Validation Schemes," addresses critical challenges in making waterborne transport safer, smarter, and more autonomous through advanced machine learning and robust validation techniques.

Inland waterway transport serves as a vital backbone of global trade. However, deploying AI-driven control systems in these complex environments demands not only intelligent algorithms, but also highly rigorous safety and data-driven validation frameworks. Dr. Paulig’s research provides significant contributions toward bridging this gap.

His doctoral research was funded by the Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute (Bundesanstalt für Wasserbau - BAW).

We warmly congratulate Dr. Niklas Paulig on this outstanding academic achievement and wish him continued success in his future endeavors!