Expressions of Interest for Synergy of Systems (SynoSys) Chairs
TU Dresden is among the top universities in Germany and Europe and one of the eleven German universities with the status of a ‘University of Excellence’. As part of its strategic development, TU Dresden seeks to form strong, interdisciplinary links by extending computational science approaches across various disciplines. In this context,
three (3) chairs (W3) in the broad area of “Interdisciplinary Digital Science for Healthy Human Development”
are to be filled as soon as possible.
Research in digital and computational methods at the interface between human, natural, technical, and medical systems is an important component of the interdisciplinary, cross-departmental research at TU Dresden. Using computational methods, the three chairs will investigate emergence in heterogeneous complex adaptive systems as they pertain to healthy human development. In particular, this includes applications in the areas of (1) biomedical, (2) neuroscience, and (3) social collective systems with diverse human and technical constituents. In the context of the Synergy of Systems (SynoSys) Department of the newly founded Center for Interdisciplinary Digital Science (CIDS), the three chairs will collaborate in the development, application, and transfer of innovative computational methods for explaining, forecasting, engineering, and optimizing emergence, self-organization, and synergy between complex human, natural, and technical systems under the umbrella theme of “healthy human development”. Approaches can include, but are not limited to, data-driven modeling, probabilistic inference, reinforcement learning or active inference, uncertainty quantification, multi-scale simulation, network dynamics, digital twins, diversity learning, data fusion, and data assimilation. This enables them to jointly develop the vision of a scientific holon for healthy human development, uniting physical, societal, and mental health in an increasingly digital and interconnected world. Sustainable healthy human development requires progress in the comprehension of emergence in heterogeneous complex and collective adaptive systems, which will be catalysed by novel computational approaches.
The three chairs are meant to strengthen the digitalization/data-science expertise in the biomedical, social, and neurosciences at TU Dresden by developing sustainable methodological bridges to computer science, engineering, and mathematics for fostering our understanding of healthy human development.
The chairs will be hosted in the new Center for Interdisciplinary Digital Science (CIDS), a highly visible interdisciplinary center accommodated in a new building for approx. 600 scientists addressing digitalization, digital architectures, and computing. There, they will form the nucleus of the new Synergy of Systems (SynoSys) Department, alongside existing units with ultimately more than 30 chairs in total, including the Department of Competence for “Scalable Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence” (ScaDS.AI), the “Living Labs of Computer Science in Saxony” (LICOSS), working on virtual and augmented reality, co-working robotics, and cyber-physical systems, the Advanced Modeling and Simulation Department, combining computer simulation, numerical algorithms, and high-performance computing with machine learning, and data-driven approaches, and the “Center for Information Services and High-Performance Computing” (ZIH). This provides a rich environment for interdisciplinary cooperation between computer scientists, natural scientists, mathematicians, engineers, neuroscientists, medical, and social scientists. CIDS provides access to state-of-the-art computing technology and an outstanding high-performance computer infrastructure. Beyond CIDS, two of TU Dresden’s DFG Clusters of Excellence “Center for Tactile Internet with Human in the Loop” (CeTI) and “Center for the Physics of Life” (PoL), the DFG Collaborative Research Centre “Volition and Cognitive Control”, as well as several non-university research institutions which are members of the DRESDEN-concept alliance complement the exciting interdisciplinary research landscape.
We expect you to strengthen TU Dresden through your contributions to research, teaching, and transfer and welcome you to found, shape, and lead the SynoSys department in close cooperation with the affiliated faculties and other departments of CIDS.
You should be internationally recognized in relevant research fields, have a strong track record of innovating computational approaches in social, neuroscience, and/or biomedical applications. Special emphasis is placed on excellent international publications, high visibility, successful interdisciplinary collaborations in computational science, independent acquisition of research funding as well as the management of research projects.
The identification and appointment of suitable candidates will be conducted by a high-ranking international search committee through active recruitment by means of an extraordinary appointment procedure according to § 61 of the Act on the Autonomy of Institutions of Higher Education in the Free State of Saxony (SächsHSFG).
Please submit expressions of interest including scientific curriculum vitae, list of scientific publications, third-party funded projects, prizes and awards, certificates and attestations, a research statement in the context of SynoSys as well as plans for collaboration across TU Dresden as well as within CIDS by May 20, 2022 to the chairwoman of the search committee, Prof. Giovanna Di Marzo Serugendo, at or — if you prefer — via the TU Dresden SecureMail Portal https://securemail.tu-dresden.de, preferably in one PDF document.