The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG) is an internationally respected research institute of the Max Planck Society (MPG) with three research departments, several research groups, and a graduate school. At the MPIWG, around three hundred scholars from all over the world investigate the sciences past and present, working together on a collective, collaborative, and transdisciplinary basis. The MPIWG is renowned worldwide as a hub for reflection on the role of the sciences in politics and society. It is located in southwestern Berlin, close to the campus of the Free University Berlin and other research institutions.

The Research IT group at the MPIWG seeks to appoint a

Digital Humanities Student Assistant

(starting on or after January 1, 2024 for up to 19 hours per week)

The Institute sustainably promotes the use of digital methodologies in the humanities and is keen to conduct cutting-edge digital scholarship. This position will be part of the Research IT group at the institute. Our group works on projects that build on and contribute to a common digital research infrastructure, producing sustainable digital research outputs that can be reused and shared openly while making use of established open source technologies and open standards. Research IT consists of five permanent staff members and scholars.

Your responsibilities:

• Scripting and coding in various digital humanities projects.
• Archiving and digital preservation of legacy data and digital projects, including documentation
• Assist in the development of interactive digital research software for digital humanities
• Harnessing data science tools to analyse existing data sets, e.g. bibliometric studies, images, text, as well as assisting in data mining and network analysis research.

Qualifications:

• Currently enrolled in a Bachelor’s program (in at least your second semester) or a Master’s program (first or second semester) at a university in Germany, studying computer science, information science, digital humanities, history of science, or a related discipline
• Programming and software development experience, such as Python or Javascript, familiarity with software libraries and frameworks
• Relational database management and creation, some knowledge of SQL, and willingness to learn SPARQL
• Basic understanding of the machine learning pipeline
• Excellent organizational skills, motivated, and results-oriented
• Excellent communication skills in English

Preferred Qualifications:

• Interest in the history of science and computational history, familiarity with the historical approaches at the institute
• Basic knowledge of graph databases
• Interest in machine learning methods applied to the analysis of text, images, or historical research
• Interest in IIIF, linked data, CIDOC-CRM, and RDF data structures

We offer:

• remuneration at the student employee rates of the MPG support for junior scientists and scholars: currently €12.33 per hour for Bachelor’s students and €14.33 for Master’s students who can demonstrate completion of their Bachelor’s degree

• working hours to align with your studies
• work in an international setting with staff and guests from more than forty countries
• close contact with all research and research-support units and the opportunity for direct, personal dialogue
• promotion of your professional interests and research interests
• use of the on-site reference library
• access to the wide range of training courses offered by the MPG’s Planck Academy
• occupational health management: weekly in-house yoga classes; regular information on courses offered by our partner health insurance companies
• a student representative for equal opportunities.

The Max Planck Society is an equal opportunity employer that strives to foster an inclusive workplace. As an institute of the MPG, the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science supports a working community for all free from discrimination and harassment. We explicitly encourage applications from qualified individuals who belong to groups that are often underrepresented in the workplace due to age, disability, ethnicity, family status, gender, nationality, race, sex, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, or religion.

Please follow the links to find out more about the MPIWG’s policies on gender equality and hiring practices for people with disabilities, as well as Germany’s anti-discrimination laws as outlined in the General Equal Treatment Act.

Your application:

Please submit your application with complete documents, preferably without a photograph, through our application portal:

Include cover letter, curriculum vitae, enrollment certificate and certificate of study, copies of qualifications (in a single PDF file) and employment references (in a single PDF file).

Applications should be received by November 13th, 2023 (23:59 CET). However, we will continue to accept applications until we have found the right candidate.

Please note that we can only accept electronic applications submitted through the portal.