Student Assistant with a Focus on Machine Learning or Data Science

Your responsibilities

:

• supporting digital humanities projects by implementing computational or machine learning methods
• possibility to contribute in archiving and digital preservation of legacy data and digital projects, including documentation and contributing to the development of interactive digital research software for digital humanities
• possibility to contribute in applying data science tools to analyze existing data sets, e.g. bibliometric studies, images, text, as well as assisting in data mining and network analysis research
• possibility of coding and contributing to various digital humanities projects that range from building databases, data pipelines, utilizing machine learning methods, to generating data visualizations for historical insights on the basis of either textual or visual materials

Your profile:

• student in digital humanities, computer science, data science, machine learning or a related discipline 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
• language skills (in English and/or German)
• basic familiarity of Digital Humanities technologies for digital transcriptions and related software (such as Transkribus, eScriptorium, TEI-XML)
• optional: relational database management, semantic web technologies (such as RDF and SPARQL); coding and software development experience, such as Python or Javascript; interest in data and machine learning pipelines; interest in the history of alchemy or data ethics
• the ability to work both independently and in a team, good communication skills, a talent for organization
• an interest in research and enjoyment of work in an international research institution

We offer:

• remuneration at the student employee rates of the MPG support for junior scientists and scholars: currently € 16.50 per hour for Bachelor’s students and € 17.17 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, copies of qualifications (in a single PDF file) and relevant employment references if available(in a single PDF file).

https://recruitment.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/position/36470787

Applications must be received by August 23rd 2026 (23:59 CEST).

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

Inquiries

For any questions about the position or the application process, please contact Sarah Lang [slang@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de].

Address

Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany