We have closed our call for Tenure-Track Faculty in Information Security and Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. Applications are no longer possible.

Call for Tenure-Track Faculty

Saarbrücken & St. Ingbert, Germany

CISPA is world-leading research center that focuses on Information Security and Machine Learning at large. To expand and further strengthen our institution we are looking for:

Faculty in all areas related to Information Security as well as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. (f/m/d)

All applicants are expected to grow a research team that pursues an internationally visible research agenda. To aid you in achieving this, CISPA provides institutional base funding for three full-time researcher positions and a generous budget for expenditures. Upon successful tenure evaluation, you will hold a position that is equivalent to an endowed full professorship at a top research university. We invite applications of candidates with excellent track records in one of the mentioned areas.

CISPA values diversity and is committed to equality. We provide special dual-career support. We explicitly encourage female and diverse researchers to apply.

The CISPA Tenure-Track in a nutshell


The CISPA Ecosystem
The CISPA Ecosystem

  • Full academic freedom
  • Flat hierarchy
  • Tenure-track mentoring program 
  • English-speaking working environment; a command of German is not required for a successful career at CISPA
  • World-class research infrastructure and support
  • Saarbrücken, a city with an international flair (e.g., an International School and a distinguished cuisine influenced by the proximity to the French border)
  • Dual Career opportunities
  • Free optional German courses

We offer
We offer

  • Full-time gross base salary starting from approx. €6800/month according to the associate professor (W2) scale of the TVöD (German Federal Employment Agreement)
  • Contractual benefits including 30 days of paid leave per year, pension scheme, paid parental leave, and monthly allowances for spouse and children
  • Three fully funded full-time research staff positions as well as a generous budget for research expenditures
  • Support for relocation, administrative tasks (e.g., visa and work permits) and organization of child care

We expect you
We expect you

  • To have an excellent track record in any research area related to Information Security or ML/AI.
  • To have graduated or are soon to be graduated with a doctoral degree.
  • To build and guide a research team that pursues an internationally visible research agenda.
  • To teach one (English-spoken) course or seminar (undergraduate or graduate) per semester in your area of expertise and interest.



About the CISPA Tenure-Track Program

Our tenure-track program is similar to that of top US universities with respect to runtime and evaluation criteria. By default, our tenure-track includes an evaluation in the fifth year. In case of positive evaluation, you will be offered a permanent contract. In case of negative evaluation, to provide a soft landing your contract will be extended by one year. If you become a parent during your tenure-track, your contract and evaluation can (once) be extended by one year.

The tenure evaluation is in line with other top institutions. We will assess your research activities, your ability to build and lead a group of strong researchers, your ability to acquire third-party funding, as well as your contribution to the scientific community. Every tenure-track faculty is assigned a mentor, who regularly meets with you to help in reaching these goals. Via a mid-term evaluation, your promotion committee will provide feedback on how well you are on-track with regard to your tenure evaluation.





What your future colleagues say

You could try to imagine what working at CISPA as tenure-track faculty might be like - or you can directly hear from some of your future colleagues what their experiences are.



Rebekka Burkholz

My name is Rebekka Burkholz. I am tenure-track faculty at CISPA since 2021 and aim to help machines learn robust, secure, and sparse models.



Lucjan Hanzlik

My name is Lucjan, and I am tenure-track faculty at CISPA since 2020. My research focuses on applied and privacy-preserving cryptography. I am particularly interested in the grand challenge of future authentication



Katharina Krombholz

I am tenured faculty at CISPA and the goal of my research is to make security and privacy-technology more user-friendly and effective.



Michael Schwarz

My name is Michael Schwarz, and I joined CISPA in July 2020. I successfully passed my tenure-track process in January 2024 and am doing research on CPU security and side channels, aiming to make CPUs more secure. 



Ben Stock

I received tenure at CISPA in January 2022. My research is in the areas of Web and Usable Security, specifically interested in aiding the security stance of developers and operators alike. 



About CISPA

CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security is a German national Science Institution within the Helmholtz Association and provides a unique work environment that offers the advantage of a university department and a research laboratory alike. CISPA has the mission to rethink the digitized world of the future from the ground on up an make it safer through innovative cutting-edge research. CISPA is committed to the highest international academic standards. We offer a world-class research environment that grants extensive resources to a wide range of researchers and constitutes an attractive destination for the best talents and scientists from all countries.

CISPA is located in Saarbrücken, in the tri-border area of Germany, France and Luxembourg. The CISPA campus is located close to Saarland University, which is known for its excellence in Computer Science, the Max Planck Institute for Informatics, the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, and the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI)

CISPA provides a highly international and diverse working environment, currently hosting researchers of over 50 nationalities.

For more information about CISPA, see https://cispa.de/en

All information on the processing of your personal data, your statements in the application process and your data privacy rights can be found in our data privacy policy.