Tenure-Track Faculty in Trustworthy AI (f/m/d) 2026/2027
Saabrücken & St. Ingbert,
Germany
CISPA is a world-leading research center that focuses on Cybersecurity and Trustworthy AI at large. To expand and further strengthen our center, we are looking for
Tenure-Track Faculty in all areas related to Trustworthy AI (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 all areas related to Trustworthy AI, especially in the fields of
- Security, privacy, and safety of AI models and autonomous agents
- Generative models and LLMs
- Explainability and interpretability
- Reinforcement learning
- Computer vision and multimodal learning
- Other suitable topics that complement existing expertise
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 all areas related to trustworthy AI.
The CISPA Tenure-Track in a nutshell
- Tenure-track of five years towards the equivalent of an endowed full professorship
- Three fully funded full-time research staff positions for your entire tenure-track
- Generous budget for research expenses
- Low teaching load of only one course (of your choice) per semester
- World-renowned colleagues in (almost) all areas of Cybersecurity and Machine Learning
- Young and dynamic environment, with an average faculty age below 40 years
Submission Deadline:
What 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
What We Expect:
- To have an excellent track record in any research area related to Machine Learning
- 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
Working at CISPA:
- 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
- Dual Career opportunities
- Free optional German courses
- Saarbrücken, a city with an international flair (e.g., an international school and a cuisine influenced by the proximity to the French border). St. Ingbert it's neighbouring town and future home base of CISPA, with its own rustical and calm medieval charm, and culinary highlights (from Michelin star restaurants to it's own artisanal coffee roastery).
Application Process
All applications are due by January 3rd, 2027 23:59 AoE with interviews starting in February 2027.
Please submit the following documents:
- Cover letter (please outline how your research vision aligns with CISPA's goals and how your work can tie in with other CISPA-Faculty) and curriculum vitae.
- Research statement (up to 5 pages) outlining your vision for the tenure-track.
- List of 3-5 proposed references including contact details and your relationship to them (ensure at least one is not a close collaborator/advisor).
- Optionally, a teaching and diversity statement.
For any questions regarding the application, please contact career@cispa.de
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's mission is 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 provides a highly international and diverse working environment, currently hosting researchers of over 40 nationalities.
CISPA headquarter is located in Saarbrücken, in the tri-border area of Germany, France and Luxembourg. The CISPA campus is located close to Saarland University, known for its excellence in Computer Science & Cybersecurity programs; the Max Planck Institute for Informatics and the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems; the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI); and more.
For more information about CISPA, see https://cispa.de/en
About CISPA
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.
Lucjan Hanzlik
Tenured Faculty
My name is Lucjan, and I joined CISPA as a tenure-track Faculty in 2020. I recieved tenure in September 2025. My research focuses on applied and privacy-preserving cryptography. I am particularly interested in the grand challenge of future authentication
Katharina Krombholz
Tenured Faculty
I finished my tenure-track at CISPA in January 2022 and the goal of my research is to make security and privacy-technology more user-friendly and effective.
Michael Schwarz
Tenured Faculty
My name is Michael Schwarz, and I joined CISPA in July 2020. I recieved tenure in January 2024. My research is on CPU security and side channels, aiming to make CPUs more secure.
Ben Stock
Tenured Faculty
I've received tenure at CISPA (finished tenure-track in January 2022). My research is in the on the areas of Web and Usable Security, specifically interested in aiding the security stance of developers and operators alike.
Rebekka Burkholz
Tenured Faculty
I joined as a tenure-track Faculty at CISPA in 2021 and recieved my tenure in January 2025. I aim to help machines learn robust, secure, and sparse models.