The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG) is an internationally respected research institute of the Max Planck Society (MPG) with currently two research departments, several research groups, and a graduate school. At the MPIWG, around 150 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 Freie Universität Berlin and other research institutions.

The Digital Humanities team seeks to appoint a

Student Assistant with a focus on Digital Humanities (m/f/d)
—for one year, up to 19 hours per week—

starting as soon as possible.

The Digital Humanities team in the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG) is composed of 4 digital humanities researchers working on numerous projects across the different departments and research groups of the institute.

The Digital Humanities team aims to conduct cutting-edge digital and computational humanities scholarship while utilizing established standards for data representation and exchange. We strive to stay on the frontier of integrating digital humanities, data science, and software development. Projects are expected to build on and contribute to a common digital research infrastructure, producing sustainable digital research outputs that can be reused and shared openly.

Your responsibilities:

• supporting digital humanities projects by correcting data to be used for computational or machine learning projects
• working with data in TEI-XML or other annotation formats
• 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, history of science, Latin, 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 German and English), basic reading comprehension in early modern Latin (specifically alchemical texts and recipes) sufficient to help with the correction of machine transcriptions
• basic familiarity of Digital Humanities technologies for digital transcriptions and related software (such as Transkribus, eScriptorium, TEI-XML) and willingness to learn
• 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 working in an international research institution

We offer:

• remuneration at the student employee rates of the MPG support for junior scientists and scholars: currently € 15.18 per hour for Bachelor’s students and €15.84 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 40 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, certificate of study, copies of qualifications (in a single PDF file), and relevant employment references if available (in a single PDF file).

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.