PhD Position in Software Technologies for Artificial Intelligence Research Infrastructure Development

Center for Industrial Software, part of the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute, University of Southern Denmark, located in Sønderborg, invites applications for a 3-year PhD position, which will be vacant from 1 September 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter. 

The application deadline is August 4, 2025, at 11.59 PM / 23.59 (CET/CEST) 

 

Research environment

The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute is an internationally recognized institute in digital technologies. The institute is further growing it’s Center for Industrial Software research and education at its campus in Sønderborg with a vision of creating world class knowledge in valuable collaboration with industry providing a unique opportunity to be part of the center. The center is collaborating closely with other Centre’s at the campus including Centre for Industrial Electronics and Centre for Industrial Mechanics as well as with the industry, which counts world leading companies in growing fields such as e-mobility, automation, climate solutions and energy efficiency. Learn more about our institute at https://www.sdu.dk/en/mmmi and the centre at https://www.sdu.dk/cis. The Centre is autonomous but will collaborate closely with the Software Engineering section of the institute.

In our work we value teamwork, professional diligence, enthusiasm for technology and the drive to adopt new skills and extended responsibilities. We offer an open, international team with flexible work organization and support for individual development. The Centre is involved in a variety of national and European projects and features a strong network of academic and industrial partners. We solve challenging research problems from real applications and implement novel software solutions together with end users such as Universal Robots, Terma, LEGO, Danfoss, and Novo Nordisk.

Project description 

The PhD project is set up in the context of supporting the research activities within the Data and Intelligence lab at the Centre for Industrial Software. The project will concentrate on leveraging AI and big data technologies – particularly large language models (LLMs) and knowledge graphs – to enable intelligent data discovery across diverse domains. The work will utilize both local and cloud-based computational resources at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU). This project offers an excellent opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge AI infrastructure research while supporting a dynamic and interdisciplinary research environment.

The PhD candidate will be responsible to:

• Design and implement a scalable data infrastructure capable of hosting and serving LLMs, including source code, and operational data through vector databases.
• Develop LLM based data discovery interfaces for searching data, including the visualization of data elements for existing research projects in the lab.
• Investigate novel implementation strategies, e.g., LLM-generated knowledge graphs, to enhance question-and-answer performance when conducting analysis of multiple datasets
• Conduct rigorous testing to evaluate the security, performance, and functionality of the developed infrastructure and tools.

Profile and requirements

The candidate will participate in research and teaching activities within the areas of software and artificial intelligence. The position requires a master’s degree within a relevant area (e.g. software or computer science) and the desired candidate is expected to have knowledge within relevant areas, e.g. within software technologies for programmer support, hardware set up, data modeling and data management.

Furthermore, the successful candidate is expected to:

• Have good knowledge of English (written and spoken).
• Have high self-motivation to learn. 
• Be able to work well and communicate expert knowledge in an interdisciplinary team.
• Have the ability of working independently.
• Have a strong sense of responsibility.

Further information

Please visit us on our website: https://www.sdu.dk/en/forskning/sdusoftwareengineering

Further information about this position is available via email from Associate Professor Serkan Ayvaz (seay@mmmi.sdu.dk).

If you experience technical problems, please contact hcm-support@sdu.dk. 

Application procedure

Before applying the candidates are advised to read the Faculty information for prospective PhD students and the SDU information on how to apply.

Assessment of the candidates is based on the application material, and an application must include: 

• Motivated application. 
• Curriculum Vitae.
• Master’s and bachelor’s degree certificates or equivalent, including transcripts of grades (copy of original/official English translation).  
• Completed TEK PhD application form for 5+3 applicants. Find the form at the Faculty website.
• Completed TEK PhD form for calculation grade point average. Find the form at the Faculty website. 
• An official document describing the grading scheme of the awarding universities (if not Danish). 
• Only for applicants from programmes that evaluate thesis/examination project by approved/not approved: An official written assessment of the thesis or dissertation project from the grade giving institution. The statement must clearly state that the candidate has been among the top 30 pct. in the graduation class for the study programme.
• List of publications and maximum 2 examples of relevant publications (in case you have any publications).
• References may be included, you're welcome to use the form for reference letter at the Faculty website.
• A statement/documentation of other qualifications relevant to the position may also be included.

UPLOAD GUIDE: Motivated application shall be uploaded as ‘Cover letter’ (max. 5 MB), Curriculum Vitae shall be uploaded as ‘Resume’ (max 5 MB). All other documents shall be uploaded as ‘Miscellaneous documents’ (max 10 files of max 50 MB per file). 

All documents must be in English and PDF format. CPR number (civil registration no.) must be crossed out. All PDF-files must be unlocked and allow binding and may not be password protected.

The application deadline is August 4, 2025, at 11.59 PM / 23.59 (CET/CEST) 

 

Assessment and selection process

Applications will be assessed by an assessment committee. Shortlisting may be applied, and only shortlisted candidates will receive a written assessment. Read about shortlisting at SDU.  Interviews and tests may be part of the overall evaluation.

Read about the Assessment and selection process.  

Conditions of enrollment/employment

Appointment as a PhD fellow is a 3-year salaried position, and the monthly gross salary incl. pension is 36.138 DKK. If you have relevant postgraduate experience, you may be placed on a higher salary step.

Applicants must hold a master’s degree (equivalent to a Danish master's degree) at the time of enrollment and employment. Employment is contingent on enrollment approved by the PhD School. Enrollment will be in accordance with Faculty regulations and the Danish Ministerial Order on the PhD Programme at the Universities (PhD order). Employment will be in accordance with the collective agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations for academics in the state with the associated circular on the job structure for academic staff at Danish universities and the provisions for PhD fellows as described herein as well as the Protocol on PhD fellows signed by the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC). Further information about salary and conditions of employment. The person employed in the position may, based on a specific individual managerial evaluation, be exempted from time registration, also known as a “self-organizer”.

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The University of Southern Denmark wishes our staff to reflect the surrounding community and therefore encourages everyone, regardless of personal background, to apply for the position. SDU conducts research in critical technologies, which, due to the risk of unwanted knowledge transfer, are subject to a number of security measures. Therefore, based on information from open sources, background checks may be conducted on candidates for the position.

Further information for international applicants about entering and working in Denmark. You may also visit WorkinDenmark for additional information.

Further information about The Faculty of Engineering.

The University of Southern Denmark was established to create value for and with society. Whether our contributions come in the form of excellent research, innovative solutions, education or learning, we must make a positive difference to society and contribute to a sustainable future. We do this by cultivating talents and creating the best environments for research and learning. It is therefore crucial that SDU retains, develops and recruits talent. At the same time, we need to ensure consistently high quality in all our activities – and we can only do that with the right people. The University’s researchers, lecturers, students, managers and technical/administrative staff are the foundation of our success.
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