City: Erlangen | Hybrid

Research Associate – Deep Learning for Speech and Audio Coding

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (www.fraunhofer.com) currently operates 76 institutes and research institutions throughout Germany and is the world’s leading applied research organization. Around 30 800 employees work with an annual research budget of 3.0 billion euros.

Our »Audio and Media Technologies« division at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS in Erlangen constitutes one of the world’s largest organizations dedicated to audio, speech, and media processing. It has been an innovator in sound and vision for over 25 years and repeatedly won international competitions in the field of audio and media, e.g., with MP3 and codecs of the AAC family. More than 200 engineers and scientists develop first-rate technologies that are currently used in over 10 billion devices and have already been licensed to over 1 000 companies worldwide.

Are you an ambitious research engineer or scientist who is keen on developing cutting-edge technologies based on deep neural network learning?

Then we might have the right job for you!

What you will do

• Our Speech and Audio Coding team investigates new ways to solve challenging signal processing challenges using deep neural networks, with a particular focus on Speech and Audio Coding as well as communication applications.
• For this purpose, we explore advanced machine learning techniques such as generative AI (GANs, DDPMs) and evaluate their usefulness for deep neural network learning used in Speech and Audio Coding.
• In this role, you will study and familiarize yourself with new machine learning concepts to represent and synthesize speech as well as audio signals more efficiently.
• Based on your growing insights, you will begin to translate these methods into practical approaches that can be applied in real time on mobile and embedded devices.

What you bring to the table

• A scientific degree (Master, Ph.D., or equivalent) in electrical engineering, computer science, engineering sciences, media technologies, or a related field
• Expertise in machine learning and deep neural networks using generative AI (GANs, DDPMs)
• Strong background in digital signal processing, particularly regarding Speech and Audio processing/analysis
• Good programming skills in Python and C/C++, as well as good knowledge of Deep Learning frameworks (e.g., PyTorch)
• Fluency in English to collaborate with an international team

What you can expect

Fraunhofer is not only the largest organization for applied research (application-oriented research organisation) in Europe, but also a top-rated employer. How so?

• An exciting job at a global market leader in a highly innovative key industry
• You get the opportunity to build your reputation and visibility both in science and in industry.
• Projects with a strong practical component motivate our employees to drive innovation.
• Here you find dedicated colleagues with broad professional expertise in a personal and collegial working atmosphere which offers freedom for your ideas and room for creativity.
• We value personal contact: With our structured onboarding process, you will quickly become familiar with our institute and be able to extend your network successfully.
• We take your needs seriously: We support your work-life balance by offering flexible working hours and hybrid work.
• Our colleagues enjoy our positive work culture: We are open-minded, we help and trust each other.
• Top of the line infrastructure at your work place: With our state-of-the-art technologies, we develop solutions to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.
• Talent development already starts in school: Our programs inspire young people at an early age to pursue sciences and foster creative junior scientists.
• Your goals and interests are important to us: We offer ongoing professional and personal seminars, coaching, and language classes.
• We offer equal opportunities: Our female scientists, for example, benefit from the »Fraunhofer TALENTA« career program.
• We offer complementary parking spaces, charging stations for electric cars and covered bicycle parking, and showers at the institute.
• We subsidize your Deutschland-Ticket (Jobticket) ‒ bus stops are located directly in front of the institute.
• In-house health management including sports courses, running groups, and relaxation seminars.

If you have any questions about this opening, please contact: Guillaume Fuchs (guillaume.fuchs@iis.fraunhofer.de)

The weekly working time is 39 hours. The position is initially limited to 2 years, with the aim for subsequent employment. The position can also be filled part-time, but as close to full-time as possible.

We value and promote the diversity of our employees' skills and therefore welcome all applications – regardless of age, gender, nationality, ethnic and social origin, religion, ideology, disability, sexual orientation and identity. Severely disabled persons are given preference in the event of equal suitability. Appointment, remuneration and social security benefits based on the public-sector collective wage agreement (TVöD). Additionally Fraunhofer may grant performance-based variable remuneration components.

With its focus on developing key technologies that are vital for the future and enabling the commercial utilization of this work by business and industry, Fraunhofer plays a central role in the innovation process. As a pioneer and catalyst for groundbreaking developments and scientific excellence, Fraunhofer helps to shape society now and in the future.

Interested? Join our team and work with us on the technology of tomorrow! We look forward to receiving your complete online application (including cover letter, CV, transcripts).

Claudia Kestler-Böhm

Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS
www.iis.fraunhofer.de

Requisition Number: 71388