Newsletter of the department of Computer Science (Summer Semester 2022)

New appointments

We are pleased to announce two successful new appointments, including an already well-known colleague:

• Ms. Dr. Annette Middelkoop-Bieniusa takes over the W2 professorship „Programming of Distributed Systems“.
• Mr. Dr. Leo van Waveren now supports teacher training at TUK with the W2 professorship „Subject didactics in technology”.

Upcoming Appointments

Another appointment procedure is underway:

• For the succession of Prof. Reinhard Gotzhein, who will retire in October, the list of candidates for the W2 professorship „Distributed and Networked Systems“ was unanimously approved by the Senate.

Habilitations

In addition, there was one of the rare habilitations in the department

• Dr. Daniel Neider is awarded the Venia Legendi for the subject area „Theoretical Computer Science“. The inaugural lecture with the topic „Learning of Finite Automata“ took place on Monday, July 11, 2022.

The department congratulates all new colleagues!

Prof. Marvin Künnemann introduces himself

I look forward to many insightful interactions at TUK!“

Prof. Sören Laue introduces himself

Since taking up his professorship on June 1, 2022, Prof. Sören Laue has headed the Algorithms of Machine Learning group at TUK. His proven research focus is the development of efficient algorithms for machine learning problems. This involves analyzing and taking apart problems until their core can be solved as a theoretical problem.

Now 43, he studied mathematics, physics and computer science at the universities of Leipzig and Saarbrücken. He eventually earned his doctorate at the Max Planck Institute for Computer Science on the topic of algorithms and optimization. Most recently, Sören Laue worked as a research assistant in the field of machine learning algorithms at the University of Jena. Away from his scientific work, he enjoys being a hobby cook.

"At TUK I have so far experienced a professional but also open and familiar atmosphere and appreciate it very much.", says Laue and emphasizes, that he is looking forward to cutting-edge research in machine learning and artificial intelligence at the department of Computer Science and to the large concentration of research groups in this field.

Prof. Laue joins Prof. Vollmer, who has already been teaching and researching at our department since October 2021, and is now the second professorship at the department of Computer Science to be advertised as part of the AI initiative of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. In the course of this initiative, a project office was also set up here at TUK - more precisely at the department of Computer Science.

Research focus of new Professors

The research focus of the following professorships, which have been filled in 2020 and 2021, will be presented in the following newsletters.

Lara Marker

In the non-scientific area, we are happy about the start of Ms. Lara Marker, who started her work on September 1 in the secretariat of the AGs Zweig and Laue as successor of Ms. Gensinger.

„Until the beginning of 2022 I worked at the German Red Cross in Kaiserslautern (in the DRK Academy), then until 31.08.2022 at the company Süd Müll in Frankenthal (in payroll accounting). I hope for a great working atmosphere and also look forward to the exchange with the other secretaries at TUK.“

Dr.-Ing. Gerolf J. Starke

Mr. Dr.-Ing. Gerolf J. Starke, LL.M. has been heading the Project Office of the AI Alliance Rhineland-Palatinate at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern since the beginning of 2022. The office is organizationally located at the Vice President for Research and Technology Prof. Dr. Werner Thiel and was established for the technical connection in the premises of the Machine Learning group of Prof. Dr. Marius Kloft (contact person: Mr. Steffen Reithermann) at the department of Computer Science (Building 36, Room 314). Among other things, Dr. Starke provides support for any questions concerning the supraregional cooperation of all eleven universities in Rhineland-Palatinate in the field of artificial intelligence.

Unfortunately, some colleagues are also leaving us this year:

• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Reinhard Gotzhein (Distributed and Networked Systems) is retiring in October.
• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gabriele Bleser-Taetz (Augmented Vision/wearHEALTH) has accepted a professorship at the IU International University in Erfurt.
• Dr. Bertram Taetz (Augmented Vision/wearHEALTH) is also transferring to IU International University in Erfurt.
• Frau Kirsten Gensinger (Secretariat AGs Zweig and Laue) will be leaving us shortly.

We mournfully bid farewell to four longtime colleagues who passed away last year and this year:

• Herr Prof. Dr. Jürgen Avenhaus (passed away 24. Januar 2021)
• Herr Prof. Dr. Reiner Hartenstein (passed away 24. Juni 2022)
• Herr Dr. Reinhard Kirchner (passed away 21. Juni 2021)
• Herr Manfred Zwirnlein (passed away 15. Juli 2022)

Our sympathy goes out to the relatives.

On July 1, after the corona-induced three-year hiatus, the department of Computer Science finally held another Academic Annual Celebration.

More than 500 guests attended the ceremony. After a champagne reception in the foyer of building 42, the official part of the celebration was opened with the greetings of our president Prof. Arnd Poetzsch-Heffter and the welcome by our dean Prof. Jens Schmitt.

In addition to the lecture on: “On the respondability of data and algorithms - operationalizing ethical standards at MERCK“ by Dr. Jean Enno Charton (Merck) the farewell ceremony for the classes of 2020, 2021 und 2022 with 147 Bachelor's graduates, 253 master's graduates and 22 doctoral students was the highlight of the event.

The band "peterbrucker" provided the musical framework as well as the atmospheric, relaxed finale in the amphitheater in front of Building 46. For the former computer science student of our department, who gave the band its name, this was a "home game", so to speak.

After the event in the Audimax, people met outside in beautiful summer weather at the delicious finger food buffet for a reunion and lively exchange after a long AJF break. As always, the crêpes stand of the student council was very popular among the guests. With the sounds of the band, department members, families and friends let the wonderful summer evening partly end late into the night hours.

All in all, a perfect evening to the success of which many hardworking hands with active support from the student council have contributed.

DataFest as the conclusion of a 12-week summer fellowship program with DFKI and TU Kaiserslautern.

Nine motivated, interdisciplinary fellows from eight countries have come together in Kaiserslautern, Germany, to develop forward-looking data solutions to problems of societal importance for two partner organizations. One team worked with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), helping investigative journalists uncover crime and corruption using Big Data. The other team helped Paraguay's National Procurement Agency (DNCP) reduce corruption and related costs in public procurement through more effective auditing of public tenders.

On August 24, the summer fellowship ended with a lively DataFest at the DFKI in Kaiserslautern. Prof. Andreas Dengel (DFKI-Chief executive) and Prof. Jens Schmitt (Dean, TUK Computer Science) emphasized the social impact of the DSSG program. Sebastian Vollmer and Andrea Sipka (DFKI DSA) introduced the program and its history to the 150 people in the audience (both onsite and online). Mark Nightingale's (OCCRP) keynote address on "Telling Stories about Crime and Corruption Using Data" was followed by presentations from the two project teams, which were ably delivered by two of the grantees. The event concluded with numerous opportunities to further explore the projects with both teams and network with other attendees.
Video on Youtube Twitter Account

According to the University Health Report, a study on the health status of students, conducted for a third time by CampusPlus in 2021, 25% of participating computer science students reported suffering from depressive symptoms.

Not least for this reason, the Computer Science Student Council has had its own "Mental Health" department for almost a year now, which is intended to serve as the first point of contact for students. The department is not a counseling center, but is happy to help students find a suitable counseling center.

One speaker is also currently taking part in Mental Health First Aid training in order to be able to respond even better to those affected. In addition, the unit organizes regular workshops and exchange and networking events on various topics such as helper syndrome, imposter syndrome and anxiety in general.

For more information, contact the department: Mental Health

Reach the unit at kopfdinge@fsin.fo

Billy Joe Franks and Naghmeh Ghanooni Arani elected

TUK establishes an official representation of doctoral students. From their ranks were elected on 13.06.22 for the department of Computer Science Mr. Billy Joe Franks and as a deputy Mrs. Naghmeh Ghanooni Arani were elected.

The department congratulates on the election!

Posting of academic credits

As of the upcoming winter semester, certificates (in paper form) will no longer be issued.

Instead, the course achievements are automatically confirmed in the QIS at the end of the lecture period. There is a separate examination number for each course achievement. For this purpose, it is important to register for all exams and mandatory course work (e.g. exercises) during the usual registration periods.

New audit statistics can be viewed

If you're in the mood for numbers and statistics, the exam statistics are also available to view now.

Applicant Management

The Human Resources Department is currently informing (by telephone) that in the next few weeks the applicant manager BITE will also be switched to for scientific job advertisements. For the advertisement of non-scientific positions, BITE has already been in use for several months. This means that incoming applications can also only be retrieved via password on BITE. The professors would then have to agree directly with the HR department (Ms. Baldauf) who should have access to the portal.

Hiring contracts - implementation of the Verification Act

For Hiwi contracts (new hires!) from 01.10.22 the law of proof applies, which unfortunately means in the digital age again more "paperwork" and administrative burden for all involved: to the contract documents must now be handed out a transcript and an acknowledgement of receipt, which must be signed by the auxiliary as soon as possible and returned to the HR department. For this reason, the Human Resources Department is currently drafting new contract forms for all Hiwi contracts as of 01.11.22, which will hopefully make it easier for us to handle these new legal requirements - please note the form specifications and downloads of the personnel department in the next weeks!

For further information, please refer to the email with the subject: New Hires Auxiliary Scientists - Implementation of Evidence Act dated Sept. 14, 2022 forwarded by Mr. Schürmann from the Human Resources Department.

TUK and Landau University become RPTU

On January 1 2023 the Technical University of Kaiserslautern and the University in Koblenz-Landau, Campus in Landau will become the Rhineland-Palatinate University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU).

Currently, we are waiting for further information from the university management on the topics of logo, corporate design, etc..

More about this under Startklar 2023

Important to know:

All those who would still like to have a bachelor's or master's degree certificate with the "old" name and logo of our university should still finish their studies by December 31, 2022, i.e. both the submission and the colloquium for the thesis must have taken place. From 01 January 2023, the successful studies will be completed with a certificate of the new RPTU.

For doctoral students, the final thesis must be submitted to the department by the beginning of October 2022 and defended by December 31, 2022. A special meeting of the Departmental Council of Computer Science will be held on October 05, 2022, especially on the topic of "Doctoral Theses".

New elections to the departmental councils

Due to the fusion of the Technical University of Kaiserslautern with the Landau campus, the new elections for the departmental councils and the senate will already take place on December 6/7, 2022 and not in February 2023.

Equality Plan

The new equality plan of the TUK (2020-2026) is being worked on; the part applicable to the Computer Science department will probably be decided in the FBR meeting in November - Ms. Leitte invites the individual status groups to exchange views on this.

Current and changed contact persons in the administration for our department are