Endowed Full Professorship of Data Science and Data Engineering

• As a professor of Data Science and Data Engineering, you will provide university wide teaching in foundational and advanced data driven methods, including Data Science Foundations (data handling, exploratory analysis, statistics), Programming for Data Analysis (e.g., Python/R data workflows), Data Engineering & Pipelines (ETL, data integration, distributed systems), Cloud Computing for Data Application, Data Visualization and Communication, Research Data Management and Reproducibility. You will supervise research, project, and thesis work across all study programs and the Graduate School. You will also contribute to transfer activities with industry and societal partners. A commitment to academic self governance, internationalization, and strategic development of Zeppelin University is also expected.

You will work in close collaboration with the other chairs endowed by ZF Friedrichshafen AG - the Chair of Artificial Intelligence, and the Chair of Systems of Virtual Reality - which is a core element of the research and teaching strategy. XR applications generate extensive interaction and process data that require systematic analysis. In this context, the Chair of Systems of Virtual Reality will provide data sources, the Chair of Data Science & Data Engineering will supply necessary data infrastructures and methodological foundations, while the Chair of Artificial Intelligence will use these data for sophistical analyses and data modelling.

The position builds data foundation, provides data, infrastructure and pipelines, and data analytics. This creates a clear link to the ZF Endowed Chair of AI, which focuses on intelligent data analysis and responsible AI design. Together, the endowed chairs enable integrated research, joint teaching formats, and practice oriented transfer activities, forming a coherent interdisciplinary environment for innovation and scientific excellence.

You have proven experience in Data Science and Data Engineering. Your academic background is in computer science, mathematics, statistics, econometrics, or related fields. You are developing an interdisciplinary research agenda, covering topics such as:

• Data Engineering (e.g., data pipelines, workflow orchestration, and distributed data processing such as for instance Spark, streaming systems
• Data Platforms: cloud-native architectures, data lakes, data warehouses
• Data Management: data modelling, integration, governance, and metadata systems
• Applied Data Science: statistical modeling, exploratory data analysis, and visualization
• Reproducible Data Workflows: versioning, documentation, and research data management

You have experience in the successful acquisition of third party funding (research grants). Experiences in collaboration with industry would also be anadvantage., To be eligible for the position, applicants must meet the requirements for appointment pursuant to § 47 of the Higher Education Act of the State of Baden-Württemberg. In particular, they must hold a doctoral degree in the relevant discipline and demonstrate a track record of significant independent research contributions to the field.

Zeppelin University (ZU) is establishing a new Endowed Professorship in Data Science & Data Engineering, as part of its strategic repositioning. This professorship, funded by ZF Friedrichshafen AG, serves as a key strategic pillar to strengthen evidence based, data driven education across all disciplines and to advance ZU’s profile at the intersection of technology, society, and responsible leadership.