Saarland Informatics Campus #SIC

🏛️ Exam season has been busy for us all, including our professors: congratulations to Sven Apel and Andreas Zeller for being selected into the first !

SIGSOFT Software Engineering Academy, launched by ACM this year, is an honor for researchers who made lasting contributions to software engineering.

Apel’s research revolves around developing tools for efficient, reliable and configurable software systems, while Zeller’s focus lies in automated software testing, debugging and repair. But these honors go beyond just lasting contributions— the Academy is all about individuals whose influence and leadership in the field have transformed software engineering. 💪 With two researchers on this year’s cohort, Saarland University is one of the few institutions with multiple researchers who were named.

So once you take Software Engineering or Automated Debugging at the , remember that you'll be getting a chance to learn from field leaders, who not only push their Git commits, but the also the boundaries of computer science. 💫

(No pressure, though. ☺️)



Universität des Saarlandes - Saarland University The Max Planck Institute for Software Systems Fachschaft Informatikstudiengänge / CS Students' Representative Council UdS Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz

💿 Digital music has never been this digital until The Night of the Fine Arts at The Commune, when students from the showcased the instruments they made from scratch!

As part of the Audio Devices: Synthesis, Control, & Performance seminar taught by Paul Strohmeier, senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics, the students made their own electronic instruments.

They built custom hardware and programmed the instruments using audio synthesis and processing, embedded systems, sensors, and MIDI communication. The emphasis was on large-scale bodily action, so rather than pushing buttons, the instruments were played by body movements. They performed for the public on July 17, and art and technology became one for a night.

Who says computer science has to be done a certain way? With the diversity of fields on our campus, our researchers and students constantly find ways to combine computer science in other disciplines. Translation: here in Saarbrücken, creativity only fuels the fire. 🧑‍🎨🖥️

Our biggest applause to Paul Strohmeier and his students for a great show! 👏

Universität des Saarlandes - Saarland University Fachschaft Informatikstudiengänge / CS Students' Representative Council UdS The Max Planck Institute for Software Systems

👩‍💻How do you go from master’s to PhD to postdoc? Most postdocs would tell you it’s hard work, perseverance, and discipline. According to Anna Kukleva, it’s those, plus a bunch of happy accidents.

Currently, Anna is a research scientist at Meta. Previously, she was a postdoctoral researcher in the Computer Vision and Machine Learning department at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics (MPI-INF).

Upon completing her PhD in , she was awarded the for her thesis "Advancing Image and Video Recognition with Less Supervision," in which she explored how to get good results on unseen data with minimal labeling. 🏅

🎤 In this interview, Anna talks about her award-winning thesis, her life as a researcher at MPI-INF, her experience as a woman in computer vision, and her advice to aspiring computer scientists.

Thank you for sharing your story with the next generation of computer scientists, Anna! 👏

🔗 Read more: sic.link/kukleva

Universität des Saarlandes - Saarland University Fachschaft Informatikstudiengänge / CS Students' Representative Council UdS The Max Planck Institute for Software Systems Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz

📈 After ’s new model hacked into HuggingFace’s computer systems, AI safety concerns have skyrocketed.

To address the concerns, professor and German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence ( ) CEO Philipp Slusallek spoke to the Saarländischer Rundfunk (SR).

"We already knew AI became very good at attacking IT systems," Slusallek commented. "What’s new is the complexity of what happened: the fact that the AI escaped, replicated itself onto other computers on the internet, and launched attacks.”

The incident has been worrying, displaying that attacking a country or company has never been easier. So what is our line of defense here? 🛡️

“Trustworthy AI, the question of how we can give guarantees about the AI systems' behavior,” answered Slusallek. “This has long been a key research area here at the Saarland Informatics Campus, together with the Max Planck Institutes and the DFKI.”

The DFKI advocates for Europe to develop its own AI solutions, rather than depend on American or Chinese models. Accepting the challenge, they have been developing , an AI model, with other partnering institutions.

Set to release in the upcoming weeks, Soofi is a leap forward — leaving the grounds of to demonstrate that Europe already has the expertise to compete. 🏃

We'd like to thank Philipp Slusallek for informing the public on the importance of AI safety. 🙏

🔗 Read SR's coverage of the events here: sic.link/interview



Universität des Saarlandes - Saarland University Fachschaft Informatikstudiengänge / CS Students' Representative Council UdS The Max Planck Institute for Software Systems Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz

Computers are binary — 0, 1, 0, 1. So do programmers also think binary while looking at code? Not exactly, according to a recent study at Saarland University.

computer scientists Sven Apel and Vera Demberg worked together with psychologist Axel Mecklinger to see how the brain responds when programmers come across confusing code. They used eye-tracking technology and measured participants’ brain activity while they focused on a coding block. 🧠

📖 What they found was surprising: when the programmers came across something confusing, their brain activity carried similarities to that of people reading sentences with plot twists.

The team believes that understanding programmers' cognitive processes will help researchers develop better tools for them.

Software evolves because 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 develop it. Tools that develop the programmers, however, require a more multidisciplinary approach. By extending the borders of software research, aims to make programmers’ everyday lives easier by exploring how they think.

🔗 Read more: sic.link/softwareeeg



Universität des Saarlandes - Saarland University The Max Planck Institute for Software Systems Fachschaft Informatikstudiengänge / CS Students' Representative Council UdS Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz

Quantum computers can solve complex problems classical computers can’t. Every day, more of them get deployed globally, increasing demand in the field. But how do you program a quantum computer? Willing to find out?

Then the new master’s program at is for you: Quantum Information Theory (QIT)! Combining theoretical physics, mathematics and computer science, the program is directly connected to the Center for Quantum Technologies on campus. QIT approaches the field mathematically and computationally, with its main focus on quantum software — making it distinct in Germany.

The good news is? You don’t have to know anything about quantum physics. The program aims to give you the knowledge you need during your studies, so you can simply focus on developing new algorithms and software in the quantum dimension.

Graduates have career opportunities in fields such as:

- R&D

- Quantum computing & software development

- IT & Cybersecurity

- High performance computing

- Data analysis

Deadline for applications is August 31, 2026.

Find out more/apply: sic.link/qit

Universität des Saarlandes - Saarland University Fachschaft Informatikstudiengänge / CS Students' Representative Council UdS The Max Planck Institute for Software Systems Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz

📣🚨 Reminder: The applications for the English Computer Science B.Sc. and Cybersecurity B.Sc. programs close on July 15!

You want to study computer science, but not on the sidelines of research — rather, at the forefront of computer science research at ? Well, there’s never been a better time for it, because starting WS 26/27, we’re launching our Honors Program!

The Honors Program is all about you, high achiever. Designed for students looking for more, it will help you turn potential into action through mentorship, research and community.

❓How it works: First, apply to the B.Sc. program of your interest. Next, apply to the Honors Program. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬, 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦.

In the program, we aim to introduce exceptional students to an environment they can thrive in. Upon admission, you will:

• Become a part of a dynamic, international academic community at the heart of Europe,

• Receive mentorship directly from professors,

• Have early research access at our four research institutes on campus,

• Be exposed to a wide range of networking opportunities,

• Gain access to internship opportunities with local tech companies in the region,

and more!

By the end of the program, whether you pick graduate school, research or industry — you will be more than prepared with the Honors Program. 🎓

‼️ The application deadline for the Honors Program is August 31, 2026. 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐁.𝐒𝐜. 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦.

🔗 More information & application: sic.link/udshp



Universität des Saarlandes - Saarland University Fachschaft Informatikstudiengänge / CS Students' Representative Council UdS The Max Planck Institute for Software Systems Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz

This week, the Saarland Minister of Finance and Science, Jakob von Weizsäcker, attended the Future Minds Café, where we kicked off the Future Minds Programme in Quantum Technologies & — a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) funded project to support and retain talented master’s and PhD students in Germany.

💶 Specifically designed for the Center for Quantum Technologies (QuTe) and the , the program was among the 20 selected projects in a nationwide competition organized by the .

But how do we actually make the conditions better? Instead of brainstorming on our own, we talked to our international students.

Accompanied by Saarland University Professors Moritz Weber and Dominik Brodowski, Saarland University master’s and PhD students in computer science and related fields shared why they chose Saarbrücken and what we can do to improve their experience. Together, we talked about the factors affecting their lives in Germany, including:

🇩🇪 Learning a new language
🏭 Connecting with the industry
🌍 Loneliness in a new country & social integration
🗄️ Dealing with bureaucracy

Whether it be in academia or industry, if we want to make young talents excel in their fields after switching countries, we have to include them in the process and make their journeys as smooth as possible. With this funding, we will be able to support even more international talents to join the growing AI and quantum technology atmosphere in Saarland. ⚛️

📷 © Jörg Pütz/UdS

Fachschaft Informatikstudiengänge / CS Students' Representative Council UdS The Max Planck Institute for Software Systems Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz Universität des Saarlandes - Saarland University

Turns out, communication limits aren't just for relationships... 💔 distributed systems have them too — and the winners of this year's Edsger W. Dijkstra Prize explored them 15 years ago.

🏆 The research team, including Danupon Nanongkai, Scientific Director at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics, received the prize for their 2011 paper, "Distributed Verification and Hardness of Distributed Approximation." The prize is for papers with a long lasting impact in distributed computing.

They developed a mathematical framework to prove the existence of unavoidable communication limits in distributed systems, showing that some distributed problems can’t be solved faster than a certain limit.

With many later publications adding on to their framework, the methods they invented are now accepted as standard in the field, becoming foundational to the modern theory of bandwidth-constrained distributed computing.

Field altering research doesn’t happen every day, but when researchers strive for results that change how people think, it just might. This award is reflective of the research culture at , where longevity plays a central role.

Congratulations to the team! 👏

🔗 Read more: sic.link/danupon



Universität des Saarlandes - Saarland University Fachschaft Informatikstudiengänge / CS Students' Representative Council UdS The Max Planck Institute for Software Systems Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz

Whether you're writing your first seminar paper, preparing a publication, or exploring a new research topic, finding the right literature just became much easier.

The Campus Library for Computer Science and Mathematics has launched infomath.discovery — a new search platform that brings together books, e-books, journals and research databases in one place.

Instead of searching multiple platforms separately, you can now explore resources such as arXiv, JSTOR, e-books, e-journals and much more through a single search interface. Powerful filters, export options and personal features like reading lists help you stay organized throughout your research.

Less searching. More discovering.

https://infomath-bib.disco.mpg.de/



Universität des Saarlandes - Saarland University Fachschaft Informatikstudiengänge / CS Students' Representative Council UdS The Max Planck Institute for Software Systems Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz