Research
Department of Computer Science
Research Cluster
The Faculty of Engineering actively participates in many research projects across a variety of disciplines, departments, and faculties. These projects are also funded by many different sources. Researchers at the Department of Computer Science are active in the following projects:
Excellence Initiative / Excellence Strategy
The German federal government and states launched an excellence initiative in 2005 and 2019 to support outstanding research at German universities.
Excellence Strategy 2019–2026
- Living, Adaptive and Energy-autonomous Materials Systems (livMatS)
Contact: Prof. Jürgen Rühe, Department of Microsystems Engineering - CIBSS – Zentrum für Integrative Biologische Signalstudien
Contact: Prof. Thomas Brox, Department of Computer Science
Excellence Initiative (2005-2019)
- BrainLinks-BrainTools (2012-2019)
Contact: Prof. Wolfram Burgard, Department of Computer Science - BIOSS Centre of Biological Signalling Studies (2007-2019)
Contact: Prof. Roland Zengerle, Department of Microsystems Engineering
Collaborative Research Centres
Sonderforschungsbereiche (SFB) sind auf die Dauer von bis zu zwölf Jahren angelegte Forschungseinrichtungen der Hochschulen, in denen Wissenschaftler und Wissenschaftlerinnen über die Grenzen ihrer jeweiligen Fächer, Institute, Fachbereiche und Fakultäten hinweg im Rahmen eines übergreifenden und wissenschaftlich exzellenten Forschungsprogramms zusammenarbeiten. Sie werden von der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) gefördert.
- Collaborative Research Centers (Sonderforschungsbereiche, SFB) are centers established by universities for a maximum of twelve years. During this time, scientists at the research centers collaborate across disciplines, departments, and faculties within a comprehensive, high-quality research program. Scientists in the centers receive funding from the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG).
- Medical Epigenetics – From basic mechanisms to clinical applications (SFB 992, 2012-2020)
Contact: Prof. Rolf Backofen, Department of Computer Science - Concluded: Automatic Verification and Analysis of Complex Systems (AVACS) (SFB/TR 14, 2003-2015)
Contact: Prof. Dr. Bernd Becker, Department of Computer Science - Concluded: Spatial Cognition: Reasoning, Action, Interaction (SFB/TR 8, 2003-2014)
- Contact: Prof. Dr. Bernhard Nebel, Department of Computer Science
Research Training Groups
Research Training Groups (Graduiertenkollegs, GRK) are academic groups within universities that are designed to promote young scientists. These groups receive funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG) for a maximum of nine years. The purpose of these groups is to provide PhD students the opportunity to gain qualifications within a research program with a specialized focus while providing a clear qualification framework. Research training groups are intended to be interdisciplinary. The goal is to prepare PhD students for the complex scientific and research job market by encouraging them to work as independent scientists.
- MeInBio – BioInMe: Exploration of spatio-temporal dynamics of gene regulation using high-throughput and high-resolution methods (en) (GRK 2344, 2017-2022)
Contact: Prof. Rolf Backofen, Department of Computer Science - Concluded: Embedded Microsystems (GRK 1103, 2004-2014)
Contact: Prof. Dr. Wolfram Burgard, Department of Computer Science - Concluded: Mathematical Logic and Applications (GRK 806/2)
State-funded structured doctoral programs
- Graduate School of Robotics
Contact: Prof. Wolfram Burgard, Department of Computer Science
Research Networks
The Faculty of Engineering consists of two departments: the Department of Computer Science (IIF) and the Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK). Through these departments, the faculty participates in a wide number of regional, national, and international research networks. The Faculty of Engineering has several partners in the region with which it has a special relationship. These include the five Fraunhofer institutes located in Freiburg, the Institute of Mikrotechnik and Informationstechnik of the Hahn-Schickard-Gesellschaft e.V. (HSG-IMIT), and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), in particular its Professorship of Materials Processing Technology .er Hahn-Schickard-Gesellschaft e.V. (HSG-IMIT) sowie dem KIT über die Professur für Werkstoffprozesstechnik.
Cognitive Technical Systems (CTS) resp. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Cyber-physical systems are technical devices equipped with specialized software and programs that carry out specific tasks in a larger physical environment. Applications for such embedded systems include modern telecommunications (smartphones), car manufacturing, managing power grids, medical technology, to mention but a few.
These systems are extremely complex and require a high level of security and efficiency. Important fields of research include communication between the individual components as well as the testing and verification of hardware and software.
Participating groups and persons
Mainly the following chairs and groups are involved in the research of these fields:
- Computer Architecture (Prof. Dr. Armin Biere)
- Operating Systems (Prof. Dr. Christoph Scholl)
- Programming Languages (Prof. Dr. Peter Thiemann)
- Software Engineering (Prof. Dr. Andreas Podelski)
Studying Cyber-Physical Systems
This is one of three fields in which students of the Master of Science in Computer Science can specialize. The following is a sample curriculum for this field of specialization.
| Type of course | Winter semester | Summer semester |
| Key course (offered each year) | Computer Architecture Software Engineering | |
| Core course (offered each year) | Cyber-Physical Systems: Discrete Models | Cyber-Physical Systems: Hybrid Models |
| Further specialization courses (gernerally every 1 or 2 years) | Verification of Embedded Systems Software Design, Modeling and Analysis in UML Formal Methods for Java Concurrency: Theory and Practice Peer-to-Peer Networks | Real-time Operating Systems and Reliability Test and Reliability Decision Procedures Compiler Construction Distributed Systems |
Additional seminars, lab courses and specialization courses are offered for one term or at irregular intervals. For more information on these courses, please consult the module handbook of the Master of Science in Computer Science.
Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS)
Cyber-physical systems are technical devices equipped with specialized software and programs that carry out specific tasks in a larger physical environment. Applications for such embedded systems include modern telecommunications (smartphones), car manufacturing, managing power grids, medical technology, to mention but a few.
These systems are extremely complex and require a high level of security and efficiency. Important fields of research include communication between the individual components as well as the testing and verification of hardware and software.
Participating groups and persons
Mainly the following chairs and groups are involved in the research of these fields:
- Computer Architecture (Prof. Dr. Armin Biere)
- Operating Systems (Prof. Dr. Christoph Scholl)
- Programming Languages (Prof. Dr. Peter Thiemann)
- Software Engineering (Prof. Dr. Andreas Podelski)
Studying Cyber-Physical Systems
This is one of three fields in which students of the Master of Science in Computer Science can specialize. The following is a sample curriculum for this field of specialization.
| Type of course | Winter semester | Summer semester |
| Key course (offered each year) | Computer Architecture Software Engineering | |
| Core course (offered each year) | Cyber-Physical Systems: Discrete Models | Cyber-Physical Systems: Hybrid Models |
| Further specialization courses (gernerally every 1 or 2 years) | Verification of Embedded Systems Software Design, Modeling and Analysis in UML Formal Methods for Java Concurrency: Theory and Practice Peer-to-Peer Networks | Real-time Operating Systems and Reliability Test and Reliability Decision Procedures Compiler Construction Distributed Systems |
Additional seminars, lab courses and specialization courses are offered for one term or at irregular intervals. For more information on these courses, please consult the module handbook of the Master of Science in Computer Science.
Information Systems (IS)
Research in the field of information systems (IS) focuses on the representation, processing, and storage of large amounts of various types of data, often in distributed systems. Communication plays a very important role in information systems. A special field of application for information systems is bioinformatics, which is a key field of research at the University of Freiburg.
Participating groups and persons
Mainly the following chairs and groups are involved in the research of these fields:
- Algorithms and Complexity (Prof. Dr. Fabian Kuhn)
- Algorithms and Data Structures (Prof. Dr. Hannah Bast)
- Bioinformatics (Prof. Dr. Rolf Backofen)
- Communication Systems (Prof. Dr. Gerhard Schneider)
- Databases and Information Systems (Prof. Dr. Georg Lausen)
- Networks and Telematics (Prof. Dr. Christian Schindelhauer)
Studying Information Systems
This is one of three fields in which students of the Master of Science in Computer Science can specialize. The following is a sample curriculum for this field of specialization.
| Type of course | Winter semester | Summer semester |
| Key course (offered each year) | Algorithm Theory Databases and Information Systems | |
| Core course (offered each year) | Information Retrieval | Distributed Systems |
| Further specialization courses (gernerally every 1 or 2 years) | Algorithmic Foundations of Bioinformatics Bioinformatics II Knowledge Representation System Infrastructure for Data Science Distributed Storage Peer-to-Peer Networks Software Design, Modeling and Analysis in UML | Data Models and Query Languages Security in Business Process Management Machine Learning Efficient Route Planning Bioinformatics I Game Theory Telecommunication Systems |
Additional seminars, lab courses and specialization courses are offered for one term or at irregular intervals. For more information on these courses, please consult the module handbook of the Master of Science in Computer Science.