I gave this talk in a doctoral consortium meeting to PhD students at different stages of their PhD in order to show them one instance of an academic career. Abstract: Any career is a mix of chances, opportunities, and people. Especially people. Some opportunities you need to create yourself. You certainly need to keep your eyes open and tell people about your wishes! In hindsight any career looks smooth and straightforward. You don’t see and feel the times of uncertainty, when you felt like you are not going anywhere. But don’t despair on the way: There is enough time for each step. Just have a long time goal at hand for yourself, and be stubborn in pursuing it.

1. © iStockPhoto
Career reflections:
Chance, opportunities, people
Prof. Dr. Thomas Roth-Berghofer
School of Computing and Technology
R e s e a rc h g ro u p
Explanation-aware
computing systems
Greenwich, UK, 12 September 2011
Montag, 12. September 11

2. Prof. Thomas Roth-Berghofer
School of Computing and Technology,
University of West London, UK
Studied computer science at University of Kaiserslautern
Worked in software industry at empolis GmbH, a University spin-off,
as software developer, consultant, and quality manager for the Case-
Based Reasoning tool orenge (1997–2002)
In parallel: PhD at the University of Kaiserslautern
„Knowledge Maintenance of Case-Based Reasoning Systems“
Returned to academia in 2002:
Technical Director of award-winning EU project MedCIRCLE (Research
Unit Cybermedicine & eHealth, University of Heidelberg) and Researcher
(Knowledge Management Department, DFKI)
2003–2011: Senior Researcher (DFKI) and Lecturer (U. of Kaiserslautern)
2010–2011: Visiting Professor at University of Hildesheim
Explanation-aware Computing Systems Group DC@ICCBR 2011 — University of Greenwich — 2011-09-12 Slide 2 University of West London
Montag, 12. September 11

3. My motivation:
curiosity
“To boldly go where no
man has gone before!”
© Paramount Pictures
A-7
“I hold an A-7
computer expert
classification,
Commodore.”
Ep. “The ultimate
computer”
Explanation-aware Computing Systems Group DC@ICCBR 2011 — University of Greenwich — 2011-09-12 Slide 3 University of West London
Montag, 12. September 11

4. School and university
Leibniz-
Gymnasium
Explanation-aware Computing Systems Group DC@ICCBR 2011 — University of Greenwich — 2011-09-12 Slide 4 University of West London
Montag, 12. September 11

5. Chances and opportunities
Leibniz- School just had become test school
Gymnasium for computer science.
Artificial Intelligence was taught in
introductory CS class — just once.
Student jobs in various research
projects helped pay studies.
Shareholder of small software
Computer Arts and Technologies Software GmbH company and programmer there
➔ Dead end
Explanation-aware Computing Systems Group DC@ICCBR 2011 — University of Greenwich — 2011-09-12 Slide 5 University of West London
Montag, 12. September 11

6. Career questions
What are the options?
Industry
Research institutes such as the German Research Center for AI,
Fraunhofer or Max Planck Institutes
University
What are the general rules of the game?
What are the requirements to get a PhD?
Explanation-aware Computing Systems Group DC@ICCBR 2011 — University of Greenwich — 2011-09-12 Slide 6 University of West London
Montag, 12. September 11

7. Software industry & EU research
at empolis GmbH
Explanation-aware Computing Systems Group DC@ICCBR 2011 — University of Greenwich — 2011-09-12 Slide 7 University of West London
Montag, 12. September 11

8. Chances and opportunities
Stefan Wess: “You can do a PhD at
tecInno. We make that happen.”
Ralph Traphöner: Introduction to
EU-funded projects and research
Mehmet Göker: “… and this is how
research is actually done.”
Explanation-aware Computing Systems Group DC@ICCBR 2011 — University of Greenwich — 2011-09-12 Slide 8 University of West London
Montag, 12. September 11

9. Career questions
How can I do research at a software company?
What are interesting topics to research that are also of use to a
software company?
What are requirements for the time after my PhD?
Explanation-aware Computing Systems Group DC@ICCBR 2011 — University of Greenwich — 2011-09-12 Slide 9 University of West London
Montag, 12. September 11

10. Research at University Hospital
Heidelberg & German Research Center
for Artificial Intelligence DFKI GmbH
Explanation-aware Computing Systems Group DC@ICCBR 2011 — University of Greenwich — 2011-09-12 Slide 10 University of West London
Montag, 12. September 11

11. Chances and opportunities
Andreas Dengel:
“We need to rebuild my university research group.”
➔ Teaching experience, supervision of PhD students,
proposal writing, conference/workshop organisation, etc.
Agnar Aamodt:
“Would you like to serve on a PhD committee at NTNU?”
➔ Reviewing experience
Klaus-Dieter Althoff:
“How about being a visiting professor for semester or two
in Hildesheim?”
➔ Committee work, experience with university processes,
independent teaching, etc.
Explanation-aware Computing Systems Group DC@ICCBR 2011 — University of Greenwich — 2011-09-12 Slide 11 University of West London
Montag, 12. September 11

12. My “experience portfolio”
Software engineer, Consultant,
Manager Quality and Support
empolis GmbH (now: Attensity)
industry
Visiting Professor
Professor in Computing
University of Hildesheim
since September 2011:
academia
Lecturer at University of
Kaiserslautern
research
Senior researcher
German Research Center for
Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) GmbH
Explanation-aware Computing Systems Group DC@ICCBR 2011 — University of Greenwich — 2011-09-12 Slide 12 University of West London
Montag, 12. September 11

13. Voyage home messages
Academic career is not set in stone.
Know about your own capabilities,
your options, and your personal goals!
Keep your eyes open and create your
own opportunities!
Don’t despair on the way: There is
enough time for each step, but you
need to have a long time goal.
© Paramount Pictures
Boldly go where no one
has gone before!
Explanation-aware Computing Systems Group DC@ICCBR 2011 — University of Greenwich — 2011-09-12 Slide 13 University of West London
Montag, 12. September 11

14. Career reflections:
Chance, opportunities, people
Prof. Dr. Thomas Roth-Berghofer
School of Computing and Technology
R e s e a rc h g ro u p
Explanation-aware
computing systems
Greenwich, UK, 12 September 2011
Montag, 12. September 11