AIMStream

About the laboratory

AIMStream is a Christian Doppler Laboratory bringing together academic research and industrial application in the field of multimedia streaming. Hosted at the Institute of Information Technology (ITEC), University of Klagenfurt, the laboratory investigates how artificial intelligence, adaptive networking, and edge computing can be combined to make video and immersive media delivery smarter, more efficient, and more resilient — from everyday video-on-demand to next-generation immersive formats.

The laboratory is carried out in close collaboration with two industry partners, Bitmovin and Tencent, ensuring that application-oriented basic research is grounded in real-world streaming infrastructure and that results can be presented in the form of prototypes.

Over a seven-year research program, AIMStream pursues foundational and applied work across three pillars. The first work package (WP), Customer Experience & Engagement, focuses on understanding and improving how viewers experience streamed media in practice, through Quality of Experience (QoE) modeling, perceptual video quality assessment, and user engagement analytics. The second work package focuses on Scalable & Reliable Streaming. In this WP, we will desing AI-driven delivery mechanisms that scale to global, heterogeneous networks, edge-assisted network-aware delivery, and low-latency transport over QUIC and HTTP/3. The third one, Immersive Video Streaming, looks ahead to the next generation of volumetric and interactive visual media, covering 3/4D Gaussian Splatting and immersive delivery.

Open PhD Positions

The Institute of Information Technology (ITEC) at the University of Klagenfurt invites applications for Doctoral Student Positions (100% employment, all genders welcome) within the Christian Doppler Laboratory AIMStream. The expected start date of employment is the last quarter of 2026

As a doctoral candidate, you will work at the intersection of AI and multimedia systems, with direct exposure to real-world streaming platforms and, in line with the CD Laboratory model of application-oriented basic research, the goal of publishing your results in international, high-quality journals and conference proceedings.

Research Topics

• User engagement and behavioral analytics in streaming platforms
• AI-augmented content creation and enrichment for streaming
• Scalability in adaptive streaming: elastic scaling, load balancing, and resource management
• Reliability for continuous playback: failover, self-healing, and redundancy to keep streams running under failure scenarios
• Streaming of 3D Gaussian Splatting and volumetric content
• AI-assisted compression and rate control for immersive media

Your Profile

• Master's or diploma degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field, completed at a domestic or foreign university (with good final degrees)
• Interest and experience in two or more of the research topics listed above
• Strong programming skills
• Excellent English skills, both written and oral
• Genuine motivation for research

Desirable qualifications include:

• Excellent programming skills, especially in Python, JavaScript
• Relevant international and practical work experience
• Knowledge of and hands-on experience with AI/ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow) and large language models
• Social and communicative competencies and the ability to work in a team
• Experience with university teaching and research activities
• Prior publications are a plus, not a requirement

The working language and the research program are in English. There is no need to learn German for this position, unless you wish to participate in undergraduate teaching, which is optional.

Our Offer

The employment contract is concluded for the position of Project Assistant. The monthly salary is according to the standard salaries of the Austrian collective agreement, minimum € 3.776,10 pre-tax (14× yearly) (Uni-KV: B1, www.aau.at/en/uni-kv).

The University of Klagenfurt also offers:

• Personal and professional advanced training courses, management and career coaching
• Numerous attractive additional benefits — see jobs.aau.at
• A diversity- and family-friendly university culture
• The opportunity to live and work in the attractive Alps-Adriatic region, with a wide range of leisure activities in culture, nature, and sports

Apply Now

If you are interested in this position, please apply in English with the following documents:

• Letter of motivation
• Curriculum vitae
• Copies of degree certificates and confirmations
• Proof of all completed higher education programs
• Concept of a potential dissertation project (one page maximum)

Please send your application to Dr. Farzad Tashtarian at farzad.tashtarian@aau.at with the subject "AIMStream-PhD". Application deadline: July 31, 2026.

The University of Klagenfurt aims to increase the proportion of women and explicitly invites qualified women to apply for this position. Where qualifications are equivalent, women will receive preferential consideration. People with disabilities or chronic diseases who fulfill the requirements are particularly encouraged to apply. Travel and accommodation costs incurred during the application process will not be refunded.

Contact

Priv.-Doz. Dr. Farzad Tashtarian
Laboratory Director, AIMStream
Institute of Information Technology (ITEC), University of Klagenfurt
Email: farzad.tashtarian@aau.at
Homepage: https://www.tashtarian.net/
Address: Universitätsstraße 65–67, 9020 Klagenfurt, Austria

Klagenfurt, situated on the beautiful Lake Wörthersee — one of the largest and warmest alpine lakes in Europe — has nearly 100,000 inhabitants. As a small city with a Renaissance-style city centre reflecting 800 years of history and Italian influence, Klagenfurt is a pleasant place to live and work. The university is located about 1.5 km east of Lake Wörthersee and about 3 km west of the city centre.