Postdoc Position in 3D / 4D Computer Vision and Graphics

I am looking for a postdoc to join my research group Graphics, Vision & Video (GVV) at the Max-Planck-Institute (MPI) for Informatics in Saarbruecken, Germany. I and my group work on challenging research problems at the intersection of computer graphics, computer vision, machine learning, and human-computer interaction.

We look for team members to help us push the envelope of methods that reconstruct comprehensive models of the static and dynamic real world, in particular by contributing to one of the following directions: we will develop advanced methods for real-time, high-quality and dense 3D reconstruction of general static scenes with monocular color and depth cameras. We will also research entirely new 4D methods for motion and performance capture of humans, faces, hands and deformable objects in general scenes, with lightweight sensors or even from single views, and at high efficiency. New ways for efficient and high-quality inverse rendering, appearance and lighting estimation in real scenes will also be developed. In all these areas, we look into new methods that deeply integrate model-based and learning based concepts.

Our research builds foundations of next generation content creation and content editing methods in graphics, visual effects and free-viewpoint video. It also builds the basis of next generation virtual and augmented reality systems, new telepresence approaches, new man-machine interaction paradigms, new methods for computational videography, and new techniques enabling autonomous systems to perceive and interact with the human world.

We have pioneered methods in all these areas in the past. Very recent examples are the Face2Face face reenactment approach from CVPR 2016 that also won the 'Best of Show Award' at Emerging Technologies of SIGGRAPH 2016, the VNect real-time monocular full-body motion capture approach (SIGGRAPH 2017), and the first approach for real-time intrinsic video decomposition (SIGGRAPH 2016).

Take a look at our list of projects and publications:
GVV Publications (by year)
GVV Publications

Some of our research results also form the basis for our award-winning startup company The Captury that commercializes the most advanced real-time marker-less motion capture technology that is available on the market.

Successful applicants will join a vibrant and dynamic research environment in which we constantly push the boundary of what is possible today in visual computing. The MPI for Informatics has a wide range of state-of-the-art computing and research equipment, including several large scale 3D / 4D scanners and a full multi-view motion and performance capture studio featuring several multi-camera and multi-sensor systems. In our team, you will rethink the basic algorithmic concepts in the aforementioned areas to push the boundaries of today��s technology. Postdocs will have the chance to co-supervise graduate students.

Postdoc applicants should have a PhD degree in computer science or a closely related field.

Research experience in one or more of the following areas is required: multi-view / 3D scene reconstruction methods, 4D reconstruction, computer graphics, computer animation, machine learning for visual computing, computational videography, marker-less performance capture, marker-less motion capture, tracking algorithms, 3D Video. Applicants should have an excellent academic track record with top tier publications in one of the above areas. A candidate should be fluent in written and spoken English and be willing to travel. Full funding and benefits are provided.

Please send a complete application package, including a CV, a research statement, transcripts and certificates, and the contacts of two references to

Prof. Dr. Christian Theobalt
MPI for Informatics
theobalt - at - mpi-inf.mpg.de
Plase use the tag [Postdoc Application] in the subject of your Email.

About the Research Group

Christian Theobalt is a Professor of Computer Science and the head of the research group "Graphics, Vision, and Video" at the Max-Planck-Institute (MPI) for Informatics, Saarbruecken, Germany. Most of his research deals with algorithmic problems that lie on the boundary between the fields of Computer Graphics, Computer Vision, HCI and machine learning, such as: static and dynamic 3D scene reconstruction, marker-less motion and performance capture, computer animation, virtual and augmented reality, appearance and reflectance modeling, machine learning for graphics and vision, new sensors for 3D acquisition, advanced video processing, as well as image- and physically-based rendering. For his work, he received several awards, including the Otto Hahn Medal of the Max-Planck Society in 2007, the EUROGRAPHICS Young Researcher Award in 2009, and the German Pattern Recognition Award 2012. In 2015 he was elected one of the top 40 innovation leaders under the age of 40 in Germany by the magazine Capital. Further, in 2013 he was awarded an ERC Starting Grant by the European Union, the most prestigious and most competitive grant for individual researchers. He is a co-founder of a spin-off company from his group - www.thecaptury.com - that sells the most advanced marker-less motion and performance capture solution commercially available today.

Several of our recent projects received attention in popular press, e.g.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/15/9541985/Real-time-expression-transfer-facial-reenactment

The group Graphics, Vision & Video has close collaborations with international academic and industry partners and lives a very collaborative team-oriented working style. Check out our team.

About the Environment

The Max-Planck Institute for Informatics is one of the world's leading research institutes in Computer Science in general, and Visual Computing in particular. It is located on the campus of Saarland University in Saarbruecken, Germany. MPI-INF is embedded in a unique cluster of computer science research. Around 400 PhD students in CS do research in the different CS institutes on campus under the roof of a joint CS graduate school. In immediate neighborhood on campus, there are several other computer science research institutes of world renown with which close collaborations exist: the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), the Max-Planck-Institute for Software Systems, the Institute for Bioinformatics, the Excellence Cluster Multimodal Computing and Interaction, the new federal research center on IT Security, Privacy and Accountability (CISPA), and the Computer Science Department of Saarland University. The Leibniz Center for Informatics in Schloss Dagstuhl is also located nearby. (www.informatik-saarland.de)