Call for Applications: Natural Language Processing course in Fall 2026

The Hertie School, The University of Governance in Berlin, is hiring an instructor to teach an elective course in Natural Language Processing for second-year Master of Data Science (MDS) students, in the Fall 2026 semester (31 August to 4 December 2026), on a contract for works and services basis.

The course should provide a foundational and practical introduction to natural language processing (NLP), covering essential concepts, text preprocessing, and different text representation approaches as well as the motivation, inner workings, and implementation of core NLP models -from basic supervised and unsupervised methods to more complex neural architectures including convolutional neural networks, recurrent neural networks, and transformers. Students should learn to program, implement, and evaluate these models using Python and gain hands-on experience with key libraries and frameworks such as scikit-learn, PyTorch, and Hugging Face Transformers. The course should also extend into modern LLM workflows and agents. It is aimed at Master's -level students with prior knowledge of mathematics and statistics (including probability, linear regression, and basic matrix operations) and programming experience in R or Python, and should combine lecture-style teaching with dedicated lab sessions for guided practical implementation.

Instructor duties

Submit the course syllabus by June 15, 2026.
Prepare and deliver 12 weekly sessions of 100 minutes each in the Fall 2026 semester (31 August to 4 December 2026) to up to 36 students, in English. The standard format is onsite, but online options can be discussed.
Prepare, distribute, and grade assignments and exams (if applicable).
Set course readings and make them available to students, with support from the Hertie School Library.
Offer at least one weekly office hour to students, either in person or online.
Supervise a teaching assistant (TA), who shall teach 1-2 weekly labs, and coordinate with the TA on the design of lab activities, the grading of assignments, and the provision of feedback to students.
Submit attendance and grade reports to the Examination Office at the end of the semester, with the teaching assistant’s help.

Instructor profile

Extensive experience developing and applying NLP models in science or industry.
Preferred: teaching experience at the graduate level.

What we offer:

Competitive teaching honorarium.
Travel expenses lump-sum (for instructors based outside Berlin).
Administrative support via the Adjunct Support Team.
For digital teaching: support by the Digital Learning Designer of the Hertie School

For further information, please contact Dr. Gabriel Tarriba, Director of Curricular Affairs at the Hertie School, at tarriba@hertie-school.org. If you are interested in this teaching assignment, please submit a current CV, and, if available, any teaching evaluations to this email address. Interviews will be conducted on a rolling basis. Priority deadline for applications: May 15, 2026.