Jan Laufer

Jan Laufer is a Research Associate at the Chair of Business Information Systems and Software Engineering within the Faculty of Computer Science at the University of Duisburg-Essen. He has been working in this position since October 2024, following previous research positions at the Chair of Software Systems Engineering at the same university from October 2023 to September 2024 (full-time) and January 2021 to September 2023 (part-time).

His research focuses on Generative AI (GenAI) with special emphasis on real-world applications, physical interaction of AI systems with humans and environments (GenAI Embodiment), and Explainable AI. His earlier work centered on adaptive systems and data protection. He has contributed to significant projects including Dynabic (2024), FogProtect (2020-2022), and RestAssured (2018-2019).

Laufer's publication record shows a clear evolution from data protection and adaptive systems toward GenAI and explainability. His recent work examines embodied generative AI, tax applications of AI assistants, and user studies on explainable reinforcement learning. His research bridges theoretical AI concepts with practical applications across multiple domains including legal technology, disaster response, healthcare, and security.

Scientific Awards:

• Germany Scholarship (UDE-Stipendium) summer semester 2023
• Germany Scholarship (UDE-Stipendium) winter semester 2020/2021 - summer semester 2021 (sponsored by Dr. Heinz-Horst Deichmann Foundation)

Laufer has supervised numerous bachelor theses focusing on embodied generative AI applications across various domains including disaster response, water rescue, building security, and therapeutic interventions. His teaching activities include supervision of seminar papers on Generative AI applications and collaboration. He also serves as a member of the DLRG national squad since 2018.