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Jakob Kusnick profile
DR. JAKOB KUSNICK

Short Bio

My current postdoctoral research focuses on bridging the gap between complex data systems and users through visualization and storytelling. With my expertise in data collection, processing, and visualization, I aim to create intuitive interfaces that make advanced databases and decision support systems accessible to experts across diverse domains, such as digital humanities, cultural heritage, musicology, art history, and life sciences. I strive to enhance user engagement and comprehensive insights into sociological interconnections with techniques like faceted browsing within coupled visualizations. My work also emphasizes making these complex topics more accessible through the integration of interactive, visual storytelling, uncovering hidden narratives within both tangible and intangible subject matters. The applications I develop invite experts and casual users to explore and analyze data, enabling them to tell their own stories.

Positions & Education

Postdoctoral Researcher

Oct. 2024 – Present

University of Southern Denmark

Odense, Denmark

Hosted by Prof. Stefan Jänicke & Prof. Tariq Yousef

Ph.D. in Computer Science

Nov. 2020 – Sep. 2024

University of Southern Denmark

Odense, Denmark

Supervised by Prof. Stefan Jänicke

"Visualization-based Storytelling for Digital Humanities"

Doctoral Student

Feb. 2018 – Oct. 2020

Museum of Musical Instruments of Leipzig University

Leipzig, Germany

B.Sc. & M.Sc. in Computer Science

Oct. 2012 – Feb. 2018

Leipzig University

Leipzig, Germany

Teaching Experience

Guest Lecturing in Web-Development

Mar. 2025

University of Southern Denmark

Odense, Denmark

Hosted by Prof. Tariq Yousef

Teaching Assistant in Introduction to Digital Humanities

Sep. 2023

New York University Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Hosted by Prof. David Wrisley

Teaching Assistant in Visualizations for Data Science

Oct. 2022 – Dec. 2022

University of Southern Denmark

Odense, Denmark

Hosted by Prof. Stefan Jänicke

Co-supervised ~110 students with 3 resulting co-authored conference papers

Teaching Assistant in Comparative Literature

Feb. 2022 – Mar. 2022

University of Southern Denmark

Odense, Denmark

Hosted by Prof. Sofie Kluge

Teaching Assistant in Visualizations for Data Science

Oct. 2021 – Dec. 2021

University of Southern Denmark

Odense, Denmark

Hosted by Prof. Stefan Jänicke

Co-supervised ~100 students with 3 resulting co-authored conference papers

Teaching Assistant in Digital Humanities

Sep. 2021 – Dec. 2021

University of Southern Denmark

Odense, Denmark

Hosted by Prof. Stefan Jänicke

Interests

Data Visualization

Narrative Visualization

Visual Data Science

Digital Humanities

Cultural Heritage

Information Retrieval

Life Sciences

Skills

JavaScript, Python, PHP, Java, C, C++

HTML, CSS, React, Django

Custom Visualizations via d3.js, threejs, Mapbox GL JS, Plotly

Collaborative Work in Research & Development Projects

German (native), English (advanced)

French (basic), Danish (basic)

Selected Publications

Visual analysis of diversity and threat status of natural materials for musical instruments

2024

J. Kusnick, S. Lichtenberg, D. Wiegreffe, E. Huber-Sannwald, U. Nehren, and S. Jänicke
https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2024.1406376

Frontiers in Environmental Science 12 (2024): 1406376.

Every Thing Can Be a Hero! Narrative Visualization of Person, Object, and Other Biographies

2024

J. Kusnick, E. Mayr, K. Seirafi, S. Beck, J. Liem, and F. Windhager
https://doi.org/10.3390/informatics11020026

Informatics 11 (2), 26

A Workflow Approach to Visualization-Based Storytelling with Cultural Heritage Data

2023

J. Liem, J. Kusnick, S. Beck, F. Windhager, and E. Mayr
https://doi.org/10.1109/VIS4DH60378.2023.00008

IEEE 8th Workshop on Visualization for the Digital Humanities (VIS4DH)

Visualization-based Scrollytelling of Coupled Threats for Biodiversity, Species and Music Cultures

2023

J. Kusnick, S. Lichtenberg, and S. Jänicke
https://doi.org/10.2312/envirvis.20231112

Workshop on Visualisation in Environmental Sciences (EnvirVis), The Eurographics Association

The Multiple Faces of Cultural Heritage: Towards an Integrated Visualization Platform for Tangible and Intangible Cultural Assets

2022

E. Mayr, F. Windhager, J. Liem, S. Beck, S. Koch, J. Kusnick, and S. Jänicke
https://doi.org/10.1109/VIS4DH57440.2022.00008

IEEE 7th Workshop on Visualization for the Digital Humanities (VIS4DH)

A Timeline Metaphor for Analyzing the Relationships between Musical Instruments and Musical Pieces

2020

J. Kusnick, R. Khulusi, J. Focht, and S. Jänicke
https://doi.org/10.5220/0008990502400251

Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Information Visualization Theory and Applications (IVAPP)

musiXplora: Visual Analysis of Musicological Data

2020

R. Khulusi, J. Kusnick, J. Focht, and S. Jänicke
https://doi.org/10.5220/0008977100760087

Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Information Visualization Theory and Applications (IVAPP)

A Survey on Visualizations for Musical Data

2020

R. Khulusi, J. Kusnick, C. Meinecke, C. Gillmann, J. Focht, and S. Jänicke
https://doi.org/10.1111/cgf.13905

Computer Graphics Forum, 2020

Design and Implementation of an Application for the Interactive Visualization of Computed Tomography Data in the Context of Museums

2018

J. Kusnick

Master Thesis, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany

In Viso – An Interactive Application for Controlling and Visualizing of Chromatin Simulations

2016

J. Kusnick

Bachelor Thesis, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany

To find a complete list of publications please refer to:

Projects

AlgaeProBANOS

Jul. 2025 - now

University of Southern Denmark

Odense, Denmark

Hosted by Prof. Tariq Yousef

https://algaeprobanos.eu

MEMORISE

Nov. 2023 - now

University of Southern Denmark

Odense, Denmark

Hosted by Prof. Stefan Jänicke

https://memorise.sdu.dk

InTaVia - Visual Analysis, Curation & Communication for In/Tangible European Heritage

Oct. 2020 – Oct. 2023

University of Southern Denmark

Odense, Denmark

Hosted by Prof. Stefan Jänicke

https://intavia.eu

Extracurricular Activities

Student Volunteer Chair EuroVis Conference 2024

May 2024

University of Southern Denmark

Odense, Denmark

Supervised ~30 student volunteers for a week

Board member of Philos network

Sep. 2021 - Jan. 2024

University of Southern Denmark

Odense, Denmark

Organizing scientific and social events for PhD students at the Faculty of Science

Presentations & Workshops

Guest Lecture on Narrative Visualizations

1. Oct. 2025

J. Kusnik

Toronto, Canada

York University

Hosted by Prof. Lora Appel

Visualization-Based Storytelling in Holocaust Education: The Integration of Testimonies, Art, and Technology

7. Aug. 2024

J. Kusnick

Arlington, VA, United States

George Mason University

Poster

Part of the Digital Humanities Conference 2024, 6.-9. Aug. 2024

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Data Driven Storytelling for Cultural Objects and Biographies

14. Mar. 2023

J.Liem, J. Kusnick, S. Jänicke, C. Doppler, M. Passecker, E. Mayr, and F. Windhager

Belval, Luxembourg

Digital Humanities Conference 2023

Half-Day Workshop

Part of the 'Digital Humanities im deutschsprachigen Raum' Conference, 13-17 Mar. 2023, Belval, Luxembourg

http://dhd2023.dig-hum.de/

Portfolio

The interactive prisoner art explorer allows you to inspect details in a watercolor painting of a perspective view of the Bergen-Belsen Concentration  Camp and offers a guided storytelling tour through the various details of the painting. This is currently exhibited at the memorial of Bergen-Belsen, Germany. 2024
The interactive prisoner art explorer allows you to inspect details in a watercolor painting of a perspective view of the Bergen-Belsen Concentration  Camp and offers a guided storytelling tour through the various details of the painting. This is currently exhibited at the memorial of Bergen-Belsen, Germany. 2024
Explore Prisoner Artworks
The interactive prisoner art explorer allows you to inspect details in a watercolor painting of a perspective view of the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp and offers a guided storytelling tour through the various details of the painting. This is currently exhibited at the memorial of Bergen-Belsen, Germany. 2024
https://memoriseeu.github.io
The story tells the construction history of the Hofburg in Vienna from its founding in the 13th century until today, featuring historic drawings, plans, prints, and 3D renderings in augmented reality. 2024
The Building History of the Vienna Hofburg
The story tells the construction history of the Hofburg in Vienna from its founding in the 13th century until today, featuring historic drawings, plans, prints, and 3D renderings in augmented reality. 2024
https://youtu.be/VfMtttzMtJ4https://doi.org/10.3390/informatics11020026
Interactive digital scrollytelling to narrate complex interconnection of cultural and natural heritage across large geographical distances which was also musically performed in concert on an opera stage. 2023
Interactive digital scrollytelling to narrate complex interconnection of cultural and natural heritage across large geographical distances which was also musically performed in concert on an opera stage. 2023
The Story of the Stringed Instrument Bow
Interactive digital scrollytelling to narrate complex interconnection of cultural and natural heritage across large geographical distances which was also musically performed in concert on an opera stage. 2023
https://youtu.be/xN9DIANiD30https://doi.org/10.2312/envirvis.20231112
Playful knowledge transfer within a museum exhibition in virtual and augmented reality. The user should be able to interactively explore digitized exhibits from all sides, look inside them and thus gain new insights. 2018
Playful knowledge transfer within a museum exhibition in virtual and augmented reality. The user should be able to interactively explore digitized exhibits from all sides, look inside them and thus gain new insights. 2018
Interactive Visualization of Computed Tomography Data of Musical Instruments
Playful knowledge transfer within a museum exhibition in virtual and augmented reality. The user should be able to interactively explore digitized exhibits from all sides, look inside them and thus gain new insights. 2018
https://youtu.be/rKs6Jv2Y994?si=PIA90IGri8PYM_oW