Pascal L. Held

he/himPascal L. Held

Software Engineer

DFKI – Neuro-Mechanistic Modeling

NEXD – Neuro-Explicit (Sequential) Decision Making

Saarland Informatics Campus

Campus D3.2 (DFKI), Room +2.22

66123 Saarbrücken

Germany

About Me

I am a Software Engineer at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), working within the Neuro-Explicit (Sequential) Decision Making (NEXD) group, part of the Neuro-Mechanistic Modeling (NMM) department.

My work focuses on automated planning and the development of intelligent decision-making systems. Currently, I am developing tools for the systematic evaluation of planning systems, including learning-based approaches.

Alongside this, I am exploring the connections between digital twins, modeling and simulation, and formal approaches to decision-making, particularly in the context of industrial sequencing and scheduling problems.

I also enjoy teaching and have been actively involved in computer science education at Saarland University for over a decade.

Interests

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Automated Planning
  • Digital Twins
  • Formal Methods
  • Verification

Education

  • MSc in Computer Science, 2025

    Saarland University

    Bridging the Gap between Fast Downward and PyTorch: Towards Efficient Search Using General Policies

  • BSc in Computer Science, 2016

    Saarland University

    Static Data Race Detection for pseuCo Programs

Publications (2)

2019

1 paper

aMAZEing Programming - Providing SKILLs to Fellow Students

Timo P. Gros, Pascal L. Held, Pascal Lauer, O. Niklas Metzger and Kallistos Weis

2019 — SKILL 2019 - Studierendenkonferenz Informatik. Bonn: Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V., 2019. Studierendenkonferenz Informatik (SKILL-2019), September 25-26, Kassel, Germany

@inproceedings{grosAMAZEingProgrammingProvidingSKILLs2019,
 author = {Timo P. Gros and Pascal L. Held and Pascal Lauer and O. Niklas Metzger and Kallistos Weis},
 booktitle = {SKILL 2019 - Studierendenkonferenz Informatik. Bonn: Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V., 2019. Studierendenkonferenz Informatik (SKILL-2019), September 25-26, Kassel, Germany},
 pages = {59-70},
 publisher = {Gesellschaft für Informatik, Bonn},
 title = {aMAZEing Programming - Providing SKILLs to Fellow Students},
 year = {2019}
}

2017

1 paper

Teaching Academic Concurrency to Amazing Students

Sebastian Biewer, Felix Freiberger, Pascal L. Held and Holger Hermanns

2017 — Models, Algorithms, Logics and Tools - Essays Dedicated to Kim Guldstrand Larsen on the Occasion of His 60th Birthday

@inproceedings{biewerTeachingAcademicConcurrencyTo2017,
 author = {Sebastian Biewer and
Felix Freiberger and
Pascal L. Held and
Holger Hermanns},
 bibsource = {dblp computer science bibliography, https://dblp.org},
 biburl = {https://dblp.org/rec/conf/birthday/BiewerFHH17.bib},
 booktitle = {Models, Algorithms, Logics and Tools - Essays Dedicated to Kim Guldstrand
Larsen on the Occasion of His 60th Birthday},
 doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-63121-9_9},
 editor = {Luca Aceto and
Giorgio Bacci and
Giovanni Bacci and
Anna Ingólfsdóttir and
Axel Legay and
Radu Mardare},
 pages = {170--195},
 publisher = {Springer},
 series = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science},
 timestamp = {Sun, 02 Oct 2022 15:55:45 +0200},
 title = {Teaching Academic Concurrency to Amazing Students},
 url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63121-9_9},
 volume = {10460},
 year = {2017}
}
DOI URL

Teaching (15)

My teaching experience spans more than a decade and covers a broad range of computer science subjects, from introductory programming to statistics and seminars. Over the years, I have taken on a variety of responsibilities, including supervising tutors, organizing preparatory courses, and lecturing.

  • Statistics Lab

    TA (English), in Summer 2026
    Saarland University

  • Seminar: Special Topics in Deep Reinforcement Learning

    TA (English), in Summer 2026
    Saarland University

  • Concurrent Programming

    Tutor (German), in Summer 2021
    Saarland University

  • Programming Preparatory Course

    Lead Organizer and Lecturer (German), in Summer 2019
    Saarland University

  • Concurrent Programming

    Tutor (German), in Summer 2018
    Saarland University

  • Git and Unix Preparatory Course

    Organizer and Lecturer (German), in Summer 2018
    Saarland University

  • Operating Systems

    TA (English), in Winter 2017/18
    Saarland University

  • Git and Unix Preparatory Course

    Organizer and Lecturer (German), in Summer 2017
    Saarland University

  • Programming 2

    Supervising Tutor (German), in Summer 2016
    Saarland University

  • Concurrent Programming

    Tutor (German), in Summer 2016
    Saarland University

  • Mathematics Preparatory Course for CS Students

    Lead Organizer (German), in Summer 2016
    Saarland University

  • Git and Unix Preparatory Course

    Organizer and Lecturer (German), in Summer 2016
    Saarland University

  • Programming 2

    Tutor (German), in Summer 2015
    Saarland University

  • Concurrent Programming

    Tutor (German), in Summer 2015
    Saarland University

  • Programming 2

    Tutor (German), in Summer 2014
    Saarland University