Philipp Slusallek studied physics at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main and Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen. In 1995, he promoted computer graphics at the University of Erlangen. After graduation, Slusallek worked at NVIDIA Research and Stanford University. Since 1999 he has been a professor for computer graphics at Saarland University and, since 2008, has been scientific director at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, as well as head of the Laboratory for Agents and Simulated Reality. Since 2009 he has also been Director of Science at the Intel Visual Computing Institute, based at the University of the Saarland.

Intelligent solutions for the knowledge society The German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, with sites in Kaiserslautern, Saarbrücken, Bremen (with an associated branch in Osnabrück) and a project office in Berlin, is the leading German research institute in the field of innovative software technology. In the international scientific community, DFKI ranks among the most recognized "Centers of Excellence" and currently is the biggest research center worldwide in the area of Artificial Intelligence and its application in terms of number of employees and the volume of external funds.