PhD position or Postdoc position in Computational Linguistics and Dialogue Processing

Faculty of Science – Institute for Logic, Language and Computation

The Institute for Logic, Language & Computation (ILLC) at the University of Amsterdam invites applications for a research position at either the PhD candidate or the postdoc level in the recently established Dialogue Modelling Group led by Raquel Fernández. The mission of the group is to understand dialogical interaction by developing empirically-motivated formal and computational models that can be applied to various dialogue processing tasks and to human-machine interaction.

The ILLC offers a very international English-speaking research environment. Research is interdisciplinary and aims at bringing together insights from various fields concerned with information and information processing, such as logic, mathematics, computer science, artificial intelligence, linguistics, computational linguistics, cognitive science, musicology, and philosophy. For research done by the individual staff members of the ILLC, please see 'People at ILLC' and check their personal webpages. The institute is located in the beautiful city of Amsterdam, renown for its historic canals, its cosmopolitan laid-back atmosphere, and its excellent connections to the rest of Europe and beyond.

Project description

The exact research topic is flexible, but must fit the general research agenda of the group, which is centred around computational semantics and pragmatics, in particular in interactive or dynamic linguistic settings.

The successful applicant will be expected to fulfil the following tasks:

• At the PhD level, complete and defend a PhD thesis within the official appointment duration of four years;
• regularly present intermediate research results at international workshops and conferences, and publish them in proceedings and journals;
• collaborate with the researchers in the Dialogue Modelling Group and other relevant parts of the ILLC;
• participate in the organisation of research activities and events at the ILLC, such as seminars, workshops and conferences;

While this is primarily a research position, the successful candidate will be expected to also make a contribution to teaching tasks at the ILLC in subjects relevant to the candidate's research activities.

Requirements

Applicants should hold, or be about to complete, an excellent Master's degree (if applying for the PhD position) or PhD degree (if applying for the postdoc position) in computational linguistics, computational psycholinguistics, artificial intelligence, computer science, or a related field. Candidates with an interdisciplinary background are particularly encouraged to apply. Good program-ming skills, proficiency in spoken and written English, as well as a keen interest in problem solving and research are essential.

Further information

If you have any further questions, please contact:

• Dr. Raquel Fernández

You may also want to visit the website of:

• Raquel Fernández and the Dialogue Modelling Group

Appointment

The successful candidate will be employed by the Faculty of Science on a fixed-term full-time contract (38 hours per week).

• PhD level: The appointment will be on a temporary basis for a maximum period of four years. At first, a contract will be given for 18 months. If positively evaluated, the contract will be extended by a further 30 months and should lead to a completed PhD thesis. On the basis of a full-time appointment, the gross monthly salary amounts to €2,174 during the first year, rising to €2,779 during the fourth year.
• Postdoc level: The appointment will be on a temporary basis for an initial period of one year, with the possibility of a contract extension for a maximum period of three years after positive evaluation. The gross monthly salary will range from €2,532 in the first year to €3,996 (scale 10), excl. 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% annual bonus.

For both types of position, the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities is applicable.

Preferred starting date: 1 November 2016. 

Job application

Applications should include the following information (in one single PDF file, using your surname and PhD or postdoc as file name, e.g.: Smith-PhD.pdf / Smith-postdoc.pdf):

• a statement of research interests that motivates why you are applying for this position and what your research plans are (at most 2 pages);
• a CV, including details of research experience and full list of publications. If applicable, include URLs for downloading sample publications and/or thesis manuscripts (do not send these as part of your application);
• a list of all Master-level modules taken, with an official transcript of grades;
• the names, affiliations, and e-mail addresses of two or three people who can provide letters of reference for you.

Completed applications should be submitted by 15 September 2016 to application-science@uva.nl and should state your name, vacancy number 16-381 and PhD or postdoc in the subject field.

Gepubliceerd door  Universiteit van Amsterdam