PhD Grant in Computational Lingusitics, Dialogue Processing at Bielefeld University, Germany

The Graduate School "Cognitive Interaction Technology" at Bielefeld University invites applications for ONE PhD Grant starting in 2011.

The successful candidate will be member of the newly established Dialogue Systems Group at the Faculty for Linguistics and Literature of the University, and will be supervised by Prof. David Schlangen. A current focus of this group is incremental dialogue processing, with a particular interest in incremental interpretation (using both symbolic and statistical approaches). Interest in these topics or generally in dialogue systems and spoken interaction will be expected of the student.

Ideal candidates for the studentship have an excellent degree in Computational Linguistics, Linguistics, or Computer Science, and have shown ability for conducting original research. Prior work on dialogue systems and/or spoken language processing would be a definite plus. Good programming skills are important, a keen interest in problem solving and research is essential.

The studentship will initially run until November 2012, but, subject to renewal of federal funding for the Center of Excellence and the Graduate School, will be extended to a total of 36 months. The grant pays around 1,400 Euro per month as a stipend (i.e., normally income tax free).

BACKGROUND

The Center of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC) at Bielefeld University has been established in the framework of the Excellence Initiative as a research center for intelligent systems and cognitive interaction between humans and technical systems. The CITEC agenda comprises the central topics of motion intelligence, attentive systems, situated communication, and memory and learning. It combines the knowledge of computer scientists, biologists, physicists, sports scientists, linguists and psychologists in order to understand the processes and functional constituents of cognitive interaction. In addition, research and development are directed towards establishing cognitive interfaces that facilitate the use of complex technical systems.

APPLICATION

To apply, please send (preferably in electronic form)
- a statement of research interests and/or a sketch of a possible PhD project within the parameters explained above;
- a CV, including details of research experience;
- if applicable, (links to) sample publications and / or sample programming code; and
- addresses of at least two referees to the address below.

Applications will be accepted until March 20 2011; Interviews are planned for April.

If you need further information, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Prof. Dr. David Schlangen
Faculty of Linguistics and Literature
and Excellence Cluster "Cognitive Interaction Technology" (CITEC)
Bielefeld University
Postfach/Postbox 10 01 31
D-33501 Bielefeld
Germany
david.schlangen at uni-bielefeld.de