Employment opportunities, postdoctoral positions, summer jobs

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Two postdoc positions on plausible reasoning with vector space embeddings at Cardiff University

  • Employer: Cardiff University
  • Title: Postdoctoral Research Associate
  • Specialty: vector space embeddings, statistical relational learning, knowledge representation, neural networks, explainable AI
  • Location: Cardiff, UK
  • Deadline: May 20, 2017
  • Date posted: April 20, 2017
  • Contact: Steven Schockaert

Applications are invited for two Postdoctoral Research Associate posts at Cardiff University’s School of Computer Science & Informatics:

  • The focus of the first position will be on developing methods for exploiting entity embeddings in statistical relational learning, to enable robust plausible reasoning from sparse relational data. Entity embeddings can be used to identify plausible formulas that are missing from a given knowledge base, intuitively by applying a kind of similarity or analogy based reasoning. Statistical relational learning can also be used to infer plausible formulas, but instead relies on modelling statistical dependencies among relational facts at the symbolic level. Unifying both methodologies will allow us to develop powerful inference methods that combine their complementary strengths. The resulting method will be applied to zero and one shot learning tasks, with a focus on automated knowledge base completion.
  • The focus of the second position will be on learning vector space embeddings of events and the causal relations between them. In contrast to existing approaches, the learned embeddings will explicitly model which entities participate in the events, how they are related, and how their relationships are affected by different events. This will require combining ideas from neural network models for event embedding (e.g. based on LSTMs) with ideas from knowledge graph embedding models. Among others, the resulting model will allow us to uncover more intricate causal relationships, to generate supporting explanations for causal predictions, to incorporate prior knowledge, and to transfer learned knowledge between domains. Intended applications include recognising textual entailment, stock market prediction, and event-focused information retrieval.

Successful candidates are expected to have a strong background in natural language processing, machine learning, or knowledge representation. This research will be part of Steven Schockaert's FLEXILOG project, which is funded by the European Research Council (ERC)

Cardiff University is a member of the Russell Group of research universities, and was ranked 5th in the UK based on the quality of research in the 2014 Research Evaluation Framework. The university has a successful School of Computer Science & Informatics with an international reputation for its teaching and research activities. Cardiff is a strong and vibrant capital city with good transportation links and an excellent range of housing available.


More information For more details about the positions, please contact Steven Schockaert (SchockaertS1@cardiff.ac.uk). For instructions on how to apply, please go to www.cardiff.ac.uk/jobs and search for job 5878BR. Please note the requirement to evidence all essential criteria in the supporting statement.


Postdoc in Machine Learning for Multimodal Behavior and Mental State Analysis, University of Colorado Boulder

  • Employer: University of Colorado Boulder
  • Title: Postdoctoral Research Associate
  • Specialty: Advanced Machine Learning
  • Location: Boulder, Colorado, United States
  • Deadline: Ongoing, desired start Summer/Fall 2017
  • Date posted: March 31, 2017
  • Contact: Dr. Sidney D’Mello

Postdoc in Machine Learning for Multimodal Behavior and Mental State Analysis
(Institute of Cognitive Science and Department of Computer Science at the University of Colorado Boulder)

The Institute of Cognitive Science (ICS) and Department of Computer Science at the University of Colorado Boulder anticipates hiring a full time postdoctoral fellow starting Summer/Fall 2017 for one year and renewable for a second year. The position includes a competitive salary commensurate with experience and full benefits. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.

The postdoc will develop and apply machine learning techniques in the hierarchical and temporal domains to model behavioral and mental states (e.g., affect, attention, workload) from multimodal data (e.g., video, audio, physiology, eye gaze) across a range of interaction contexts (e.g., online learning, in-class learning, collaborative problem solving).

The candidate will work under the supervision of Dr. Sidney D’Mello and will play a collaborative and co-leadership role in a vibrant research team encompassing researchers in Computer Science, Cognitive Science, and Education.

The position offers a unique postdoctoral training experience and unsurpassed publishing opportunities within multi-department and multi-institution grant-funded projects. The postdoc will be encouraged to develop advanced technical skills, strengthen their research portfolios via peer-reviewed publications, gain interdisciplinary experience by working with a diverse team, develop leadership skills by mentoring students, and gain expertise in co-authoring grant proposals.

Required

  • Ph.D. in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, or a related field (at the time of hire)
  • Research experience in advanced machine learning for temporal and hierarchical domains (e.g., probabilistic graphical models, deep recurrent neural networks) applied to human behavior and mental state analysis (e.g., affective computing, dyadic/triadic interaction)
  • Self-motivated with a strong work ethic and writing proficiency as evidenced by a strong publication record

Desired

  • Research experience in one or more of the following areas (computer vision, eye tracking, computational psychophysiology, fMRI, multimodal fusion, collaborative problem solving, real-world sensing)
  • Experience mentoring graduate and undergraduate students

Job Details

  • 1-2 year position. Initial contract is for one year (providing renewal after 6-month probationary period). Second year contract is based on performance and availability of funds.
  • Start date is negotiable, but anticipated for Summer/Fall 2017.
  • Competitive salary with benefits commensurate with qualifications. This position is eligible for medical, dental and life insurance, retirement benefits programs, and is eligible for monthly vacation and sick leave accruals.

How to apply
Please complete Faculty/University Staff EEO Data (application) form (https://goo.gl/YC9g94) and upload the following required documents: 1—Cover letter; 2—Curriculum Vitae 3—List of Three References 4-One or two representative publications.

Special Instructions to Applicants: The University of Colorado Boulder conducts background checks on all final applicants being considered for employment, prior to the issuance of an offer letter. The University of Colorado Boulder is committed to providing a safe and productive learning, living and working community. To achieve this goal, we conduct background investigations for all final applicants being considered for employment. Background investigations include a criminal history record check, and an EPLS (Excluded Parties List System) check. The Immigration Reform and Control Act requires that verification of employment eligibility be documented for all new employees by the end of the third day of work.

The University of Colorado is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer committed to assembling a diverse, broadly trained faculty and staff. In compliance with applicable laws and in furtherance of its commitment to fostering an environment that welcomes and embraces diversity, the University of Colorado does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex (including pregnancy), disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, political affiliation or political philosophy in its programs or activities, including employment, admissions, and educational programs. Inquiries may be directed to the Boulder Campus Title IX Coordinator by calling 303-492-2127. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, alternative formats of this ad can be provided upon request for individuals with disabilities by contacting Human Resources at adacoordinator@colorado.edu.

Questions
Please email Dr. Sidney D’Mello


Researcher in Machine Learning and NLP, DFKI, Germany

  • Employer: DFKI GmbH, Germany
  • Title: Researcher
  • Specialty: Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing, Deep Learning, Machine Translation
  • Location: Saarbruecken
  • Deadline: March 31, 2017
  • Date posted: March 13, 2017
  • Contact: Prof. Josef van Genabith

The Multilingual Technologies (MLT) Lab at DFKI is looking to expand its expertise in Machine Learning with a focus on Deep Learning, Machine Translation and possibly other areas of NLP. Depending on experience, the position is available at the Junior/Researcher/Senior/Principal Researcher level.

Key research responsibilities include:

  • machine and deep learning for natural language processing/machine translation
  • software development and integration
  • publication in top-tier conferences and journals

General responsibilities include:

  • engagement with industry partners and contract research
  • identification of funding opportunities and engagement in proposal writing
  • contribution to teaching and supervision in accordance with University and DFKI rules and regulations
  • administrative work associated with programmes of research

Requirements:

  • MSc/PhD in computer science, machine learning, natural language processing, computational linguistics or similar
  • Strong background and track record in machine learning, neural nets and deep learning
  • Strong background and track record in NLP and MT - Excellent programming skills
  • Excellent problem solving skills, independent and creative thinking
  • Excellent team working and communication skills
  • Excellent command of written and oral English
  • Command of German and other languages not a requirement but helpful

The successful applicant will work in the DFKI MLT lab led by Prof. Josef van Genabith (Scientific Director MLT, DFKI, and Chair of Translation-Oriented Language Technologies, Saarland University).

Working environment: DFKI is one of the largest AI research institutes worldwide, with several sites in Germany, covering basic research and applications. DFKI is a not-for-profit company with more than 500 researchers from 60+ countries across the globe. DFKI is based on a shareholder model including globally operating companies such as Intel, Google, Microsoft, Nuance, SAP, BMW, VW, Bosch, Deutsche Telekom, several SMEs, three German universities and three German Federal States.

The DFKI Multilingual Technologies lab partners in international, national and industry funded research projects in all areas of Language Technologies (including machine translation, question answering, information extraction, human-robot communication, speech and the multi-lingual web). The MLT lab currently leads the H2020 European Research project QT21 on MT, the EU CEF funded ELRC project and the EU funded TRADR project on human-robot collaboration in disaster response scenarios.

The MLT lab is part of the DFKI site at the Saarland University campus in Saarbrücken, Germany. Saarland University has exceptionally strong Computer Science and Computational Linguistics departments, two Max Plank Institutes in Computer Science, an Excellence Cluster in Multimodal Computing and Interaction and several International Doctoral and Master programmes in Computer Science and Computational Linguistics. DFKI staff regularly engage in teaching and supervision at Saarland University.

Geographical environment: Saarbrücken is the capital of Saarland with approximately 190,000 inhabitants. It is located right in the heart of Europe and is the cultural center of this border region of Germany, France and Luxembourg. Some of the closest larger cities are Trier, Nancy, Mannheim, Karlsruhe and Frankfurt. Paris can be reached by train in just under 2 hours. Living costs are modest in comparison with other large cities in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.

Starting date, duration, salary: Preferred starting date is May/June 2017. The position is available until June 30, 2020, with opportunities for extension depending on performance and future funding. Compensation is competitive and reflects individual competence, seniority and special skills.

Application: Applications are required to include a short cover letter, a CV, list of publications, a brief summary of research interests, and contact information for three references. Please send your electronic application (preferably in PDF format) to Prof. Josef van Genabith referring to job opening no. 22/17-JvG. Deadline for applications is March 31st, 2017. The position remains open until filled. Please contact Prof. van Genabith for informal inquiries.


Associate Research Scientist, UKP Lab, TU Darmstadt

  • Employer: UKP Lab, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany
  • Title: Associate Research Scientist
  • Specialty: Interactive Machine Learning (IML) or Natural Language Processing for Language Learning
  • Location: Darmstadt
  • Deadline: March 8, 2017
  • Date posted: February 21, 2017
  • Contact: Prof. Iryna Gurevych

The Ubiquitous Knowledge Processing (UKP) Lab at the Department of Computer Science, Technische Universität (TU) Darmstadt, Germany has two openings for an

Associate Research Scientist
(PostDoc- or PhD-level; for an initial term of two years)

to strengthen the group’s profile in the areas of Interactive Machine Learning (IML) or Natural Language Processing for Language Learning. The UKP Lab is a research group comprising over 30 team members who work on various aspects of Natural Language Processing (NLP), of which Interactive Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing for Language Learning are the focus areas researched in collaboration with partners in research and industry.

We ask for applications from candidates in Computer Science with a specialization in Machine Learning or Natural Language Processing, preferably with expertise in research and development projects, and strong communication skills in English and German.

  • The successful applicant in the area of Interactive Machine Learning will work on research activities regarding its application to end-user content annotation, information structuring and recommendation, or semantic text analysis, and development activities to create functional and attractive user-oriented product prototypes.
  • The successful applicant in the area of Natural Language Processing for Language Learning will work on research activities in automatically assessing language competencies and readability as well as on generating exercise material for language learners in intelligent real-time learning systems.

Prior work in the above areas is a definite advantage. Ideally, the candidates should have demonstrable experience in designing and implementing complex (NLP and/or ML) systems, experience in large-scale data analysis, large-scale knowledge bases, and strong programming skills incl. Java. Experience with neural network architectures and a sense for user experience design are a strong plus. Combining fundamental NLP research on Interactive Machine Learning or Natural Language Processing with practical applications in different domains including education will be highly encouraged.

UKP’s wide cooperation network both within its own research community and with partners from research and industry provides an excellent environment for the position to be filled. The Department of Computer Science of TU Darmstadt is regularly ranked among the top ones in respective rankings of German universities. Its unique research initiative "Knowledge Discovery in the Web" and the Research Training Group "Adaptive Information Processing of Heterogeneous Content" (AIPHES) funded by the DFG emphasize NLP, machine learning, text mining, as well as scalable infrastructures for the assessment and aggregation of knowledge. UKP Lab is a highly dynamic research group committed to high-quality research results, technologies of the highest industrial standards, cooperative work style and close interaction of team members working on common goals.

Applications should include a detailed CV, a motivation letter and an outline of previous working or research experience (if available).

Applications from women are particularly encouraged. All other things being equal, candidates with disabilities will be given preference. Please send the applications to: jobs@ukp.informatik.tu-darmstadt.de by 08.03.2017. The positions are open until filled. Later applications may be considered if the position is still open.

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Linguistics and Cognitive Science at Northwestern University

  • Employer: Northwestern University, USA
  • Title: Postdoctoral Fellowship in Linguistics and Cognitive Science at Northwestern University
  • Speciality: Open area
  • Location: Evanston, IL, USA
  • Deadline: April 1, 2017
  • Date posted: February 17, 2017
  • Contact: matt-goldrick@northwestern.edu

The Department of Linguistics at Northwestern University invites applications for a full-time, non-renewable, two year postdoctoral fellowship in any area of linguistics. We are looking for candidates who pursue an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to the scientific study of language, utilizing experimental methods, corpus analysis, and/or computational modeling to inform linguistic theory and its applications. The fellowship period begins September 1, 2017. Each year, the fellow will be expected to teach one undergraduate-level course in the Department of Linguistics. The fellow will also serve as an undergraduate adviser for the Cognitive Science Program, working with students pursuing the major and minor on academic issues (e.g., course selection, research opportunities, progress on degree requirements).

The fellow will join a vibrant interdisciplinary community of researchers from across the cognitive sciences (including communication sciences, computer science, learning sciences, music cognition, neuroscience, philosophy, and psychology). The fellow’s research will be supported by the facilities of the Department of Linguistics.

To receive fullest consideration, applications should arrive by April 1, 2017. Candidates must hold a Ph.D. in Linguistics or a related field (e.g., Cognitive Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, Computer Science, Philosophy, Psychology, Speech and Hearing Sciences) by the start date. Please include a CV that includes contact information, brief statements of research and teaching interests (1-3 pages each), up to 3 reprints or other written work (including thesis chapters for ABD applicants), teaching evaluations (if available), and the names and contact information for three references. Please visit http://www.linguistics.northwestern.edu/ for online application instructions.

E-mail inquiries should be directed to Matt Goldrick, Chair of the Department of Linguistics (matt-goldrick@northwestern.edu). Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer of all protected classes including veterans and individuals with disabilities. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. Hiring is contingent upon eligibility to work in the United States.

Postdoctoral Research Position in Interpretable Machine Learning at Cardiff University, UK

  • Employer: Cardiff University, UK
  • Title: Research Associate in Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning
  • Speciality: Vector Space Models, Deep Learning, Interpretable Machine Learning, Symbolic Models
  • Location: Cardiff, UK
  • Deadline: March 2, 2017
  • Date posted: February 13, 2017
  • Contact: schockaerts1@cardiff.ac.uk

Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate post in Cardiff University’s School of Computer Science & Informatics. This is a full-time, fixed-term post for 30 months, starting on 1 May 2017 or as soon as possible thereafter. The successful candidate will be dedicated to finding creative solutions and have a genuine curiosity and enthusiasm to undertake world-class research in the field of Machine Learning / Artificial Intelligence. Specifically, the aim of this post will be to develop novel methods for learning interpretable/symbolic models from diverse sources of information, including knowledge graphs, vector space models and natural language text. These models will then be used as background theories in applications such as recognising textual entailment, automated knowledge base completion, or zero-shot learning. You will work closely with Steven Schockaert. You will possess or be near the completion of a PhD in Computer Science or a related area, or have relevant industrial experience.

This research will be part of the FLEXILOG project, which is funded by the European Research Council (ERC)

Essential criteria

  • Postgraduate degree at PhD level, or near to completion of a PhD in a related subject area or relevant industrial experience
  • An established expertise and proven portfolio of research and/or relevant industrial experience within at least two of the following research fields: Machine Learning, Knowledge Representation, Natural Language Processing.
  • A strong background in statistics and linear algebra.
  • Excellent programming skills.
  • Knowledge of current status of research in specialist field.
  • Proven ability to publish in relevant journals (e.g. Artificial Intelligence, Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research, Journal of Machine Learning Research, Machine Learning) or top-tier conferences (e.g. IJCAI, AAAI, ECAI, NIPS, ICML, KDD, ACL, EMNLP).
  • Ability to understand and apply for competitive research funding.
  • Proven ability in effective and persuasive communication.
  • Ability to supervise the work of others to focus team efforts and motivate individuals.
  • Proven ability to demonstrate creativity, innovation and team-working within work.

Background about the university

Cardiff is a strong and vibrant capital city with good transportation links and an excellent range of housing available. Various surveys have ranked it as one of the most liveable cities in Europe. Cardiff University is a member of the Russell Group of research universities, and was ranked 5th in the UK based on the quality of research in the 2014 Research Evaluation Framework. The university has a successful School of Computer Science & Informatics with an international reputation for its teaching and research activities. The school has a strong research track record recognised for its outstanding impact in terms of reach and significance, with 79% of its outputs deemed world-leading or internationally excellent in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework.

Background about the project

Vector space embeddings have become a popular representation framework in many areas of natural language processing and knowledge representation. In the context of knowledge base completion, for example, their ability to capture important statistical dependencies in relational data has proven remarkably powerful. These vector space models, however, are typically not interpretable, which can be problematic for at least two reasons. First, in applications it is often important that we can provide an intuitive justification to the end user as to why a given statement is believed, and such justifications are moreover invaluable for debugging or assessing the performance of a system. Second, the black box nature of these representations makes it difficult to integrate them with other sources of information, such as statements derived from natural language, or from structured domain theories. Symbolic representations, on the other hand, are easy to interpret, but classical inference is not sufficiently robust (e.g. in case of inconsistency) and too inflexible (e.g. in case of missing knowledge) for most applications.

The overall aim of the FLEXILOG project is to develop novel forms of reasoning that combine the transparency of logical methods with the flexibility and robustness of vector space representations. For example, symbolic inference can be augmented with inductive reasoning patterns (based on cognitive models of human commonsense reasoning), by relying on fine-grained semantic relationships that are derived from vector space representations. Conversely, logical formulas can be interpreted as spatial constraints on vector space representations. This duality between logical theories and vector space representations opens up various new possibilities for learning interpretable domain theories from data, which will enable new ways of tackling applications such as recognising textual entailment, automated knowledge base completion, or zero-shot learning.

More information

For more details about the project and instructions on how to apply, please go to www.cardiff.ac.uk/jobs and search for job 5545BR. Please note the requirement to evidence all essential criteria in the supporting statement.

Research Associates in Natural Language Processing / Text Mining, University of Manchester, UK

  • Employer: National Centre for Text Mining (NaCTeM), School of Computer Science, University of Manchester, UK
  • Title: Research Associates in Natural Language Processing / Text Mining
  • Speciality: Natural Language Processing, Text Mining
  • Location: Manchester, UK
  • Deadline: March 13, 2017
  • Date posted: February 10, 2017
  • Contact: sophia.ananiadou@manchester.ac.uk

The School of Computer Science, National Centre for Text Mining at the University of Manchester seeks to appoint two Research Associates in Natural Language Processing-based Text Mining to expand its text mining research portfolio.

They will join a strong team of 12+ staff who work on numerous national and international research projects, including industry, in areas of information extraction, disambiguation, topic analysis, natural language processing, biomedical text mining and machine learning.

Skills

You should have a PhD in Computer Science with an emphasis on Natural Language Processing and Text Mining. The focus of your research will be in developing (semi)-supervised methods for information extraction, in particular relation, event extraction and normalisation; a proven ability to develop algorithms for NLP/text mining problems using deep learning will be highly desirable; knowledge of developing text mining workflows using UIMA based environment will be a plus. You should have excellent programming skills, preferably in Java.

  • Duration of post: Immediately until 31st October 2018
  • Salary: £31,076-£38,183 per annum

Research Team

The National Centre for Text Mining (http://www.nactem.ac.uk) has been a leading centre for text mining since 2004, with areas of expertise in information extraction, terminology, text classification, text mining infrastructures and semantic search systems. NaCTeM is located in the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (http://www.mib.ac.uk) and its staff belong to the 4th ranked Computer Science school in the UK (REF2014) which has been further assessed as having the "best environment in the UK for computer science and informatics research”.

Informal enquiries: Prof. Sophia Ananiadou (Sophia.ananiadou@manchester.ac.uk).

Deadline of applications: 13/03/2017

Application forms and further particulars: https://www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/displayjob.aspx?jobid=12975

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