博士招生|格罗宁根大学招收计算语言学博士生

博士招生

Department: Faculty of Arts / Faculty of Economics and Business / Speech Lab Groningen
Web Address:https://speechlabgroningen.nl/

Level: PhD

Institution/Organization: University of Groningen

Duties: Research

Specialty Areas: Computational Linguistics; Phonetics

Required Language(s): Dutch (nld)

Description:

We are looking for a PhD student with demonstrable programming skills and interest in speech technology. The position (4 years) is fully funded with a scholarship of EUR 2250 per month (gross).

Project description:
Recent advances of AI and speech technology have led to important steps in the development of (social) robots. The current generation of robots has the ability to connect with their user on a social level and to engage in spoken interactions. One important advantage of robots is versatility in language, which makes it possible to adapt to the language of the user. This can be a foreign language - the robot Franny showing passengers the way at Frankfurt Airport for instance speaks 44 languages - but also a regional language. Speaking regional language can be an important asset in, for instance, health and elderly care because multilingual elderly often retreat to their first, native language, usually the one spoken in family context. Multilingual robots may also be an asset for language instruction at schools, or can be used as a modern interactive tool to interest pupils in the regional language.

The goal of this PhD project is to investigate whether the experience with human-robot interactions may be improved if regional language is used. Furthermore, the project aims to examine whether using regional language in human-robot interactions helps in instructional settings, for instance to activate elderly to exercise or motivate children to learn aspects of a regional language. The project will build on a text-to-speech implementation of a local variety of Low Saxon (“Gronings”) that is currently developed and implemented into the commercial robot “Pepper”. The PhD student will perform field studies in elderly care institutions and schools to explore the benefits of using regional language for human-robot-interactions. Depending on the expertise and interest of the candidate, it would be possible to also develop and implement a speech recognition system for the regional language, and integrate this in the robot.

The supervision team consists of Professors Martijn Wieling from the Center for Language and Cognition Groningen (Speech Lab and Center for Groningen Language and Culture at the Faculty of Arts) and Jenny van Doorn at the Department of Marketing (Faculty of Economics and Business). The PhD student will be enrolled in the Graduate School of Economics & Business. The student will have an office at both faculties so the place of work can be alternated (depending on the specific tasks).

We are looking for a PhD candidate who:
- has a relevant master degree in for instance artificial intelligence, computer science, speech technology, human-machine interaction or a related field, with a strong interest in social sciences, or has a degree in social sciences (e.g. marketing, psychology) with strong and demonstrable programming skills
- has excellent programming skills (Python), and a strong interest in, or experience with, speech technology. Experience with programming robots is a plus
- has Dutch language skills at the conversational level, or is motivated to learn Dutch, and has an interest in regional languages. It is not necessary to be able to speak the regional language
- is fluent in English (both oral and written)
- is able and willing to work in Groningen, in an international and interdisciplinary environment
- is willing to participate in public engagement activities in the city and province of Groningen (see, for example, http://www.speechlabgroningen.nl for some examples).

For more information and application see: https://www.rug.nl/phd-scholarships?details=00347-02S00098MP

Applications Deadline: 06-Jun-2022

Web Address for Applications: https://www.rug.nl/phd-scholarships?details=00347-02S00098MP

Contact Information:
        Prof.dr. Martijn Wieling
        m.b.wieling@rug.nl

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