The independent research group on
"Computational Models of Misunderstanding for Complex Instructional Text"
invites applications for one research associate. The position is funded
through a grant in the Emmy Noether Programme of the German Research
Foundation (DFG---Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft), which funds projects
similar to an ERC Starting Grant or NSF CAREER Award. The group is
headed by Dr. Michael Roth and currently hosted by the Institute for
Natural Language Processing ("IMS") at the University of Stuttgart,
Germany [1
<https://www.ims.uni-stuttgart.de/en/institute/researchgroups/mist/>].
The project is concerned with the systematic analysis and computational
modelling of text passages that can lead to misunderstandings. A
substantial amount of previous work has studied misunderstandings in
dialogue, but suitable resources for written language are scarce because
misunderstandings cannot be observed directly from a text. Since readers
and writers typically do not interact, it is important for authors to
ensure that texts leave no room for misinterpretation. Otherwise, for
example, medical instructions may be followed incorrectly, and route
directions may not guide navigators to their desired destination.
The announced position plays a key role in the project's final phase,
leveraging previously created resources (e.g. [2
<https://aclanthology.org/2022.lrec-1.354/>,3
<https://aclanthology.org/2020.lrec-1.702/>]) and connecting to the
group's award-winning earlier work (e.g. [4
<https://aclanthology.org/2021.eacl-srw.5/>,5
<https://aclanthology.org/2022.semeval-1.146/>]). Potential areas of
focus for the successful candidate include delving deeper into specific
linguistic factors that may lead to misunderstandings (such as elements
of implicit or underspecified language), enhancing classification models
by incorporating additional information (such as commonsense knowledge
or multi-modal context), and/or testing these models in practical
applications (such as question answering or machine translation). The
position is initially available until February 2025, with a start date
as soon as possible (e.g. December 2023) and the possibility of
extension (for a total of at least 2 years). Compensation will be in
accordance with the German TV-L E13 salary scale at 100% (approx. 4,000
EUR *gross* per month).
Successful applicants will have obtained a Ph.D. (or are close to
completing their thesis) in computational linguistics, machine learning,
or a closely related field, with a particular interest in semantics and
pragmatics or downstream applications. Programming skills and the
ability to work in a team are taken for granted. The candidate should be
able to work and communicate in English (no proficiency of German is
required). Applications should include a motivation letter including
research interests, a CV, a list of publications and contact information
of up to three references. Applications should be sent *as a single PDF
file* to Michael Roth by email. Applications received by 23 September
2023 will receive full consideration, but the position will remain open
until filled.
Candidates who identify as female, LGBTQ+ and/or as members of any
underrepresented group are particularly encouraged to apply. Feel free
to contact Michael Roth (head of group) or Nicola Fanton (PhD student)
for any question regarding the group or position.
[1] https://www.ims.uni-stuttgart.de/en/institute/researchgroups/mist/
[2] https://aclanthology.org/2022.lrec-1.354/
[3] https://aclanthology.org/2020.lrec-1.702/
[4] https://aclanthology.org/2021.eacl-srw.5/ (best student paper)
[5] https://aclanthology.org/2022.semeval-1.146/ (best task description
paper)
--
Dr. Michael Roth
Emmy Noether Group Leader
Institute for Natural Language Processing
University of Stuttgart
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