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Apologies for cross-posting.
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Have you recently completed or expect very soon an MSc or equivalent degree in computer science, artificial intelligence, computational linguistics, engineering, or a related area? Are you interested in carrying out research on automatic translation during the next few years? Are you excited to spend a part of your life in a pleasant city in the heart of the Italian Alps?
WE ARE LOOKING FOR YOU!!!
The Machine Translation https://mt.fbk.eu/ (MT) group at Fondazione Bruno Kessler https://www.fbk.eu/en/ (Trento, Italy) in conjunction with the ICT International Doctorate School of the University of Trento https://iecs.unitn.it/ is pleased to announce the availability of the following fully-funded PhD position:
TITLE: Automatic translation with large multimodal models
DESCRIPTION:
The rise of large, multimodal foundation models has driven remarkable progress in natural language processing. In text and speech translation, their growing adoption comes with quality improvements while also opening critical research directions for successful deployment and widespread access. Among the current hot research topics, three are particularly relevant to this PhD position: resource efficiency, model alignment, and model accessibility. (i) Resource efficiency aims to reduce computational demands through model compression techniques that shrink large general-purpose models, optimizing them for specific hardware (e.g., mobile devices), translation tasks, domains, or language settings. (ii) Model alignment ensures outputs are trustworthy, fair, and human-centered by integrating cultural, sociodemographic, and human factors into model design and evaluation. This includes bias-aware solutions that promote diversity and inclusivity, as well as improved evaluation methods that better capture real-world user needs. (iii) Model accessibility enhances inclusivity for individuals with visual, hearing, or cognitive impairments by integrating multimodal solutions such as sign language, speech-to-text simplification, and description-augmented subtitling, expanding the capabilities of large models. This PhD position is open to candidates with a strong interest in advancing the state of the art in any of these areas.
CONTACTS: negri@fbk.eu, bentivo@fbk.eu
COMPLETE DETAILS AVAILABLE AT:
https://iecs.unitn.it/education/admission/call-for-application
IMPORTANT DATES:
The deadline for application is May 12th, 2025, hrs. 04:00 PM (CEST)
Prospective candidates are strongly invited to contact us in advance for preliminary interviews. Depending on the short time remaining before the application deadline, precedence for interviews will be given to short-listed candidates that will send us a complete CV via email ( negri@fbk.eu, bentivo@fbk.eu) by May 5, 2025.
Candidate profile
The ideal candidate must have recently completed or expect very soon an MSc or equivalent degree in computer science, artificial intelligence, computational linguistics, engineering, or a closely related area. In addition, the applicant should:
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Have an interest in Machine and Speech Translation -
Have experience in deep learning and machine learning, in general -
Have good programming skills in Python and experience in PyTorch -
Enjoy working with real-world problems and large data sets -
Have good knowledge of written and spoken English -
Enjoy working in a closely collaborating team
Working Environment
The doctoral student will be employed at the MT Unit https://mt.fbk.eu/ at Fondazione Bruno Kessler https://www.fbk.eu/en/, Trento, Italy. The group (about 10 people including staff and students) has a long tradition in research on machine and speech translation and is currently involved in several projects. Former students are nowadays employed in leading IT companies in the world.
Benefits
Fondazione Bruno Kessler offers an attractive benefits package, including a flexible work week, full reimbursement for conferences and summer schools, an excellent team of supervisors and mentors, help with housing, full health insurance, the possibility of Italian courses, and sporting facilities.
Further Information
Should you need further information about the position, please contact Matteo Negri (negri@fbk.eu) and Luisa Bentivogli (bentivo@fbk.eu).
Best Regards,
Matteo Negri