The AHRC / DFG-funded project “Reading concordances in the 21st century (RC21)”, run jointly by the University of Birmingham and Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, is looking for a

RESEARCH FELLOW IN CORPUS LINGUISTICS

Application deadline: 26 Feb 2023 Interviews: week beginning 6 Mar 2023 Start date: 1 May 2023 or as soon as possible thereafter Contract type: fixed term for 21 months

Contact: Prof. Michaela Mahlberg m.a.mahlberg@bham.ac.ukmailto:m.a.mahlberg@bham.ac.uk

For more information and to apply visit:

https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/CWZ304/research-fellow-in-corpus-linguistics

This is the second of two postdoctoral positions. The other post is based at FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg.

PROJECT INFORMATION In today's digital world, the amount of text communicated in electronic form is ever-increasing and there is a growing need for approaches and methods to extract meanings from texts at scale. Corpus linguists have long been studying recurring patterns in digitised texts with the help of concordances, i.e. displays that show many occurrences of a word, phrase or construction across a range of contexts in a compact format. However, lacking a well-established and clear-cut methodology, the art of reading concordances has not yet realised its full potential. At the same time, there has been very little innovation in algorithms in the concordance software packages available to corpus linguists. This project proposes an innovative approach to reading concordances in the 21st century. Through the collaboration between the University of Birmingham and Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg we combine strengths in theoretical work in corpus linguistics with expertise in computational algorithms in order to develop a systematic methodology for reading concordances and corresponding algorithms for the semi-automatic analysis of concordance lines. Through two case studies on English and German data sets, we will establish an approach that not only provides innovation in corpus linguistics, but also has wider implications for the analysis of textual data at scale, while still retaining a humanities perspective.

Person Specification

* First degree in area of specialism (English language or linguistics) and normally a PhD in corpus linguistics (or near to completion), linguistics, computational linguistics or equivalent qualifications * High level expertise in corpus linguistics * Knowledge of German * High level analytical capability * Ability to communicate complex information clearly * Fluency in relevant models, techniques or methods and ability to contribute to developing new ones * Ability to assess resource requirements and use resources effectively * Understanding of and ability to contribute to broader management/administration processes * Contribute to the planning and organising of the research programme and/or specific research project * Ability to manage own time efficiently and effectively * Co-ordinate own work with others to avoid conflict or duplication of effort, including collaboration across two institutions

Main Duties The responsibilities may include some but not all of the responsibilities outlined below.

* Analyse and interpret data under the supervision of the principal investigators * Apply knowledge in a way which develops new intellectual understanding * Disseminate research findings for publication, conferences, research seminars etc * Lead and co-lead work packages * Take responsibility for specific dissemination tools, such as project blog, workshops * Develop and maintain relevant project documentation * Supervise students on research related work and provide guidance to PhD students where appropriate to the discipline * Contribute to developing new models, techniques and methods * Undertake management/administration arising from research, including the * Contribute to writing bids for research funding * Contribute to Departmental/School research-related activities and research-related administration * Contribute to enterprise, business development and/or public engagement activities of manifest benefit to the College and the University, often under supervision of a project leader * Collect research data; this may be through a variety of research methods, such as scientific experimentation, literature reviews, and research interviews * Prepare presentations of research outputs, including drafting academic publications or parts thereof, for example at conferences and as posters * Provide guidance, as required, to support staff and any students who may be assisting with the research * Deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines

--------------- Professor Michaela Mahlberg Director of the Centre for Corpus Research University of Birmingham Edgbaston Birmingham B15 2TT, UK

Editor of the International Journal of Corpus Linguistics https://benjamins.com/catalog/ijcl Host of the Life and Language Podcast https://anchor.fm/michaela-mahlberg/

@MichaMahlberghttps://twitter.com/MichaMahlberg http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/elal/mahlberg-michaela.aspx https://www.turing.ac.uk/people/researchers/michaela-mahlberg https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaela-mahlberg/