Fully funded 4-year PhD position on NLP for video subtitling at the University of Amsterdam, Language Technology Lab. This is a collaboration with RTL and part of the LTP ROBUST program. The call text is below my signature, mirrored from the official listing:

https://vacatures.uva.nl/UvA/job/PhD-Candidate-in-Natural-Language-Processin...

Apply, only through the link above, before Feb 24. For more context, see also my web site https://vene.ro/jobs.html. For further questions, don’t hesitate to e-mail me—please include [PhD 11053] in the subject line so my filters can catch your email.

Vlad Niculae [he/him] Asst. Prof. @ LTL, IvI, University of Amsterdam https://vene.ro

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PhD Candidate in Natural Language Processing for Video Subtitling Faculteit/Dienst: Faculteit der Natuurw., Wiskunde & Informatica Opleidingsniveau: Master Functie type: Promotieplaats Sluitingsdatum: 24 februari 2023 Vacaturenummer: 11053

We are inviting applications for a fully-funded, four-year PhD position in natural language processing for video subtitling. This is a collaboration between core Computer Science, Science, Technology, and Social Studies. Are you eager to work on applied research models for accessibility language technologies? Do you want to research controllability of language generation for generating adequate, appropriate, and faithful subtitles? This position might be the one for you!

What are you going to do?

You will be embedded in the Language Technology Lab (LTL) under the supervision of Dr. Vlad Niculae and lead a project to investigate and improve NLP generative models for semi-automatic subtitling for Dutch and English television and video-on-demand. As captions provide access to information to many, high quality and unbiased performance are of critical societal importance. Powerful speech recognition systems are available today and provide a solid basis, but do not solve subtitling. We aim towards a subtitling system that is:

contextualized: it uses speaker identity, available scripts, and visual cues for improved accuracy; machine-in-the-loop: it quantifies its own uncertainty, giving control to expert human operators; faithful: it maintains good performance across languages, topics, and speaker identities (such as gender, age, region).

The PhD position will be part of the large LTP ROBUST program “Trustworthy AI-based Systems for Sustainable Growth” consortium, comprising 17 universities, 19 industry partners, and 15 collaborating partners representing diverse stakeholder groups. You will gain valuable experience working with an industry partner and will be able to tap into a wealth of networking, career development, and training opportunities in conjunction with ICAI, the Innovation Center for Artificial Intelligence at the University of Amsterdam. You will be part of one of the 17 new ICAI labs, named TAIM (Trustworthy AI for Media Lab) consisting of 5 PhD students, who will collaborate on developing methods, metrics and tools to evaluate and improve diversity and inclusion in media.

Tasks and responsibilities

With our help and support, you will:

innovate in research on contextual, uncertainty-aware, faithful generative models of language for subtitling; deploy prototypes and evaluate subtitling in the applied setting of RTL; complete and defend your PhD thesis; become an active participant in the research community and collaborate within and outside the TAIM lab and the Language Technology Lab; publish and present work regularly at international conferences, workshops, and journals; assist in educational tasks (labs / tutorials, supervising bachelor and Master projects.)

Additionally, you will have the opportunity to closely collaborate with a leading entertainment brand, RTL. You are expected to work at their premises one day per week in Hilversum and one day remotely, making use of their resources and deployment context.

We care strongly about respecting work-life balance and contractual hours.

What do you have to offer?

Your experience and profile:

A Master’s degree (completed or near completion) with a thesis in Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning, Computer Science, or similar relevant areas; Serious interest in pursuing fundamental research with concrete applications; A good background in Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning; Advanced programming skills; Professional command of the English language; A commitment to maintaining an inclusive, collaborative, diverse, and supportive work environment.

Interdisciplinary collaborations and backgrounds are appreciated, especially along fields related to linguistics and communication science. Experience with using subtitles or similar accessibility language technologies is a pre. If this describes you, we encourage your application.

If you are interested but unsure if you are qualified, please contact Dr. Vlad Niculae before applying. If your Master’s degree is near completion, it must be completed before the start date. Knowledge of the Dutch language is not required for this position, but can help both for living in Amsterdam and for a good understanding of the video content. The UvA provides the opportunity to attend Dutch language classes.

Our offer

A temporary contract for 38 hours per week for the duration of 4 years (the initial contract will be for a period of 18 months and after satisfactory evaluation it will be extended for a total duration of 4 years). The preferred starting date is April 2023. Your work should lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis). We will draft an educational plan that includes attendance of courses and (international) meetings. We also expect you to assist in teaching undergraduates and master students.

The gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and dependent on relevant experience, ranges between € 2,541 in the first year to € 3,247 in the last year (scale P). UvA additionally offers an extensive package of secondary benefits, including 8% holiday allowance and a year-end bonus of 8.3%. The UFO profile PhD Candidate is applicable. A favourable tax agreement, the ‘30% ruling’, may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Universities of the Netherlands is applicable.

Besides the salary and a vibrant and challenging environment at Science Park we offer you multiple fringe benefits:

232 holiday hours per year (based on fulltime) and extra holidays between Christmas and 1 January. Multiple courses to follow from our Teaching and Learning Centre. A complete educational program for PhD students. Multiple courses on topics such as leadership for academic staff. Multiple courses on topics such as time management, handling stress and an online learning platform with 100+ different courses. 7 weeks birth leave (partner leave) with 100% salary. Partly paid parental leave. The possibility to set up a workplace at home; A pension at ABP for which UvA pays two third part of the contribution. The possibility to follow courses to learn Dutch; Help with housing for a studio or small apartment when you’re moving from abroad.

Are you curious to read more about our extensive package of secondary employment benefits, take a look here.

About us

The University of Amsterdam is the Netherlands' largest university, offering the widest range of academic programmes. At the UvA, 42,000 students, 6,000 staff members and 3,000 PhD candidates study and work in a diverse range of fields, connected by a culture of curiosity.

The Faculty of Science has a student body of around 8,000, as well as 1,800 members of staff working in education, research or support services. Researchers and students at the Faculty of Science are fascinated by every aspect of how the world works, be it elementary particles, the birth of the universe or the functioning of the brain.

The mission of the Informatics Institute (IvI) is to perform curiosity-driven and use-inspired fundamental research in Computer Science. The main research themes are Artificial Intelligence, Computational Science and Systems and Network Engineering. Our research involves complex information systems at large, with a focus on collaborative, data driven, computational and intelligent systems, all with a strong interactive component.

The Language Technology Lab (LTL) is a research group focusing on information access from natural language data. Our work ranges from basic research in natural language processing to key applications in human language technology, and covers areas such as machine translation, summarization, question answering, language modeling, and image captioning. LTL positions itself primarily in the AI research theme, with some links to the Data Science theme of the Informatics Institute.

You will be part of one of the 17 new ICAI labs, named TAIM (Trustworthy AI for Media Lab) consisting of 5 PhD students, who will collaborate on developing methods, metrics and tools to evaluate and improve diversity and inclusion in media. You are joining a unique team also including the Department of Advanced Computing Sciences at Maastricht University (UM) and media and entertainment company RTL Nederland. The TAIM lab will bring together two of the strongest groups on personalization and recommender systems in the Netherlands (UM and UvA), with a leading media organization (RTL), to develop trustworthy and personalized media. The lab will focus on the development of media that is inclusive, informed by democratic norms, and in line with RTLs values to represent, and give a voice to, all of the Netherlands in the design of their personalization algorithms.

Want to know more about our organisation? Read more about working at the University of Amsterdam.

Any questions?

Do you have any questions or do you require additional information? Please contact:

E: Dr. Vlad Niculae, Assistant Professor.

Job application

If you feel the profile fits you, and you are interested in the job, we look forward to receiving your application. You can apply online via the button below. We accept applications until and including 24 February 2023.

Applications should include the following information (all files besides your CV should be submitted in one single pdf file):

a letter of motivation (max 2 pages) in which you: motivate your choice for this position and your interest in the proposed project; indicate your preferred starting date and availability; sketch out some thoughts and ideas about tackling the project (not a fully-detailed or binding proposal). a Curriculum Vitae (including start/end months of education and work experience); a summary of, or a copy of, your Master’s thesis; a copy of your Master’s and Bachelor’s transcript/diploma.

If your MSc thesis is not finished or not in English, submit a brief summary in 1-4 pages. If your transcripts or diplomas are not available yet, please attach a note clearly stating which documents are not available, and when they will be available. This note can be in your own words.

Before submitting, please make sure to provide ALL requested documents mentioned above. You can use the CV field to upload your resume as a separate pdf document. Use the Cover Letter field to upload the other requested documents, including the motivation letter, as one single pdf file.

Please do not submit applications by e-mail.

Only complete applications received within the response period via the link below will be considered.

The interviews will be held in March 2023.

The UvA is an equal-opportunity employer. We prioritize diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for everyone. We value a spirit of enquiry and perseverance, provide the space to keep asking questions, and promote a culture of curiosity and creativity.

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