The Digital Linguistics Group at Bielefeld University is seeking applications for a

** Full-time (100%) Research Assistant / Ph.D. Student position **

to work in a newly established project on modelling computational linguistic creativity in reference games between interactive dialogue agents. The project “B02” is part of a newly established Collaborative Research Center (CRC 1646) on “Linguistic Creativity in Communication” funded by the German Research Agency (DFG) for 4 years.

The project will investigate human speakers' linguistic creativity in iterated dialogue tasks in changing environments and model the creative formation of reference strategies in artificial dialogue agents whose linguistic knowledge is represented in a language model trained on interaction data. The main goal is to develop a computational referring expression generation and dialogue architecture that accounts for individual and partner-specific linguistic creativity and incorporates general reasoning and planning mechanisms that explore and transform the agent's language model according to the needs of an ongoing interaction. It will be carried out by the Digital Linguistics Group (Prof. Hendrik Buschmeier) and the Computational Linguistics Group (Prof. Sina Zarrieß) at Bielefeld University, and will encompass experimental and computational methods.

The announced position will be focusing on analyzing dialogue data and computationally modeling the dialogue and interactional components of a dialogue agent. In addition, the PhD student will work on related empirical and computational aspects of linguistic creativity, in collaboration with other projects of the CRC. See here: https://www.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de/~hbuschme/files/CRC1646-B02.pdf

The duration of the position is about 3 1/2 years (until end of 2027). Salary is 100% TVL-E13 scale (about 4.000,- EUR per month before taxes, depending on relevant work experience).

Bielefeld is the vibrant center of the region of East Westphalia and Germany’s greenest big city with a lot of cultural, entertainment, and recreational opportunities. It is located in the center of Germany, surrounded by beautiful forests, and connected to Germany’s high-speed rail system. Bielefeld University is a strong research-oriented university with more than 20.000 students and a famous commitment to interdisciplinary research. It hosts major research centers such as the Center for Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC) or the Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF).

Application deadline is 25th of January, but later applications will be considered too until the position has been filled. If you are interested to learn more about the position, please get in contact with Hendrik Buschmeier (hbuschme@uni-bielefeld.de).

For information on how to apply please refer to: https://uni-bielefeld.hr4you.org/job/view/3067/research-positions?page_lang=...

More information on the CRC: https://www.uni-bielefeld.de/fakultaeten/linguistik-literaturwissenschaft/fo...