Postdoctoral Researcher In Computational Linguistics / Data Science, One Or Several

The University of Gothenburg tackles society's challenges with diverse knowledge. 56 000 students and 6 600 employees make the university a large and inspiring place to work and study. Strong research and attractive study programmes attract researchers and students from around the world. With new knowledge and new perspectives, the University contributes to a better future.

We offer

The University of Gothenburg is a state authority, which means excellent employment benefits such as wellness time during working hours, compensation for medical visits, a base vacation of 28 days, and an occupational pension. You can read more about our employment benefits here.

The Department of Philosophy, Linguistics and Theory of Science at the Faculty of Humanities has around 100 employees and a teaching volume that includes around 350 full-year students. Many large national and international research projects are underway here. Our education includes philosophy, logic, linguistics, language technology, theory of science and liberal arts. The department also conducts research training and development work in these areas.

The research program Change is Key! runs over six years (2022-2027) and is funded by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond for a total of 33.5 million SEK. It constitutes a core language technology research team as well as researchers from (historical) linguistics, lexicography, analytical sociology, gender studies, and literary studies. The program comprises five subprojects, out of which three are core language technology and NLP, one relates to re-evaluating existing change hypotheses proposed by historical linguists, and the final consist of four humanities and social science projects including lexicography.

Computational linguistics or data science.

The research program Change is Key! is looking for one or more postdoctoral researchers with specialization in the identification and analysis of lexical semantic changes (LSC) in diachronic texts using computational models.

The research associated with the position is to be conducted within a research program dedicated to the development of computational tools for questions related to language history. The program context is an active and vibrant research environment for the exciting and growing research field of LSC. This is an opportunity to contribute to research within LSC but also to the social sciences and humanities, through the program's active collaboration with researchers in historical linguistics, analytical sociology, gender studies, intellectual history, and literary studies.

A smaller part of the employment, up to 20%, may involve tasks other than research that are relevant to the program, as well as educational development work for tutorials and summer courses, or teaching in language technology.

Within the context of the program, we collaborate through regular meetings where active participation in discussions and presentation of results is important. The researcher is expected to contribute to scientific progress presented in co-authored journal articles, as well as at national and international conferences. The work is to be carried out independently, where the researcher is responsible for following timelines. We will define the direction of the research together, and it is important to be able to pursue individual research tracks while contributing to the research of others.

The holder of the position is expected to carry out her/his research in Gothenburg and to actively participate in the research group's workshops, seminars, and conferences, where the working language is English.

Eligible for a postdoctoral position are those with a PhD or other foreign degree that is deemed equivalent to PhD. The subject of the doctoral thesis should be in a research area relevant to the specific subject description above (such as computational linguistics, data science with a focus on language technology, engineering physics with a focus on complex systems, linguistics with computational or modelling experience, information sciences, or mathematics with experience in linguistic data). Since the postdoctoral position is intended to give junior researchers the opportunity to establish themselves in the field, we aim to employ applicants that graduated with PhDs within 3 years of the application deadline.

Please note that qualifications for postdoctoral appointments are described in more detail at: Avtal om tidsbegränsning anställning som postdoktor (arbetsgivarverket.se)

The most important aspect in the assessment of applicants is their scientific expertise, with particular emphasis on the applicant's doctoral thesis and other publications. Priority will be given to applicants whose previous work strengthens the research group and the relevant projects. Excellent skills in scientific communication in English, a high degree of independence, and critical thinking are also expected. The applicant should have documented experience and a strong ability to conduct independent research relevant to the projects, work both independently and in a group, and regularly publish in relevant high-ranking conferences such as ACL, EACL, EMNLP, NeurIPS.

Secondly, it is required to have experience and proficiency in modern machine learning frameworks (such as PyTorch or Tensorflow/Keras), as well as large- scale methods for text modeling in Python. This entails documented experience and ability to work with large-scale text modeling methods (e.g., GPT, BERT, ELMo, XLM-R, XL-LEXEME), as well as using such methods for investigations of large-scale text data for information extraction (e.g., information extraction, sentiment analysis, argument extraction) for the detection and/or evaluation of LSC. Very good English language skills are also a requirement.

The candidate will be selected based on a comprehensive assessment of expertise in the subject area of the position, judged to have the best conditions to carry out the tasks included in the position, collaborate with other staff, and contribute to a positive development of the operation.

Type of employment: Fixed-term employment, 2 years

Extent: 100%

Location: Department of Philosophy, Linguistics and Theory of Science, Gothenburg

First day of employment: By agreement

The recruitment process may include an interview (possibly via video link), during which topics such as automatic methods for the detection and analysis of semantic changes will be discussed (see, for example, https: // langsci- press.org/catalog/view/303/3027/2374-1 for an overview of the subject), as well as a work sample in the form of a programming task or another problem- solving assignment.

For questions regarding the position, subject, research project, responsibilities, or the workplace, please contact Nina Tahmasebi, Associate professor, [email protected].

For questions regarding the application, recruitment process, or employment conditions, please contact HR-officer Jennifer Stråle, [email protected] +46 (0)31-786 4570

Union representatives at the University of Gothenburg can be found here: https: // www. gu.se/om-universitetet/jobba-hos-oss/hjalp-for-sokande

Application

Submit your application via the University of Gothenburg's vacancies website, here, select the advert for this position, and follow the link marked ‘Apply' at the bottom of the page. It is your responsibility to ensure that the application is complete as per the vacancy notice, and that the University receives it by the final application deadline.

Please note that the following documents should be attached to the application (in PDF-format):

Any documents that are not available in electronic format should be mailed to: University of Gothenburg, HR administrator, FLoV, Box 200, SE-405 30 Gothenburg, SWEDEN. Reference number should be clearly stated on the mailed documents. The documents must be received no later than three days after the application deadline, or the sender must be able to show that the documents were posted no later than the deadline for electronic applications.

We welcome applications written in English, since a non-Swedish speaking person may be appointed as external assessor in the recruitment process.

References for candidates in the final selection may be requested.

Applications must be received by: December 18, 2024.

Information for International Applicants

Choosing a career in a foreign country is a big step. Thus, to give you a general idea of what we and Gothenburg have to offer in terms of benefits and life in general for you and your family/spouse/partner please visit:

https: // www. gu.se/en/about-the-university/welcome-services https: // www. movetogothenburg.com/

The University works actively to achieve a working environment with equal conditions, and values the qualities that diversity brings to its operations.

Salaries are set individually at the University.

In accordance with the National Archives of Sweden's regulations, the University must archive application documents for two years after the appointment is filled. If you request that your documents are returned, they will be returned to you once the two years have passed. Otherwise, they will be destroyed.

In connection to this recruitment, we have already decided which recruitment channels we should use. We therefore decline further contact with vendors, recruitment and staffing companies.