Research Scientist / Multimodal computational and corpus linguist

Job description

Multimodal computational and corpus linguist

The successful candidate will be responsible for analyzing, developing methods and resources for the large-scale study of multimodal language data in various spoken and/or signed languages. The candidate will be able to work both with existing lab recordings and/or with media recordings, develop multimodal language analysis (e.g., gesture, speech, sign and/or visual graphics used with text) methods based on existing machine learning applications (e.g. MediaPipe, OpenPose etc.) and/or computational methods, and will train other researchers in using these methods and resources.

Requirements

Essential

• A PhD in (corpus) linguistics, computational linguistics, data science, computer science, language technology or a related field
• Demonstrated cutting-edge knowledge in the creation of -corpus resources and/or the application of machine learning applications and/or computational approaches to multimodal language use/interactional data
• Programming skills in R and/or Python or comparable
• A track record of high-quality research, including experience disseminating research through conference presentations and publications
• Excellent written and spoken English. The language of the institute is English, so knowledge of Dutch is not required

Desirable

• Experience supervising and/or teaching undergraduate or postgraduate students
• Experience working with large video datasets
• Knowledge of corpus statistics
• An explicit interest in, and commitment to Open Science

Conditions of employment

• The position is available from mid-2023 onwards. Precise start date is negotiable
• Full-time position (39 hours per week). Part-time/job share applications are also welcome
• The salary is according to the German TVöD (Tarifvertrag für den öffentlichen Dienst) and is classified in salary group E13 depending on qualifications and previous experience. Depending on the experience of the applicant, the salary is between EUR 4,187.45 and EUR 6,089.52 gross per month, plus a holiday bonus of 8% of the gross salary. This equates EUR 54,269.35 – EUR 78,920.18 gross per year, including holiday bonus
• 30 holidays per year, based on a full-time employment. In addition, we honor the Dutch and German public holidays
• All research staff have access to state-of-the art research facilities, including High-Performance-Computing systems, state of the art Vicon Motion Capture Lab (to be installed end 2023) and VR labs, training facilities and a generous conference and travel budget. 

How to apply 

To apply please use our application portal here.

The deadline for application is March 15, 2023.

Candidates will be informed about shortlisting before April 1, 2023 and will be interviewed in April. 

Rolling recruitment will continue until we find the right candidate.

Applications should be in .pdf format and should include:

1. A (2-page maximum) cover letter that includes information about your research interests, why you are interested in this post, and why you consider yourself a good match for the post.
2. A CV, which should include a list of publications and the names, email addresses and contact numbers of three referees who would be willing to provide letters of recommendation (referees will not be contacted unless you are invited an interview). 

If you have questions about the post that you wish to discuss before you apply, please email the Department Director Prof. Asli Ozyurek at asli.ozyurek [at] mpi.nl. 

https://www.mpi.nl/department/multimodal-language-department

Employer

The Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen is a research institute entirely devoted to the study of language. Our goal is to understand how our minds and brains process language, how language interacts with other aspects of mind and with other agents, how multiple modalities (as in speech, gesture and sign) shape language and its use in diverse languages, and how we can learn languages of quite different types. We are situated on the campus of the Radboud University, and have close collaborative links with the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior and the Centre for Language Studies at the Radboud University.  

We are part of the Max Planck Society, an independent non-governmental association of German-funded research institutes dedicated to fundamental research in the natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. The Max Planck Society is an equal opportunities employer. We recognize the positive value of diversity, promote equality and challenge discrimination. We therefore welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates, irrespective of gender, disability, marital or parental status, racial, ethnic or social origin, color, religion, belief, or sexual orientation (https://www.mpi.nl/page/equal-opportunities).