Oferta de trabajo: Two-year res earch position on embodied conce ptualization models, Universida d Aut ónoma de Barcelona (España)

Wed Jun 11 19:30:34 UTC 2008

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Oferta de trabajo:
Two-year research position on embodied conceptualization models,
Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (España)
Doctoral or postdoctoral candidates for two full-time Research
Assistant/Research Fellow posts.
Información procedente de la lista de distribución lingcog:
http://www.um.es/lincoing/aelco/aelco.htm#lingcog
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Applications are invited from doctoral or postdoctoral candidates for
two full-time Research Assistant/Research Fellow posts.

The posts are associated to a new European FP7 Project that will
investigate language development in autonomous robotic agents. The
project takes an embodied, 'whole systems', developmental strategy. It
tackles the complete chain from embodiment and sensori-motor action to
conceptualisation and language. Conceptual development and language
invention and acquisition will be embedded in situated interactions.
Conceptualization and linguistic systems will co-evolve in a
non-deterministic, emergent framework. The project has fundamental
technological implications for designing communication in robots and
overcoming current limitations of natural language interfaces and
human-robot communication systems.

These research posts will be located at the "El Cervell Social" (The
Social Brain) Chair at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain).
The Chair is an integral part of the Department of Psychiatry, which
is involved in neuroimaging related to mental disorders, normal
behaviour, and biological mechanism underlying social behaviour. Our
mission is to broaden and deepen the understanding of social
phenomena, cognition, and behaviour from the viewpoint of
neurobiology. The staff is highly interdisciplinary, consisting of
linguists, psychologists, psychiatrists, cognitive scientists,
computational engineers, biological anthropologists and
neuroscientists. The members of the Social Brain Chair have made
contributions to the theoretical philosophical basis of neuroscience,
artificial intelligence, and linguistics. They have developed embodied
models of cognition, focusing on how categorization can be grounded in
perceptual processing.

POSITIONS

At present, two positions are available:

POSITION A: The researcher will: (a) develop models of event-structure
in which to ground space and time conceptualizations; (b) apply these
models to communication frameworks that make use of embodied language;
(c) catalogue the cognitive schemata that underlie human
conceptualization in the domains of space, time, and event-structure
and that are relevant natural-language grammar. This will provide a
benchmark for experiments with autonomous robotic agents.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Ideally, applicants would have excellent qualifications and experience
in biologically-inspired research in: Cognitive Science, Neuroscience,
Philosophy of Mind or related disciplines. This position stresses
expertise in the conceptualization of time, space, and event
structure.

POSITION B: This position has a linguistic focus, involving the
investigation of the grammatical mechanisms available in human
languages for the expression of event-structure, space and time. It
will also investigate the adaptation of some of these human solutions
for the robotic experiments and the evaluation of the outcome of the
experiments.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Ideally, applicants would have excellent qualifications and experience
in linguistically-inspired research in: Cognitive Science, Cognitive
Linguistics or related disciplines. For this position, knowledge of
typological linguistics will be highly regarded.

Both positions require a specialist postgraduate degree or PhD.
Further evidence of strong research experience is also required, as
well as excellent skills in presenting research and writing scientific
documents in English.. Fluency in Spanish will be a plus. The
successful candidates will also show aptitudes for working in an
interdisciplinary research team based in Europe. Postgraduates may
pursue a PhD as part of their research.

These full-time positions are based on a fixed-term contract of up to
two years. Starting date: September 2008 or later. The salary will be
determined according to the standards of the Autonomous University of
Barcelona.

For more information
Informal enquiries can be made to Dr. Oscar Vilarroya <oscar.vilarroya at uab.cat>

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