[Corpora-List] Research Positions at Stanford: Robust Dialogue Understanding

[Matthew Purver]

   Research Positions at Stanford: Robust Dialogue Understanding

The Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI) at
Stanford University is seeking Research Scientists to work on
multimodal spoken-language dialogue systems, starting 1 September
2005.

The ideal candidate is a Computational Linguist with an interest in
the computational semantics and pragmatics of dialogue, with
experience in formally-inspired and/or statistical/machine-learning
approaches to dialogue modeling. The position requires a Ph.D. in
computational linguistics, natural language processing, artificial
intelligence, cognitive science, or a related field. Applicants should
have a demonstrated capacity to define and implement a research plan,
and to conduct individual and collaborative research consonant with
the dialogue-systems projects underway at CSLI.

Current research into dialogue at CSLI centers around the
information-state update approach to dialogue modeling, and employs a
variety of techniques, including symbolic and stochastic, theory and
data-driven. Proficiency in multiple approaches relevant to current
CSLI application areas will be highly valued, as will an ability to
participate in implementation.

Research topics of particular interest include:
- robust semantic interpretation from noisy data (e.g., fragment
  parsing, role detection);
- robust context-based pragmatic interpretation (e.g., anaphora/
  ellipsis/fragment resolution);
- topic/issue detection and tracking;
- probabilistic dialogue state/activity modeling and tracking;
- multi-party discourse modeling (esp. group decision-making).

The successful candidate will work with faculty, postdoctoral, and
student researchers in the Dialogue Systems Group at CSLI, performing
novel research and developing core infrastructure for natural multimodal
conversational systems for a range of interactions and applications.
Responsibilities will include supervising student research assistants
and participating in proposal-preparation to attract new funding.

The CSLI Dialogue Systems Group consists of about thirteen people, and
is involved in a number of projects involving close collaboration with
other Stanford departments, numerous other academic institutions,
government agencies such as NASA, not-for-profit research
organizations wuch as SRI, and various commercial enterprises.
Current projects include: understanding multi-party interaction in
physical meeting spaces; collaborative control of teams of robotic
devices; conversational control of in-car devices; speech-enabled
intelligent tutoring systems.

The position is initially for 1 year, renewable for up to 3 years
(contingent on continuing funding). Salary is dependent on
qualifications and experience, but is expected to be in a range
starting from $70,000 for a junior appointee, to $90,000 for a senior
appointee.  Candidates who may be more appropriate for a more senior
appointment are encouraged to contact us directly and may be
considered at a higher salary.

Applicants should submit a letter of application and a full resume or
curriculum vitae with names and email addresses of at least three
referees. Please contact Stanley Peters and Matt Purver
<peters,mpurver at csli.stanford.edu> for further information.

Stanford University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action
employer.



--
Matthew Purver <mpurver at stanford.edu>
Computational Semantics Laboratory, CSLI, Stanford