[Corpora-List] Research Fellow Position in Information Extraction and Text Mining at Edinburgh University

[Xinglong Wang]

(Sorry if cross-posting occurs)

Research Fellow in Information Extraction and Text Mining

School of Informatics

Vacancy Reference Number: 3006137

Job Description

Applications are invited for a post in the area of Information Extraction 
and Text Mining. The post is concerned with the processing of biomedical 
literature as part of a larger system for the semi-automatic curation of 
information from the literature into biomedical databases. Research 
activity in the project focuses on document retrieval, shallow and 
statistical methods of Information Extraction and statistical/hybrid 
computational semantics for improved information extraction.

The Text Mining Programme (TXM) is an ambitious and exciting project 
funded by ITI Life Sciences (http://www.itilifesciences.com/) and involves 
collaboration with Cognia EU Ltd. The outcome of the project will be a 
system which uses Natural Language Processing techniques to assist 
curators in the task of populating a relational database with information 
from the biomedical literature. The language processing component of the 
system is based on our existing XML tools and infrastructure and is 
modularised to contain document retrieval and information extraction 
components.

Informal enquiries can be made to Dr Claire Grover (C.Grover at ed.ac.uk) or 
Prof Ewan Klein (E.Klein at ed.ac.uk).

Person Specification

The successful candidate will have the following profile:

Postgraduate degree, preferably PhD, in a relevant area of Natural 
Language Processing or Computational Linguistics, or equivalent 
experience.

     * Experience in one or more of: Information Retrieval, Information 
Extraction, Shallow Text Processing, Computational Semantic Ontologies, 
Statistical NLP, Machine Learning.
     * Strong programming skills in at least one of the following 
languages: C, C++, Perl, Python, Java.
     * Preferably, experience with XML.
     * An ability to work effectively and independently and to meet 
deadlines.
     * Good communication skills and an ability to work well as part of a 
team.

Salary & Other Information

The appointment has a fixed duration until the end of January 2008 and is 
expected to start as soon as possible. The position attracts an annual 
salary of £20,044 to £30,002 or £27,929 to £36,959 dependant on 
experience and qualifications for 35 hours, each week. Salary is paid 
monthly by direct transfer to your Bank or Building Society account, 
normally on the 28th of the month. Salaries for part-time staff are 
calculated on the full-time scales, pro-rata to the Standard Working Week.

The University is currently undertaking a major review of its grades, 
salary bands, and terms and conditions of service. This post has been 
graded and its salary determined using our present grades. Depending on 
when an offer of employment is made for this position the grade, salary 
and terms of the offer may either be made on: (i) present grade, salary 
and terms and conditions, or (ii) new grade, salary and terms and 
conditions of service.

If (i) applies, and an offer is made to you, you will subsequently receive 
a notification advising you of the new grade, salary and terms and 
conditions of employment. If , in the truly exceptional circumstances that 
the new salary is lower than that in the original offer then you will 
retain the salary offered to you for a period of three years, during which 
time action will be taken to consider how the job could be amended, such 
that it could achieve a higher grade, or assist in redeployment to a 
higher grade before the end of the three year period. We expect only a 
very small minority of positions to be affected in this way.

Application Procedure

We encourage all applicants to apply online at www.jobs.ed.ac.uk

The application process is quick and easy to follow, and you will receive 
email confirmation of safe receipt of your application. The online system 
allows you to submit a c.v.

Otherwise to complete the application process you need to complete the (i) 
Application Form, including a statement addressing how your application 
meets the Person Specification (ii) Additional Personal Information Form, 
(iii) Equality & Diversity Monitoring Form, and (iv) Rehabilitation of 
Offenders Form. Please also include a brief CV. Please return the 
Application form and all enclosures (except the equal opportunities form) 
to Sarah White, School of Informatics, 2 Buccleuch Place, Edinburgh, EH8 
9LW by the closing date of 1 August 2006. Return the equal opportunities 
form in the separate prepaid envelope. We cannot guarantee to consider 
late applications.

Please quote reference no: 3006137

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The University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh has been instrumental in shaping history for 
over 400 years. An exciting, vibrant, research led academic community we 
offer opportunities to work with leading international academics whose 
visions are shaping tomorrow's world. Our 21 Schools, spread across 3 
Colleges, offer over 350 undergraduate and 160 postgraduate courses to 
more than 20,000 students each year.

As a member of staff, you will not only be part of one the world's leading 
Universities, but also part of one of the top employers in Edinburgh, with 
over 7000 people spread across a wide range of academic and supporting 
roles.

The College of Science and Engineering

The College of Science and Engineering is one of the largest groupings of 
its kind in the United Kingdom with approximately 5000 undergraduate 
students and 1000 postgraduate students, and 1,400 fte staff of whom about 
930 are teaching and research staff. It comprises Schools of Biological 
Sciences; Chemistry; Engineering and Electronics; Geosciences; 
Informatics; Mathematics; and Physics. In the 2001 RAE 94% of its academic 
and research staff were in units of assessment rated 5 or 5*.

The School of Informatics/HCRC

The HCRC is an interdisciplinary research centre which brings together one 
of the world's largest concentrations of language researchers, studying 
the formal, computational, psychological and neural aspects of language. 
The Institute for Communicating and Collaborative Systems (ICCS) in the 
School of Informatics draws on the skills and expertise of one of the 
largest communities of natural language processing specialists in Europe 
and has strong experience in human-machine interaction, natural language 
understanding, speech processing, and XML protocols.

Informatics is the study of information and computation, in both natural 
and artificial systems. It comprises a vast range of scientific and 
engineering endeavour and has enormous economic and social impact. The 
University's School of Informatics brings together the former Departments 
of Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive Science and Computer Science, 
together with the Artificial Intelligence Applications Institute. The 
School possesses a combination of breadth and strength unparalleled 
elsewhere in the UK and competitive world-wide; as an intellectual 
endeavour it is strikingly original.

The School is the only university grouping in the UK to have achieved the 
top 5*A rating in Computer Science in the 2001 RAE round. With 87.1 
research-active staff submitted for assessment, it is the UK's largest 
research group in this area. Additional information about the School of 
Informatics, HCRC, Language at Edinburgh, and the University as a whole is 
available at:

http://www.informatics.ed.ac.uk/
http://www.hcrc.ed.ac.uk/
http://www.hcrc.ed.ac.uk/language_at_edinburgh
http://www.ed.ac.uk/

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The University reserves the right to vary the candidate information or 
make no appointment at all.  Neither in part, nor in whole does this 
information form part of any contract between the University and any 
individual.