29.291, Support: Computational Linguistics: PhD, University of Geneva

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-29-291. Wed Jan 17 2018. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 29.291, Support: Computational Linguistics: PhD, University of Geneva

Moderators: linguist at linguistlist.org (Damir Cavar, Malgorzata E. Cavar)
Reviews: reviews at linguistlist.org (Helen Aristar-Dry, Robert Coté,
                                   Michael Czerniakowski)
Homepage: http://linguistlist.org

Please support the LL editors and operation with a donation at:
           http://funddrive.linguistlist.org/donate/

Editor for this issue: Clare Harshey <clare at linguistlist.org>
================================================================


Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2018 13:01:17
From: Manny Rayner [Emmanuel.Rayner at unige.ch]
Subject: Computational Linguistics: PhD, University of Geneva, Switzerland

 Institution/Organization: University of Geneva 
Department: Department of Translation Technology 
Web Address: http://www.unige.ch/fti/fr/faculte/departements/dtim/ 

Level: PhD 

Duties: Research,Project Work
 
Specialty Areas: Computational Linguistics 
Computer Assisted Language Learning 

Description:

We invite applications for a fully funded PhD studentship at the Faculty of
Translation and Interpreting, University of Geneva, Switzerland, to work on
the project: “A Crowdsourcing Platform for Spoken CALL Content”. 

Project Description: The central goal of this project is to develop a
crowdsourcing network capable of creating large quantities of content for
speech-enabled Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL). The software
platform initially used to create and host the content would be an extended
version of the CALL-SLT Lite platform
(http://callslt.unige.ch/demos-and-resources/). CALL-SLT Lite has been
designed with crowdsourcing in mind as a possible long-term goal. The most
important extension required is a better “Wizard”-style web interface for
course construction.

The main thrust of the project is concerned with setting up the required
crowdsourcing infrastructure, in particular developing the system of
incentives and rewards needed to motivate the content-producers, together with
a set of metrics that can be used to track progress. Extrapolating from the
histories of successful networks of this kind (Wikipedia, Amazon, Goodreads
etc), we hypothesize that it should be possible to adapt the core ideas of
likes/votes, mediation of comments and gamification to the CALL domain, and
establish the necessary momentum. The project will be closely integrated with
the enetCollect COST network (http://enetcollect.eurac.edu/), in which the
Geneva University group is an active partner; it will initially aim to recruit
both content-producers and content-consumers from enetCollect. The
architecture of the crowdsourcing network will be designed so that other CALL
platforms, in particular platforms developed by other groups in enetCollect,
can easily be integrated.

The ideal candidate will: 
- Hold a degree in computer science, cognitive science or a related field;
- Have nontrivial practical experience with software development, especially
web technology, and a strong interest in crowdsourcing and/or social networks;
- Demonstrate strong writing and analytical skills, as well as good
programming skills. 

Knowledge of French is desirable but not essential. PhD theses at the Faculty
may be written in several languages, including English, and activities at the
doctoral school are in English.

The studentship is for three years starting during 2018, and covers fees and a
stipend of CHF 48,540 per annum. 

Expressions of interest, together with a CV, transcripts, and contact details
of two referees should be sent to Emmanuel.Rayner at unige.ch and
Pierrette.Bouillon at unige.ch. 
 

Application Deadline: 15-Jun-2018 

Mailing Address for Applications:
	Attn: Professor Pierrette Bouillon 
	Faculté de traduction et d'interprétation, Département TIM, Université de Genève 
	40, boulevard du Pont-d'Arve 
	Geneva Geneva 1201 
	Switzerland 
	
Contact Information: 
	Dr Manny Rayner 
	Emmanuel.Rayner at unige.ch  


------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*****************    LINGUIST List Support    *****************
Please support the LL editors and operation with a donation at:
            http://funddrive.linguistlist.org/donate/
 


----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-29-291	
----------------------------------------------------------