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PhD Position in Natural Language Processing for Political Mining

Employer
NORWEGIAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - NTNU
Location
Trondheim, Norway
Closing date
31 Aug 2019

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Academic Discipline
Computer Science, Engineering & Technology
Job Type
Academic Posts, Postdocs
Contract Type
Temporary
Hours
Full Time

About the position

We have a vacancy for a 100% PhD position at the Department of Computer Science (IDI) at Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering (IE).

This position is one of 4 positions within the Trondheim Analytica project. The project is in NTNU’s strategic portfolio of projects to pursue transformative research on the development and application of digital transformation technology (https://www.ntnu.edu/digital-transformation). Multidisciplinarity is a key objective in all the projects, and close cooperation between the PhD research fellows and the disciplines is essential for Trondheim Analytica. The appointment is for a term of 4 years including 25% teaching assistance.

The position reports to Head of the Department.

Main duties and responsibilities

The PhD candidate will investigate how social media users’ political emotions and viewpoints can be automatically identified in real-time. Collecting users’ posts, references to other posts, and social links between users, the project will seek to uncover textual user features that signal political preferences and align users with respect to pre-defined political and emotional profiles.

The candidate will develop new natural language processing techniques for extracting political viewpoints from social media. This includes using deep learning and language modeling techniques like word embedding to represent text semantics and classify text into political categories. Of particular interest are the challenges related to real-time processing of social media users’ content and interpreting short and ambiguous user postings

Qualification requirements

PhD candidate:

The PhD-position's main objective is to qualify for work in research positions. The qualification requirement is completion of a master’s degree or second degree (equivalent to 120 credits) with a strong academic background in [subject area] or equivalent education with a grade of B or better in terms of NTNU’s grading scale. Applicants with no letter grades from previous studies must have an equally good academic foundation. Applicants who are unable to meet these criteria may be considered only if they can document that they are particularly suitable candidates for education leading to a PhD degree.

The appointment is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants and national guidelines for appointment as PhD, postdoctor and research assistant

NTNU is committed to following evaluation criteria for research quality according to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment - DORA.

Candidates completing their MSc degree in the spring of 2019 are encouraged to apply. The position is also open for integrated PhD for NTNU students starting their final year of their master degree in autumn 2019; see https://www.ntnu.no/ie/forskning/integrertphd for information about integrated PhD.

Other qualifications

  • The main working language is Norwegian and English. As the informants are mostly Norwegian, written and oral skills in a Scandinavian language is desired, but not required.
  • Applicants who do not master a Scandinavian language must provide evidence of good English language skills, written and spoken. The following tests can be used as such documentation: TOEFL, IELTS or Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) or Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE). Minimum scores are:
    • TOEFL: 600 (paper-based test), 92 (Internet-based test)
    • IELTS: 6.5, with no section lower than 5.5 (only Academic IELTS test accepted)
    • CAE/CPE: grade B or A

Relevant background: A solid background in natural language processing and text analytics is essential, and good programming skills are required. Experience with machine learning, linked data and information retrieval is preferable.

Personal characteristics

  • Excellent analytical skills
  • Ability to work independently as well as in teams
  • Proven cooperation and communication skills

In the evaluation of which candidate is best qualified, emphasis will be placed on education, experience and personal suitability, as well as motivation, in terms of the qualification requirements specified in the advertisement

We offer

Salary and conditions

PhD candidates are remunerated in code 1017, and are normally remunerated at gross from NOK 479 600 before tax per year. From the salary, 2 % is deducted as a contribution to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund.

The period of employment is 4 years with or without required duties. Appointment to a PhD position requires admission to the PhD programme in Computer Science. As a PhD candidate, you undertake to participate in an organized PhD programme during the employment period. A condition of appointment is that you are in fact qualified for admission to the PhD programme within three months.

The engagement is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants, and the acts relating to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who by assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with the criterias in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment to NTNU. After the appointment you must assume that there may be changes in the area of work.

General information

A good work environment is characterized by diversity. We encourage qualified candidates to apply, regardless of their gender, functional capacity or cultural background. Under the Freedom of Information Act (offentleglova), information about the applicant may be made public even if the applicant has requested not to have their name entered on the list of applicants.

The national labour force must reflect the composition of the population to the greatest possible extent, NTNU wants to increase the proportion of women in its scientific posts. Women are encouraged to apply.

Questions about the position can be directed to Professor Jon Atle Gulla, e-mail: jag@ntnu.no, or Head of the Department Professor John Krogstie, e-mail: john.krogstie@ntnu.no.

About the application:

  • The application must contain:
  • Curriculum vitae (CV) with information about the candidate’s prior training, exams, and work experience
  • Certified copies of transcripts and diplomas
  • Applicants from universities outside Norway are kindly requested to send a diploma supplement or a similar describes in detail the study and grading system and the rights for further studies associated with the obtained degree
  • Research statement (max. 3 pages) including a short presentation of the motivation for a PhD study, discussion of the relevance of the applicant’s background to the position, and the applicant’s view of research challenges within the area of the PhD position.
  • Names and contact information of at least 2 reference persons
  • A copy of the master thesis (in PDF), or, for those who are near to completion of their MSc, an extended abstract combined with a statement of how and when the applicant plans to complete the thesis (1 page, delivery of master thesis no later than June 30th.)

Publications and other academic works that the applicant would like to be considered in the evaluation must accompany the application. Joint works will be considered. If it is difficult to identify the individual applicant's contribution to joint works, the applicant must include a brief description of his or her contribution.

Please submit your application electronically via jobbnorge.no with your CV, diplomas and certificates. Applications submitted elsewhere will not be considered. Diploma Supplement is required to attach for European Master Diplomas outside Norway. Chinese applicants are required to provide confirmation of Master Diploma from China Credentials Verification (CHSI): http://www.chsi.com.cn/en/).

Applicants invited for interview must include certified copies of transcripts and reference letters.

Please refer to the application number 2018/11397 when applying.

Application deadline: 31.08.2019

NTNU - knowledge for a better world

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) creates knowledge for a better world and solutions that can change everyday life.

Department of Computer Science 

We are the leading academic IT environment in Norway, and offer a wide range of theoretical and applied IT programmes of study at all levels. Our subject areas include hardware, algorithms, visual computing, AI, databases, software engineering, information systems, learning technology, HCI, CSCW, IT operations and applied data processing. The Department has groups in both Trondheim and Gjøvik. The Department of Computer Science is one of seven departments in the Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering .

Deadline 31st August 2019
Employer NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Municipality Trondheim
Scope Fulltime
Duration Temporary
Place of service Trondheim

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