Post-doctoral Research Fellow, School of Computer Science

Applications are invited for a Temporary post of a Post-doctoral Research Fellow Level 1 within UCD School of Computer Science.

The School of Computer Science at UCD invites applications for a Post-Doctoral Researcher to join the UCD team in the ADAPT Research Centre focussing on querying embeddings for phonetic information. This project is part of the ADAPT Digital Content Transformation Strand.

What phonetic information is captured in the embeddings of speech representations? Deep learning has led to huge performance gains in speech recognition and synthesis but until recently little emphasis has been placed on what information is being captured through the learning process. At UCD, we have ongoing research on probing of state-of-the-art speech recognition models to identify phonetic and phonological information and to see what can be uncovered about the systematicity and variability of speech patterns which humans use intuitively when interacting via speech. We are now have an opening for a speech scientist who will bring further phonetic expertise to the design of more targeted probing tasks and to the interpretation of the results. This project will contribute important insights into the explainability and interpretability of deep learned models of speech and find application in inclusive speech recognition and in speech accommodation for native and non-native human-computer interactions.

ADAPT is the world-leading SFI research centre for AI Driven Digital Content Technology, coordinated by Trinity College Dublin and based within Dublin City University, University College Dublin, Technological University Dublin, Maynooth University, Munster Technological University, Athlone Institute of Technology, and the National University of Ireland Galway. ADAPT's research vision is to pioneer new forms of proactive, scalable, and integrated AI-driven Digital Content Technology that empower individuals and society to engage in digital experiences with control, inclusion, and accountability with the long-term goal of a balanced digital society by 2030. ADAPT is pioneering new Human Centric AI techniques and technologies including personalisation, natural language processing, data analytics, intelligent machine translation human-computer interaction, as well as setting the standards for data governance, privacy and ethics for digital content.

ADAPT Digital Content Transformation Strand

From the algorithmic perspective, new machine learning techniques will both enable more users to engage meaningfully with the increasing volumes of content globally in a more measurably effective manner, while ensuring the widest linguistic and cultural inclusion. It will enhance effective, robust integrated machine learning algorithms needed to provide multimodal content experiences with new levels of accuracy, multilingualism and explainability.

The successful candidate will work under the direction of the Principal Investigator, helping to lead the research, setting a research agenda, engaging with industry projects and mentoring PhD candidates and students.

This is a research focused role, where you will conduct a specified programme of research supported by research training and development under the supervision and direction of a Principal Investigator.

The primary purpose of the role is to further develop your research skills and competences, including the processes of publication in peer-reviewed academic publications, the development of funding proposals, the mentorship of graduate students along with the opportunity to develop your skills in research led teaching.

Post-doctoral Research Fellow Level 1 Salary Scale: 42,033 - 48,427 per annum.

Appointment on the above range will be dependent upon qualifications and experience.

Closing date: 17:00hrs (local Irish time) on 6th of June 2023.

Applications must be submitted by the closing date and time specified. Any applications which are still in progress at the closing time of 17:00hrs (Local Irish Time) on the specified closing date will be cancelled automatically by the system.

UCD are unable to accept late applications.

UCD do not require assistance from Recruitment Agencies. Any CV's submitted by Recruitment Agencies will be returned.

Prior to application, further information (including application procedure) should be obtained from the Work at UCD website: https://www.ucd.ie/workatucd/jobs/.