Department of Computer Science
Faculty of SCIENCE
University of Copenhagen
The Natural Language Processing Section at the Department of Computer Science invites applicants for two PhD fellowships in Natural Language Processing. The positions are funded by both the Pixel-based Encoding of Language project, which is financed by the Velux Foundations, and the Democratize Trustworthy and Efficient Large Language Model Technology for Europe project funded by the European Union.
Start date is (expected to be) 1 June 2024 or as soon as possible thereafter.
The projects
The overall goal of the research is to develop and evaluate language models that can process any written language by rendering text as images, which allows the models to learn from the visual similarities between written languages. Realizing this goal includes creating and implementing tokenization-free multilingual language models, the collection and curation of visually diverse language data, the training of small-scale and large-scale models, developing techniques for effective model quantization and compression, creating models that jointly process natural images and rendered text using a single interface, and the evaluation of such models. Your research will contribute to many aspects of this process and require detailed hands-on implementation and evaluation of cutting-edge machine learning models.
Who are we looking for?
We are looking for candidates within the field(s) of machine learning and natural language processing. Applicants can have a background from Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, or similar areas.
Our group and research- and what do we offer?
The Natural Language Processing Section provides a strong, international, and diverse environment for research within core as well as emerging topics in natural language processing, natural language understanding, computational linguistics, and multimodal language processing. It is housed within the main Science Campus, which is in central Copenhagen. Further information on the Department is available at https://di.ku.dk/english/.
The group is a part of the Department of Computer Science, Faculty of SCIENCE, University of Copenhagen. We offer creative and stimulating working conditions in dynamic and international research environment. Our research facilities include modern laboratories and access to high-performance GPU clusters.
The Ph.D Fellows will join a team that includes a consortium of researchers across Europe, and, locally, the co-investigator, postdoctoral researchers, and other Ph.D students. Further information about the projects are available at https://veluxfoundations.dk/en/about/projects-granted#/0066700000uJIZZAA4 and https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101135671.
Principal supervisor is Assistant Professor Desmond Elliott, Department of Computer Science, de@di.ku.dk, Direct phone: +45 93 50 91 75.
The PhD programme
A three year full-time study within the framework of the regular PhD programme (5+3 scheme), if you already have an education equivalent to a relevant Danish master’s degree.
Qualification
To be eligible for the regular PhD programme, you must have completed a degree programme, equivalent to a Danish master’s degree (180 ECTS/3 FTE BSc + 120 ECTS/2 FTE MSc) related to the subject area of the project. For information of eligibility of completed programmes, see General assessments for specific countries and Assessment database.
Terms of employment in the regular programme
Employment as PhD fellow is full time and for maximum 3 years.
Employment is conditional upon your successful enrolment as a PhD student at the PhD School at the Faculty of SCIENCE, University of Copenhagen. This requires submission and acceptance of an application for the specific project formulated by the applicant.
The terms of employment and salary are in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State (AC). The position is covered by the Protocol on Job Structure.
Responsibilities and tasks in the PhD programme
- Carry through an independent research project under supervision
- Complete PhD courses corresponding to approx. 30 ECTS / ½ FTE
- Participate in active research environments, including a stay at another research institution, preferably abroad
- Teaching and knowledge dissemination activities
- Write scientific papers aimed at high-impact journals
- Write and defend a PhD thesis on the basis of your project
We are looking for the following qualifications:
- Professional qualifications relevant to the PhD project
- Relevant publications
- Relevant work experience
- Other relevant professional activities
- Curious mind-set with a strong interest in language and machine learning
- Good language skills
Application and Assessment Procedure
Your application including all attachments must be in English and submitted electronically by clicking APPLY NOW below.
Please include:
- Motivated letter of application (max. one page)
- Your motivation for applying for the specific PhD project
- Curriculum vitae including information about your education, experience, language skills and other skills relevant for the position
- Original diplomas for Bachelor of Science or Master of Science and transcript of records in the original language, including an authorized English translation if issued in another language than English or Danish. If not completed, a certified/signed copy of a recent transcript of records or a written statement from the institution or supervisor is accepted.
- Publication list (if possible)
- Reference letters (if available)
Application deadline:
The deadline for applications is 29 February 2024, 23:59 GMT +1.
We reserve the right not to consider material received after the deadline, and not to consider applications that do not live up to the abovementioned requirements.
The further process
After deadline, a number of applicants will be selected for academic assessment by an unbiased expert assessor. You are notified, whether you will be passed for assessment.
The assessor will assess the qualifications and experience of the shortlisted applicants with respect to the above mentioned research area, techniques, skills and other requirements. The assessor will conclude whether each applicant is qualified and, if so, for which of the two models. The assessed applicants will have the opportunity to comment on their assessment. You can read about the recruitment process at https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/.
Interviews with selected candidates are expected to be held in week 44 and 45.
Questions
For specific information about the PhD fellowship, please contact the principal supervisor.
General information about PhD study at the Faculty of SCIENCE is available at the PhD School’s website: https://www.science.ku.dk/phd/.
The University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the surrounding community and invites all regardless of personal background to apply for the position.
Deadline: 2024-02-29 at 23:59
Unit: Engineering/it
Read the job description at the university homepage or apply.