Postdoc – NLP for historical languages (1 year, with option to extend)

5 Sep 2023
Job Information

Organisation/Company

KU Leuven

Research Field

History

Researcher Profile

Recognised Researcher (R2)

Country

Belgium

Application Deadline

9 Oct 2023 – 00:00 (UTC)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Hours Per Week

38 hours/week

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

H2020 / ERC

Reference Number

BAP-2023-587

Marie Curie Grant Agreement Number

101116087

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

The postdoctoral researcher will:

• co-develop a pipeline for automatic transcription of multilingual texts, language identification, and statistical analysis, focusing on Latin and Greek in the Renaissance (1397-1536), but with attention also to vernacular languages and Semitic languages such as Hebrew and Arabic;
• help PhD students (classicists by education) apply this pipeline to their sources and fine-tune the pipeline based on this interaction;
• assist PhD students in interpreting their data and results;
• conduct topic modeling experiments in relation to Latin-Greek code-switching.

Requirements

Research Field

History

Education Level

Master Degree or equivalent

Languages

ENGLISH

Level

Excellent

Additional Information
Benefits

The position is for 1 year with the possibility to extend it up to 2 years upon positive evaluation.The successful candidate will:

• receive a correct salary adjusted to their position and years of experience (see https://admin.kuleuven.be/personeel/english/salary/salary_ap.html );
• enjoy academic guidance by the PI;
• be integrated into an attractive and diverse research environment, with people from various backgrounds, in different career stages and with different kinds of expertise;
• have funding available for costs related to the research, e.g. to travel to conferences;
• be able to further build their expertise by participating in specialized masterclasses organized in the frame of the ERASMOS project;
• have the opportunity to lead research seminars on the project as part of the Latin language and literature curriculum.

Eligibility criteria

The postdoctoral researcher:

• holds a PhD in Natural Language Processing, Digital Humanities, Computational Linguistics, Computer Science, or another relevant field;
• has experience with text mining;
• is interested in the application of computational approaches to historical materials;
• has an excellent oral and written command of English, the working language of ERASMOS;
• is willing and able to work both independently and as part of a broader research team.

They preferably have a documented interest or expertise in:

• historical languages, ideally Latin and/or Ancient Greek;
• Renaissance studies.

Selection process

Qualified candidates are invited to provide the following materials:
– a full CV, with contact details of two references;- a scan of their MA and PhD diplomas;- a cover letter of maximum two pages (in English), outlining their experience and motivation;- a sample of their relevant published work (ca. 25 pages).
Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an (online) interview in the second half of October. We aim for a definitive selection by October 31, 2023 in order to guarantee a timely start for the project.

The selected candidate is expected to reside in Belgium for the duration of their contract. KU Leuven seeks to foster an environment where all talents can flourish, regardless of gender, age, cultural background, nationality or impairments. If you have any questions relating to accessibility or support, please contact us at [email protected] .
For more information on the position, please contact Prof. dr. Raf Van Rooy, tel.: +32 16 19 31 61, mail: [email protected] .
You can apply for this job no later than 09/10/2023 via the online application tool

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

KU Leuven

Country

Belgium

State/Province

Vlaams Brabant

City

Leuven

Postal Code

3000

Street

Leuven

Where to apply

Website

https://easyapply.jobs/r/ti2SX2t20kEFft2DO8JS

Contact

State/Province

Leuven

City

Vlaams Brabant

Street

Leuven

Postal Code

3000

STATUS: EXPIRED