PhD positions in computational linguistics and machine learning at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

[Ali Reza Eb]

We're recruiting PhD students to work on computational linguistics and machine learning at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.

We're looking for strong candidates with good mathematical and computational skills interested in human language comprehension, acquisition and its instantiation in the brain.

A strong background in mathematical analysis (multivariate calculus and linear algebra) and computer science (algorithms and data structures, as well as programming experience) is important; prior experience in machine learning and/or statistics is desirable.

Various funding sources are available for both Australian and overseas candidates. I especially encourage overseas applicants to apply for an International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (IPRS); applications for these are due on the 31st August 2011.

The areas we are especially targeting are:

• Computational models of language acquisition: (especially non-parametric Bayesian models). This project involves developing new models of language acquisition and applying them to child language development data. It involves working with language acquisition researchers as well as computational linguists and machine learning experts.

• Computational models of incremental syntactic and semantic processing: (especially on-line processing of both text and speech). These projects require a good background in statistical parsing and/or language modelling. Possible projects include coreference resolution, semantic role labelling and incremental syntactic parsing.

• Machine learning and computational neurolinguistics: This project involves applying statistical models and machine learning methods to neural imaging data from our on-campus MEG and fMRI facilities. We're especially interested in developing new methods for applying machine learning techniques to address questions of basic scientific interest. This project will involve working closely with neuroscientists as well as machine learning experts.

Contact Mark.J...@MQ.edu.au for more information.

Information about PhDs at Macquarie University: http://www.hdr.mq.edu.au/

IPRS web site: http://www.hdr.mq.edu.au/information_about/scholarships/hdr_scholarship_international_candidates_only