Two PhDs in Language Games for Ontology and Computational Construction Grammar and Procedural Semantics for Multi-modal, Linguistic, Human-machine Interaction
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Frenay Benoit
May 18, 2022, 6:16:39 AM5/18/22
to Machine Learning News
Dear all,
We are looking for excellent
candidates to fill two PhD positions that are currently
available at the University of Namur in the field of
artificial intelligence, financed by the ARIAC project.
The two positions focus on the following research topics:
- Language games for ontology alignment under partial observability
- Computational construction grammar and procedural semantics for multi-modal, linguistic, human-machine interaction
The deadline for applying for these
positions is July 1st 2022. Soon-to-be
graduating master students are welcome to apply provided that
they will have graduated before the start of the position. A
more detailed description of the project and the application
procedure is included here below.
Thank you for helping us spread the word.
Best wishes,
Katrien Beuls, Anthony Cleve and Bruno
Dumas
##########################################################################################
Title
Full-time PhD researcher in artificial
intelligence - Université de Namur
Language games for ontology
alignment under partial observability (ARIAC project)
Project
ARIAC by DigitalWallonia4.ai is a research
project funded by the Walloon Region bringing together the five
French-speaking universities and four Walloon research centres
with the primary objective of accelerating the development of
artificial intelligence technologies in Wallonia. The project is
part of the TRAIL (Trusted AI Labs) initiative, launched in
September 2020, which aims at enhancing the development of
artificial intelligence technologies in Wallonia.
In the context of this position, you will
investigate how a population of agents can autonomously develop
a new language for exchanging information. The information held
by each agent might be stored in entirely different formats and
according to different ontologies. Through task-based
communicative interactions, the agents invent, adopt and align
the building blocks of an emergent language. This language can
then be used by all agents in the population to exchange
information, as it forms an abstraction layer over the
individual ontological organisations and storage formats.
You will carry out this PhD project both
individually and in collaboration with other researchers in the
field. It is conceived as a 4-year program, starting with a
2-year contract that is renewable for up to 2 additional years.
You will be supervised by Prof. dr. K. Beuls and Prof. dr. A.
Cleve.
Profile
- You have obtained a master’s degree in artificial intelligence, computer science, linguistics, mathematics or a related domain. You have a solid academic track record.
- You are passionate about building intelligent systems that are capable of interacting with their users and environment through natural language.
- You strive for excellence and have a scientific mindset.
- You are a loyal team player, who can work autonomously and deliver solid scientific work.
- You have strong communication skills and a good command of English. Knowledge of French is considered as a plus.
Additional information
For additional information please do not
hesitate to contact Prof. K. Beuls or Prof. A. Cleve (see
addresses below).
Important dates
Submission deadline: July 1st,
2022 (11h59 pm AoE).
Expected starting date: September 1st,
2022.
How to apply?
Applications should be sent by e-mail to secretar...@unamur.be, katrie...@unamur.be AND anthon...@unamur.be and
contain the following:
- A motivation letter describing your interest in the research topic
- Your CV
- A copy of your diplomas (Bachelor and Master, if available)
- A transcript with the grades you obtained for each course taken on each university year
- The name and e-mail address of two references to be contacted upon request
##########################################################################################
Title
Full-time PhD researcher in artificial
intelligence - Université de Namur
Computational construction
grammar and procedural semantics for multi-modal, linguistic,
human-machine interaction (ARIAC project)
Project
ARIAC by DigitalWallonia4.ai is a research
project funded by the Walloon Region bringing together the five
French-speaking universities and four Walloon research centres
with the primary objective of accelerating the development of
artificial intelligence technologies in Wallonia. The project is
part of the TRAIL (Trusted AI Labs) initiative, launched in
September 2020, which aims at enhancing the development of
artificial intelligence technologies in Wallonia.
Current techniques for linguistic
human-machine interaction focus on either speech signals,
textual data or gestures. However, communication between humans
is multi-modal in nature. In particular, spoken utterances are
accompanied by gestures, pointing, eye gaze, facial expressions,
and prosody amongst others. These multi-modal channels are of
great importance to supporting the basic function of language,
i.e. exchanging information between individuals. A great
challenge for human-machine interaction resides thus in the
integration of multi-modal signals into a single device for
comprehending and producing natural language expressions. Within
the ARIAC project, we will develop a novel methodology for
multi-modal language comprehension and production. This
methodology will be situated within the framework of
computational construction grammar, a family of linguistic
theories which is well-suited to accommodate the representation
and processing of linguistic knowledge that combines different
sources of information. While the representation of the form of
linguistic expressions will consist in abstractions over data
captured through different feature channels, the representation
of the meaning of linguistic expressions will be formalised
using procedural semantics. In this way, the information
captured in the multi-modal linguistic expressions can be
executed by a machine, or a machine can produce multi-modal
expressions based on procedural semantic representations. The
primary application domain of this research will be systems for
multi-modal human-machine interaction, i.e. systems where humans
can give instructions to a machine by simultaneously speaking
and gesturing.
You will carry out this PhD project both
individually and in collaboration with other researchers in the
field. It is conceived as a 4-year program, starting with a
2-year contract that is renewable for up to 2 additional years.
You will be supervised by Prof. dr. K. Beuls and Prof. dr. B.
Dumas.
Profile
- You have obtained a master’s degree in artificial intelligence, computer science, linguistics, mathematics or a related domain. You have a solid academic track record.
- You are passionate about building intelligent systems that are capable of interacting with their users and environment through natural language.
- You strive for excellence and have a scientific mindset.
- You are a loyal team player, who can work autonomously and deliver solid scientific work.
- You have strong
communication skills and a good command of English. Knowledge
of French is considered as a plus.
Additional information
For additional information please do not
hesitate to contact Prof. K. Beuls or Prof. B. Dumas (see
addresses below).
Important dates
Submission deadline: July 1st,
2022 (11h59 pm AoE).
Expected starting date: September 1st,
2022.
How to apply?
Applications should be sent by e-mail to secretar...@unamur.be, katrie...@unamur.be AND bruno...@unamur.be and
contain the following:
- A motivation letter describing your interest in the research topic
- Your CV
- A copy of your diplomas (Bachelor and Master, if available)
- A transcript with the grades you obtained for each course taken on each university year
- The name and e-mail address of two references to be contacted upon request
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