Support: Alberta Language Technology Lab

Level: PhD / MA

Institution/Organization: University of Alberta 

Duties: Research 

Specialty Areas:

Morphology;Phonetics; Computational Linguistics; Language Documentation; Text/CorpusLinguistics; Indigenous Languages; Language Revitalization 

Description:

The AlbertaLanguage Technology Lab (ALTLab) at the Department of Linguistics, Universityof Alberta is offering two graduate student positions at the PhD (4 years) orMA (2 years) level in its graduate program, to start September 2020 under theresearch project: 21st Century Tools for Indigenous Languages,funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) PartnershipGrant in 2019 – 2026, see: http://altlab.artsrn.ualberta.ca/21c.

Our Partnershipis hosted by ALTLab and led by Dr. Antti Arppe. We develop languagetechnological models, tools, and resources for Indigenous languages in Canada,starting with Plains Cree (Algonquian) and Tsuut’ina (Dene), and plan tocontinue and expand work with other languages. These resources include:intelligent electronic dictionaries, linguistically analyzed collections ofspoken and written texts, spell-checkers, language learning and practice tools,and word form analyzers and generators, created in collaboration withIndigenous communities to facilitate and support the use of their languages inall spheres of life by community members.  

Duties and responsibilities:

Beside studies in the Department’s graduate program, the graduate student will be expected to:

  • support the development or maintenance of current or future projects within ALTLab for our Partner communities

  • conduct research that falls under ALTLab research topics on the languages of our Partners and/or another Indigenous language (see past publications and list of potential research topics on our website)

Requirements:

Preferred Qualities:

  • experience in and knowledge of the phonetics/phonology and/or morphosyntax of Indigenous languages (North American Indigenous languages, in particular Plains Cree or other Algonquian language)

  • experience in computational linguistics and natural language processing (e.g. finite-state transducers, speech technology)

  • interest or experience in language documentation, language revitalization, language learning

We offer:

  • an opportunity to personally contribute to the practical retention of linguistic diversity

  • opportunities for well-rounded, comprehensive training in empirical research methods in field linguistics, psycholinguistics and corpus linguistics as well as in language technology

  • a chance to participate in an international SSHRC funded Partnership involving collaboration with partner organizations world-wide in the development of language technology and research on Indigenous languages

How toapply: 

To apply, sendby email to 21ct4il@gmail.ca (attn: Dr. Antti Arppe, ref: PhD 2020): 

  • a brief statement of research interests and relevant background

  • curriculum vitae (including possible publications and presentations)

  • university transcripts

  • at least two confidential academic letters of reference delivered directly to Dr. Arppe (arppe@ualberta.ca) by the referees

We will startconsidering applications in late-December 2019. The positions are open untilfilled, but we urge applications to be submitted by Friday Jan 3, 2020, so asto meet the Linguistics departmental regular graduate application deadline on Friday,Jan 10, 2020. These positions are for a start in September 2020.

For furtherinformation, please consult the ALTLab website: https://altlab.artsrn.ualberta.ca/call-for-phd-student-applications-deadline-january-3rd-2020/ or contact us (21ct4il@gmail.com). 

ApplicationsDeadline: 03-Jan-2020 

Mailing Address for Applications:

        Attn: Dr. AnttiArppe 

        2-40 AssiniboiaHall 

        Department ofLinguistics, University of Alberta 

        Edmonton AlbertaT6G 2E7 

        Canada 

ContactInformation: 

Partnershipoffice
21ct4il@gmail.com