Researcher in Philosophy (University of Gothenburg)

Reference number PAR 2025/80 The University of Gothenburg tackles society’s challenges with diverse knowledge. 56 000 students and 6 600 employees make the university a large and inspiring place to work and study. Strong research and attractive study programmes attract researchers and students from around the world. With new knowledge and new perspectives, the University contributes to a better future. We welcome applicants with diverse backgrounds and experiences. The University works actively to achieve a working environment with equal conditions and values the qualities that diversity brings to its operations.  We offer The University of Gothenburg is a state authority, which means excellent employment benefits such as wellness time during working hours, compensation for medical visits, a base vacation of 28 days, and an occupational pension. You can read more about our employment benefits here.  At the Department of Philosophy, Linguistics, and Theory of Science (FLoV) within the Faculty of Humanities, we have around 120 employees and a teaching volume that includes around 350 full-year students. We are engaged in numerous large international and interdisciplinary research projects in areas such as theoretical and practical philosophy, logic, linguistics, computational linguistics, language technology, and theory of science. Our research has many applications and collaborations with other scientific fields, including biology, computer science, economics, history of ideas, law, medicine, psychology, religion, political science, and engineering. We educate philosophers, logicians, linguists, language technologists, theorists of science, historians of philosophy, and teachers of philosophy. The department also conducts doctoral education and development work within its various academic domains. If you are interested in working in an international, dynamic and collaborative environment, FLoV offers an inspiring setting for research and education. Read more about us here.  Project description The research group in cognitive systems is part of computational linguistics/ language technology that addresses questions from the perspective of computational language modelling in relation to other modalities. Researchers work on (i) multimodal language models (computational semantics), (iii) representational approach in language models and inference, (ii) interpretation and generation of spatial descriptions and reference, (iii) multimodal dialogue and robotics, (iv) interactive learning with small data, (v) data bias and privacy, and related topics. The researcher will conduct their research in the Swedish Research Council's funded project "Beyond pixels and words: language technology generation and understanding of spatial language in interaction" (2023-01552). The project is led by Professor Simon Dobnik. For a description of the project, see the website via Simon Dobnik \| University of Gothenburg (gu.se). The main project’s aim is to improve the learning of multimodal language models for interactive artificial agents. These models should not only recognise patterns in visual and textual data, but also be used in interaction and consider a wider range semantic aspects relevant for their understanding. Spatial descriptions and references, such as "bring the red book with me on the table next to my bed", offer many open challenges for large multimodal language models and situated dialogue systems. Interpretation and generation of language and action requires the integration of information from multiple modalities (language, image, scene geometry, world knowledge, interaction with interlocutors and environment) and learning instances (on-line and off-line with transfer learning), adaptation to different contexts and continuous learning from small data. Subject area Computational Linguistics / language technology Subject area description  The project falls within computational linguistics/ language technology and connects linguistics and psychology with machine learning, computer science, computer vision, image analysis and robotics and answers questions in the field of artificial intelligence. We will create new interactive machine learning methods that will enable situated agents to learn and use spatial descriptions that refer to their environment by engaging in situated dialogues with humans. This is important when applying AI technology based on deep neural networks to our daily lives because it allows it to adapt to and learn continuously from limited interactions with people who are not expert programmers and their ever-changing environment. Duties As a researcher, you will work with other participants in the project and will be involved in all parts that include (i) the development of new computational models of spatial descriptions in interaction, (ii) the development of new methods for continuous interactive learning from small data in virtual environments or with interactive robots, (iii) adaptation and improvement of (large) multimodal language models to continuous interactive learning, (iv) collection of interaction data and evaluation of systems; (v) publication and presentation of research in a scientific and popular science context. A smaller part of the employment may involve work tasks other than research, such as management, coordination, teaching or educational development. The extent of such tasks will be determined in agreement with the researcher. The holder of the position is expected to carry out their research on site at campus of the University of Gothenburg and to actively participate in workshops, seminars, and conferences. The working language of the research group is English. Qualifications To be eligible for this position the applicant must have completed a doctoral degree or a foreign degree that is deemed to correspond to a doctoral degree. Required: programming in Python machine learning with neural networks, such as Pytorch Meritorious: Experience of: multi-modal language models multimodal grounding of language in action and perception integration of knowledge-based representations into language models, e.g. knowledge graphs situated agents, robots, virtual environment (ROS, Habitat AI, Blender and Unity) computational modelling of spatial language testing and evaluation with statistical analysis of model and interactive systems collection and evaluation of research data, e.g. with crowd-sourcing. We are looking for someone who is organised and quality-conscious in their work, but also flexible and enterprising, with good problem-solving analytical skills and scientific publishing. Good ability to collaborate and communicate in English in speech and writing is also central to the assignment. We attach importance to personal suitability. Employment Type of employment: Permanent employment Extent: 100% Location: Department of Philosophy, Linguistics and Theory of Science, Gothenburg First day of employment: May 1, 2025, or by agreement Salaries are set individually at the University. Selection process After the application deadline, the department's recruitment group will review the applications and assess a shortlist, after which candidates will be called for interviews. Depending on the size of the shortlist, multiple interview stages may be necessary, including the completion of a case task or work sample. The appointment may be appealed to the Higher Education Appeals Board. The time for appeal is three weeks from the date of the announcement of the decision. More information regarding the University’s recruitment process you will find here. Contact information For questions regarding the position, subject, research project, responsibilities, or the workplace, please contact project lead Simon Dobnik, simon.dobnik@gu.se, +46 (0)31- 786 6917 For questions regarding the application, recruitment process, or employment conditions, please contact HR-officer Jennifer Stråle, jennifer.strale@gu.se +46 (0)31- 786 4570 Unions Information regarding union representatives at the University of Gothenburg, see link. Application Submit your application via the University of Gothenburg’s vacancies website, here, select the advert for this position, and follow the link marked ‘Apply’ at the bottom of the page. It is your responsibility to ensure that the application is complete as per the vacancy notice, and that the University receives it by the final application deadline. Please note that the following documents should be attached to the application (in PDF-format): Personal letter of maximum 1000 words (approximately 1 page). The letter must consist of four paragraphs in the following order: a) a short presentation of yourself, b) a short presentation of your merits, c) a short presentation of the intended research project and d) a short account for why the Department of Philosophy, Linguistics and Theory of Science and the project is of interest to you and (e) a description of previous scientific and pedagogical work and how this relates to the subject/project. Research plan (maximum 2 pages): About the research you would like to conduct in the position and how it relates to the subject or the specific projects at hand A CV listing academic degrees, employments, publications, and other relevant merits Doctoral degree certificate Doctoral thesis At most five scientific publications and a separate list of these documents Appendices (optional) Any documents that are not available in electronic format should be mailed to: University of Gothenburg, HR administrator, FLoV, Box 200, SE-405 30 Gothenburg, SWEDEN. Reference number should be clearly stated on the mailed documents. The documents must be received no later than three days after the application deadline, or the sender must be able to show that the documents were posted no later than the deadline for electronic applications. We welcome applications written in English, since a non-Swedish speaking person may be appointed as external assessor in the recruitment process. References for candidates in the final selection may be requested. Applications must be received by: 24 March, 2025 Information for International Applicants Choosing a career in a foreign country is a big step. Thus, to give you a general idea of what we and Gothenburg have to offer in terms of benefits and life in general for you and your family/spouse/partner please visit: https://www.gu.se/en/about-the-university/welcome-services https://www.movetogothenburg.com/   The University works actively to achieve a working environment with equal conditions, and values the qualities that diversity brings to its operations. Salaries are set individually at the University. In accordance with the National Archives of Sweden’s regulations, the University must archive application documents for two years after the appointment is filled. If you request that your documents are returned, they will be returned to you once the two years have passed. Otherwise, they will be destroyed. In connection to this recruitment, we have already decided which recruitment channels we should use. We therefore decline further contact with vendors, recruitment and staffing companies. If you apply for this position please say you saw it on Educaloxy

Reference number PAR 2025/80

The University of Gothenburg tackles society’s challenges with diverse knowledge. 56 000 students and 6 600 employees make the university a large and inspiring place to work and study. Strong research and attractive study programmes attract researchers and students from around the world. With new knowledge and new perspectives, the University contributes to a better future.

We welcome applicants with diverse backgrounds and experiences. The University works actively to achieve a working environment with equal conditions and values the qualities that diversity brings to its operations. 

We offer

The University of Gothenburg is a state authority, which means excellent employment benefits such as wellness time during working hours, compensation for medical visits, a base vacation of 28 days, and an occupational pension. You can read more about our employment benefits here. 

At the Department of Philosophy, Linguistics, and Theory of Science (FLoV) within the Faculty of Humanities, we have around 120 employees and a teaching volume that includes around 350 full-year students. We are engaged in numerous large international and interdisciplinary research projects in areas such as theoretical and practical philosophy, logic, linguistics, computational linguistics, language technology, and theory of science. Our research has many applications and collaborations with other scientific fields, including biology, computer science, economics, history of ideas, law, medicine, psychology, religion, political science, and engineering. We educate philosophers, logicians, linguists, language technologists, theorists of science, historians of philosophy, and teachers of philosophy. The department also conducts doctoral education and development work within its various academic domains. If you are interested in working in an international, dynamic and collaborative environment, FLoV offers an inspiring setting for research and education. Read more about us here. 

Project description

The research group in cognitive systems is part of computational linguistics/ language technology that addresses questions from the perspective of computational language modelling in relation to other modalities. Researchers work on (i) multimodal language models (computational semantics), (iii) representational approach in language models and inference, (ii) interpretation and generation of spatial descriptions and reference, (iii) multimodal dialogue and robotics, (iv) interactive learning with small data, (v) data bias and privacy, and related topics.

The researcher will conduct their research in the Swedish Research Council's funded project "Beyond pixels and words: language technology generation and understanding of spatial language in interaction" (2023-01552). The project is led by Professor Simon Dobnik. For a description of the project, see the website via Simon Dobnik | University of Gothenburg (gu.se).

The main project’s aim is to improve the learning of multimodal language models for interactive artificial agents. These models should not only recognise patterns in visual and textual data, but also be used in interaction and consider a wider range semantic aspects relevant for their understanding. Spatial descriptions and references, such as "bring the red book with me on the table next to my bed", offer many open challenges for large multimodal language models and situated dialogue systems. Interpretation and generation of language and action requires the integration of information from multiple modalities (language, image, scene geometry, world knowledge, interaction with interlocutors and environment) and learning instances (on-line and off-line with transfer learning), adaptation to different contexts and continuous learning from small data.

Subject area

Computational Linguistics / language technology

Subject area description 

The project falls within computational linguistics/ language technology and connects linguistics and psychology with machine learning, computer science, computer vision, image analysis and robotics and answers questions in the field of artificial intelligence. We will create new interactive machine learning methods that will enable situated agents to learn and use spatial descriptions that refer to their environment by engaging in situated dialogues with humans. This is important when applying AI technology based on deep neural networks to our daily lives because it allows it to adapt to and learn continuously from limited interactions with people who are not expert programmers and their ever-changing environment.

Duties

As a researcher, you will work with other participants in the project and will be involved in all parts that include (i) the development of new computational models of spatial descriptions in interaction, (ii) the development of new methods for continuous interactive learning from small data in virtual environments or with interactive robots, (iii) adaptation and improvement of (large) multimodal language models to continuous interactive learning, (iv) collection of interaction data and evaluation of systems; (v) publication and presentation of research in a scientific and popular science context.

A smaller part of the employment may involve work tasks other than research, such as management, coordination, teaching or educational development. The extent of such tasks will be determined in agreement with the researcher.

The holder of the position is expected to carry out their research on site at campus of the University of Gothenburg and to actively participate in workshops, seminars, and conferences. The working language of the research group is English.

Qualifications

To be eligible for this position the applicant must have completed a doctoral degree or a foreign degree that is deemed to correspond to a doctoral degree.

Required:

programming in Python

machine learning with neural networks, such as Pytorch

Meritorious:

Experience of:

multi-modal language models

multimodal grounding of language in action and perception

integration of knowledge-based representations into language models, e.g. knowledge graphs

situated agents, robots, virtual environment (ROS, Habitat AI, Blender and Unity)

computational modelling of spatial language

testing and evaluation with statistical analysis of model and interactive systems

collection and evaluation of research data, e.g. with crowd-sourcing.

We are looking for someone who is organised and quality-conscious in their work, but also flexible and enterprising, with good problem-solving analytical skills and scientific publishing. Good ability to collaborate and communicate in English in speech and writing is also central to the assignment. We attach importance to personal suitability.

Employment

Type of employment: Permanent employment
Extent: 100%
Location: Department of Philosophy, Linguistics and Theory of Science, Gothenburg
First day of employment: May 1, 2025, or by agreement

Salaries are set individually at the University.

Selection process

After the application deadline, the department's recruitment group will review the applications and assess a shortlist, after which candidates will be called for interviews. Depending on the size of the shortlist, multiple interview stages may be necessary, including the completion of a case task or work sample.

The appointment may be appealed to the Higher Education Appeals Board. The time for appeal is three weeks from the date of the announcement of the decision.

More information regarding the University’s recruitment process you will find here.

Contact information

For questions regarding the position, subject, research project, responsibilities, or the workplace, please contact project lead Simon Dobnik, simon.dobnik@gu.se, +46 (0)31- 786 6917

For questions regarding the application, recruitment process, or employment conditions, please contact HR-officer Jennifer Stråle, jennifer.strale@gu.se +46 (0)31- 786 4570

Unions

Information regarding union representatives at the University of Gothenburg, see link.

Application

Submit your application via the University of Gothenburg’s vacancies website, here, select the advert for this position, and follow the link marked ‘Apply’ at the bottom of the page. It is your responsibility to ensure that the application is complete as per the vacancy notice, and that the University receives it by the final application deadline.

Please note that the following documents should be attached to the application (in PDF-format):

Personal letter of maximum 1000 words (approximately 1 page). The letter must consist of four paragraphs in the following order: a) a short presentation of yourself, b) a short presentation of your merits, c) a short presentation of the intended research project and d) a short account for why the Department of Philosophy, Linguistics and Theory of Science and the project is of interest to you and (e) a description of previous scientific and pedagogical work and how this relates to the subject/project.

Research plan (maximum 2 pages): About the research you would like to conduct in the position and how it relates to the subject or the specific projects at hand

A CV listing academic degrees, employments, publications, and other relevant merits

Doctoral degree certificate

Doctoral thesis

At most five scientific publications and a separate list of these documents

Appendices (optional)

Any documents that are not available in electronic format should be mailed to: University of Gothenburg, HR administrator, FLoV, Box 200, SE-405 30 Gothenburg, SWEDEN. Reference number should be clearly stated on the mailed documents. The documents must be received no later than three days after the application deadline, or the sender must be able to show that the documents were posted no later than the deadline for electronic applications.

We welcome applications written in English, since a non-Swedish speaking person may be appointed as external assessor in the recruitment process.

References for candidates in the final selection may be requested.

Applications must be received by: 24 March, 2025

Information for International Applicants

Choosing a career in a foreign country is a big step. Thus, to give you a general idea of what we and Gothenburg have to offer in terms of benefits and life in general for you and your family/spouse/partner please visit:

https://www.gu.se/en/about-the-university/welcome-services
https://www.movetogothenburg.com/

The University works actively to achieve a working environment with equal conditions, and values the qualities that diversity brings to its operations.

Salaries are set individually at the University.

In accordance with the National Archives of Sweden’s regulations, the University must archive application documents for two years after the appointment is filled. If you request that your documents are returned, they will be returned to you once the two years have passed. Otherwise, they will be destroyed.

In connection to this recruitment, we have already decided which recruitment channels we should use. We therefore decline further contact with vendors, recruitment and staffing companies.

If you apply for this position please say you saw it on Educaloxy

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