30-month Postdoctoral Researcher in Natural Language Processing for Kids
Place: Lannion
Submitted by Gwenole LECORVE on Tue 10 Dec 2019 - 10h30
Department:  D6 - MEDIA AND INTERACTIONS
Team: EXPRESSION

Context: 

IRISA (https://www.irisa.fr/) is the largest research laboratory
dedicated to computer science in France, hosting more than 800 people
and 40 research teams. Its activities spans all fields of computer
science. It is located in Rennes, Lannion, and Vannes. The Expression
team (https://www-expression.irisa.fr/) works on natural language
processing (NLP), be it through texts, speech or gestures. In
particular, it focuses on the expressive components of the human
languages.


The opened position is part of the very recent ANR (French National
Research Agency) TextToKids project which aims at facilitating the
writing and the filtering of texts for children, especially but not
only in order to tell them about current events (e.g., presidential
elections, Brexit, reception of migrants in France, etc.) in respect
of their language skills. The consortium, which brings together
linguists, computer scientists and specialized journalists, will seek
to characterize the linguistic constraints to be respected for such a
purpose and to propose assistive tools (text analysis, search engine,
reformulation, good practices). The activities are conducted on
French.

The contract is for 30 months, with a first period of 18 months and an
extension of 12 months.

Mission: 

- Propose, develop and compare NLP models to predict age
  recommendation for a given sentence or text. Models should compare
  expert and machine learning approaches.

- Propose and develop explanation and reformulation tools for
  sentences and texts, i.e. tools that provide either explanations
  about why text chunks are inadequate, and informational hints or
  textual suggestions to rewrite them.

- Handle software integration with partners and interact with them
  accordingly.

Requirement and Profile: 

    PhD in Natural Language Processing or Machine Learning
    Programming skills (Python) and scripting (shell)
    Linux

Required Diploma:  PhD
Lieu de travail: IRISA / Campus of Lannion
Type of contrat: Non-tenured
Durée du contrat (en mois): 30
Quotité: 100%
Salary (before tax) / Month ¤: Competive, depeding on the experience
Date prévisionnelle d'embauche: Spring 2020

How to apply: 

Send a cover letter, a resume, and references by email to:

    Dr. Gwénolé Lecorvé, gwenole.lecorve@irisa.fr ;
    Dr. Jonathan Chevelu, jonathan.chevelu@irisa.fr ;
    Dr. Nicolas Béchet, nicolas.bechet@irisa.fr .

Applications will be processed as they arise.