*1 year post-doc/engineer position at LIA, Avignon France, in the Vocal
Interaction Group*
==================================================================
        Multimodal man-robot interface for social spaces

keywords: AI, ML, DNN, RL, NLP, dialogue, vision, robotics

Starting job date (desired): March 2020.
==================================================================
## Work description

###Project Summary

Automation and optimisation of *verbal interactions of a
socially-competent robot*, guided by its *multimodal perceptions*

Facing a steady increase in the ageing population and the prevalence of
chronic diseases, social robots are promising tools to include in the
health care system. Yet extant assistive robots are not well suited to
such context as their communication abilities cannot handle social
spaces (several meters and group of persons) but rather face-to-face
individual interactions in quiet environments. In order to overcome
these limitations and eventually aiming at natural man-robot
interaction, the objectives of the work will be multifold.

First and foremost we intend to leverage the rich information available
with audio and visual flows of data coming from humans to extract verbal
and non-verbal features. These features will be used to enhance the
robot's decision-making ability such that it can smoothly take speech
turns and switch from interaction with a group of people to face-to-face
dialogue and back. Secondly online and continual learning of the
advanced system will be investigated.

Outcomes of the project will be implemented onto a commercially
available social robot (most likely a Pepper) and validated with several
in-situ use cases. A large-scale data collection will complement in-situ
tests to fuel further researches. Essential competencies to address our
overall objectives lie in dialogue systems / NLP, yet knowledges in
vision and robotics would also be necessary. And in any case good
command of deep learning techniques and tools is mandatory (including
reinforcement learning for dialogue strategy training).

### Requirements

- Master or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Computational
  Linguistics, Mathematics, Engineering or related fields
- Expertise in NLP / Dialog systems. Strong knowledge of current NLP /
  Interactive / Speech techniques is expected. Previous experience with
  dialogue and interaction and/or vision data is a strong plus.
- Knowledge in Vision and/or Robotics are plusses.
- Strong programming skills, Python/C++ programmer of DNN models 
  (preferably with pytorch)
- Expertise in Unix environments
- Good spoken and written command of English is required. *French is
  optional.*
- Good writing skills, as evidenced through publications at top venues
  (e.g., ACL, EMNLP, SigDial etc) is a plus, for post-doc.

## Place

Bordered by the left bank of the Rhône Avignon is one of the most
beautiful city in Provence, for some time capital of Christendom in the
Middle Ages. The important remains of a past rich in history give the
city its unique atmosphere: dozens of churches and chapels, the "Palais
des Papes" (palace of the popes) the most important gothic palace in
Europe), the Saint-Benezet brigde, called the « pont d'Avignon » of
worldwide fame through its commemoration by the song, and the ramparts
that still encircle the entire city, ten museums from then ancient times
to contemporary art.

The 94,787 inhabitants of the city, about 12,000 live in the ancient
town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts. Avignon is not only the
birthplace of the most prestigious festival of contemporary theatre,
European Capital of Culture in 2000, but also the largest city and
capital of the département of Vaucluse. The region offers a high quality
of urban life at comparatively still modest costs. In addition to this,
the region of Avignon also offers the opportunity to visit numerous
monuments and natural beauty sites easily accessible in a very short
time: Avignon is the ideal destination for visiting Provence.

LIA is the computer science lab of Avignon University:
http://lia.univ-avignon.fr.

## Conditions

Net monthly salary: 1500-2100 ¤ (depending on the candidate's
experience). Basic healthcare coverage included
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_France).

The position carries no direct teaching load, but if desired, teaching
BSc or MSc level courses is a possibility (paid extra hours), as is
supervision of student dissertation projects.

Initial employment is 12 months, extension is possible. For engineer,
shift to a PhD position is possible.

## Applications

No deadline: applications are possible until the position is filled.

To apply, send the following documents *as a single PDF* to
fabrice.lefevre@univ-avignon.fr:

* Statement of research interests that motivates your application
* CV, including the list of publications if any
* Scans of transcripts and academic degree certificates
* MSc/PhD dissertation and/or any other writing samples
* Coding samples or links to your contributions to public code
  repositories, if any
* Names, affiliations, and contact details of up to three people who can
  provide reference letters for you