Institution/Organization: University of Tübingen

Level: PhD

Duties: Research, Project Work

Specialty Areas: Computational Linguistics; Text/Corpus Linguistics

Description:

The DFG-funded project in the newly established Collaborative Research Center (SFB 1718) “Common ground”, hosted by the University of Tübingen, is inviting applications for a PhD position in Computational Linguistics (75%, TV-L 13 scale, approximately €3.400 per month before taxes and obligatory insurances). The position is associated with project C2 “Signaling and Interpreting Defectivity in Common Ground: Face-to-Face, Voice-Only, and Text-Only Communication” The position begins on 01 October 2025 and ends on 30 June 2029.

The aim of this interdisciplinary, cross-linguistic project is to investigate the commonalities or the differences between the cues (verbal, prosodic, gestural, textual) that are employed to signal or interpret irony across different modalities in different communication environments. For the advertised PhD researcher position, this work involves written and multi-modal corpora development and analysis, and working with computational models of irony and analysis. Specifically, the PhD candidate is expected to contribute corpora preparation (collection and organizing the annotation), use machine learning approaches for irony detection, and testing for experimental and corpora data correlation.

Requirements:
- A master’s degree in Computational Linguistics, Computer Science or related fields.
- Solid background in Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing
- Experience with corpus collection and annotation
- Familiarity with experimental design and statistical analysis methods
- Fluency in English

Not required, but desirable:
- Familiarity with speech processing, or willingness to work with them
- Experience with multi-modal machine learning methods
- Familiarity with formal linguistics, particularly formal semantics and pragmatics

We encourage applications from individuals who closely align with the profile of the ideal candidate, even if not all criteria are fully met. If you believe your experience and skills broadly match the description, we would be pleased to hear from you.

The following application documents should be sent to Çağrı Çöltekin <[email protected]> via email.
- A short (two pages, max.) cover letter with your research interests and your motivation for applying to this position
- Your academic CV, including email addresses of two referees
- An academic transcript
- A sample of academic writing (master’s thesis, or another publication or term paper, if the thesis is not complete at the time of application)

The deadline for submitting applications is 24 July 2025 at 23:59 (Berlin time). Interviews will be conducted via Zoom on 30 and/or 31 July 2025. Candidates shortlisted for interview will be notified as soon as possible after the submission deadline.

Email Address for Applications: [email protected]