[Switzerland] PhD Studentship Computational Linguistics – University of Geneva

 Applications are invited for a PhD position in the Computational Learning and Computational Linguistics (CLCL) group of the University of Geneva (http://clcl.unige.ch/). The successful candidate will pursue research in
connection with a project on statistical machine translation funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, in collaboration with researchers in Geneva’s Linguistics Department and the IDIAP Research Institute.
Candidates should have a solid background in computer science or computational linguistics. They should have excellent programming skills as well as communication skills in English (and ideally in French as well).
Preference will be given to candidates with a strong interest and/or experience in machine learning or statistical methods, and in computational linguistics or natural language processing. A strong academic record,
excellent analytical skills, and a clear aptitude for autonomous, creative research will be priority selection criteria.
Funding is guaranteed for 3 years through a Swiss National Science Foundation PhD studentship, with a possible extension for a fourth year. Starting salary will be around the range 3300-4400 CHF/month (gross)
depending on the conditions of employment (1 CHF = 0.66 EUR).

The position is available starting 1 March 2010 or soon thereafter. We will
begin considering applications immediately, and will give priority to
applications received before 30 November 2009.
How to apply:
Applicants should send their curriculum vitae, academic transcripts
indicating their degrees and all their courses with grades, a statement of
purpose, and names and addresses (with e-mail and telephone number) of at
least two references to the email address James.Henderson@unige.ch, or to
the postal address given below. Electronic applications are strongly preferred.
Informal inquiries should be directed to Dr. James Henderson at
James.Henderson@unige.ch or Dr. Paola Merlo at Paola.Merlo@unige.ch.
About the institution:
CLCL is an interdisciplinary group between the Artificial Intelligence
Laboratory of the Computer Science Department and the Laboratory for the
Analysis and Technology of Language of the Linguistics Department. Further
information on related research activities of the CLCL group can be found
on the CLCL group’s website (http://clcl.unige.ch/) and on the home pages
of Dr. James Henderson (http://cui.unige.ch/~hendersj/) and Dr. Paola Merlo
(http://www.latl.unige.ch/personal/paola.html).
The University of Geneva is one of the leading research universities in
Europe and offers excellent working conditions, as well as a stimulating
scientific environment. The University of Geneva wishes to increase the
proportion of female academic staff and, for this reason, especially
welcomes applications from women.
Keywords: computational linguistics, natural language processing, machine
learning, machine translation
Application Deadline: 07-Dec-2009
Mailing Address for Applications:
Dr James Henderson
CUI – University of Geneva
Battelle bâtiment A
7 route de Drize
Carouge, Geneva CH-1227
Switzerland
Email: James.Henderson@unige.ch