Professor in Human Language Processing / Natural Language Processing

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Detail information about job Professor in Human Language Processing / Natural Language Processing. Terms and conditions vacancy

The School

This permanent appointment of a Professor in the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering represents a prospect of exceptional promise for a senior academic working in the area of Human Language Technology / Natural Language Processing.

Founded in 1966, Essex University’s School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering is one of the oldest in the UK. Natural language processing has been a key area of its research for more than 40 years and much of this work is being conducted as part of the School’s Human Language Technology group as well as the interdisciplinary Language and Computation group. The work of these groups is based on three main pillars: natural language processing, information retrieval and formal semantics as well as their intersections. 

The School is open to a wide range of research interests in this area, including (but not limited to):

• Text summarisation
• Question-answering
• Natural language processing for information retrieval
• Sentiment analysis
• Machine translation
• Natural language processing and human-computer interaction
• Crowdsourcing
• Gamification

The Role and Duties

This is a major appointment which presents an outstanding opportunity to shape the future direction of the School’s research in this area.

We are now seeking an enthusiastic Professor to take on a lead role in the natural language processing strand of this work. The research groups have also strong links to other groups such as the Artificial Intelligence Group and the Games Intelligence Group. In recent years we have managed to obtain funding from a diverse set of sources including EPSRC, ESRC, EU, InnovateUK among others and we have also developed close links with industry. Part of our work with industry is the drive to turn our research into practical applications working with partners ranging from tech start-ups to human rights organisations. 

The successful candidate will be expected to engage in a sustained successful and influential way with high-quality research grant applications as indicated by external grading, and leading collaborations with other institutions and bodies that are of demonstrable benefit to the University where appropriate.

The candidate will also offer a vision and take leadership of research initiatives and research groups, supervise Masters and PhD students, as well as undergraduate projects, design and deliver a broad range of innovative teaching potentially at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Duties will also include taking on senior administrative and management roles in the School and participating in the preparation and review of journal publications and of presentations at international conferences as well as pursue research of internationally-recognised importance and quality that will make a significant contribution to the University’s submission to future Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercises, enhancing the international profile of the University and contribute to the development of its communities of research.

Qualifications and Skills

Candidates should have a PhD in a relevant discipline and relevant academic expertise in human language technology / natural language processing or a related area. Examples of related areas include but are not limited to human-computer interaction, information retrieval and cognitive science. Candidates should also have a proven track record of internationally excellent research in areas relevant to human language technology/ natural language processing as well as a strong track record of published academic output at international levels of recognition, with demonstrable evidence of a clear publication plan for submission to future REF programmes.

You should also have the ability to assimilate, interpret and disseminate scientific data and information from different sources and to communicate information appropriately to different types of stakeholders and the ability to establish positive and effective working relationships and partnerships with senior colleagues, academic staff and a broad range of internal and external stakeholders to deliver against a complex portfolio of activities. This permanent, full-time post will be based at our Colchester Campus.

We strongly encourage applications from women as they are underrepresented in this area.

At the University of Essex internationalism is central to who we are and what we do. We are committed to being a cosmopolitan, internationally-oriented university that is welcoming to staff and students from all countries and a university where you can find the world in one place.

Please use the ‘Apply’ button below to read further information about this role including the full job description and person specification which outlines the full duties, skills, qualifications and experience needed for this role. You will also find details of how to make your application here.

Our website http://www.essex.ac.uk contains more information about the University of Essex. If you have a disability and would like information in a different format, please telephone (01206) 874693 / 873521.

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