Job ad for CLST, Radboud University Nijmegen

[Henk van den Heuvel]

Dear Mme/ Sir,

Would you be so kind as to include the appended job ad in you
distribution letter or website ? (See text below signature)

Thanks!

Henk van den Heuvel
---------------------------------------------------------
CLST / SPEX
Radboud University Nijmegen
Erasmusplein 1
NL-6525 HT Nijmegen
Netherlands
----------------------------------------------------------
Tel : +31 24 3611686
Fax : +31 24 3612907
e-mail: H.vandenHeuvel at let.ru.nl
http://www.ru.nl/clst
http://www.spex.nl
---------------------------------------------------------


PhD 'Topic and Speaker Tracking in Broadcast Archives'  (1.0 fte)


Faculty of Arts
Vacancy number: 23.35.08
Closing date: 31-08-2008

Job description
The project focuses on indexing and retrieving information in
multimedia archives, more specifically of programmes broadcasted by
the Flemish broadcasting corporation VRT. The eventual goal of the
project is to retrieve fragments in documents that concern specific
topics or specific speakers. To that end broadcast documents must be
segmented in fragments dealing with a specific topic or in fragments
that are spoken by one and the same speaker. All speech must be
automatically transcribed in text so that the fragments can be
indexed. The task of the PhD is to carry out a requirements analysis,
investigate topic detection scenarios, apply speaker detection
techniques, and to develop and test an interactive retrieval
procedures. The PhD thesis will consist of a collection of journal
papers about the project elements mentioned above.

The project will be carried out in close collaboration with the
Catholic University of Leuven (Prof. H. Van Hamme).

Requirements:
The successful candidate must have a strong background in signal
processing and pattern recognition and  computer science. In addition,
he/she must have an interest in human factors issues and user
interface design. Good communication skills in English are essential,
as well as a good record of collaboration in teams. Candidates must
have been authorized to work in the EU.

Organization
The Faculty of Arts consists of eleven departments in the area of
language and culture, history, history of arts, linguistics and
business communication, which together cater for about 2,700 students
and collaborate closely in teaching and research. The project will be
carried out at the research institute Centre for Language Studies as
part of the Linguistic Information Processing research programme.

Conditions of employment
The total duration of the contract is 3.5 years. The PhD student will
receive an initial contract for the duration of 18 months with the
possibility of prolongation for another 2 years.

Informal enquiries should be made to Prof Dr David van Leeuwen (T +31
(0)346 356235; E david.vanleeuwen at gmail.com) or prof. dr Lou Boves (T
+31 (0)24 361 2902; E L.Boves at let.ru.nl).

Additional information
The starting gross salary is € 2.000 per month based on a full-time employment.
Preferable starting date: December 2008.