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PhD student position in computational humanities (folktale classification; graduate in CS or AI), Twente (The Netherlands), Deadline: 4 March 2012 (in two days!)

PhD-position: folktale classification and clustering

In the faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science of 
the University of Twente we have recently started the FACT project (Folktales 
as Classifiable Texts). FACT is funded under the CATCH program of NWO, the 
Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research. The CATCH program is aimed at 
collaboration between computer science, humanities, and cultural heritage 
institutions.

The challenge
The FACT project investigates new possibilities for humanities researchers 
(folktale researchers, narratologists, documentalists, etc.) to study folktales 
based on annotations and relations that have been automatically assigned using 
data-driven methods. The Dutch Folktale Database (Nederlandse 
Volksverhalenbank, www.verhalenbank.nl) of the Meertens Institute is a very 
large and varied collection of Dutch Folktales. It holds folktales in standard 
Dutch, Frysian, various Dutch dialects and historical Dutch. Within FACT, 
software will be developed to automatically enrich the folktales in this 
collection with metadata such as names, keywords, genre, a summary and type. An 
additional research goal is to investigate if automatic analysis of the 
folktale collection can reveal relations between folktales that are difficult 
to discover through human inspection. The annotation and clustering methods to 
be developed will be integrated in a user-friendly XML-based platform for the 
annotation and exploration of folktales, to support research on the variability 
of human oral and written transmission.

The work of the PhD-student in FACT will focus on automatic classification of 
folktales by their international folktale type (based on the 
Aarne-Thompson-Uther index, among others) and on unsupervised clustering of 
folktales, to provide new input for humanities research. The other members of 
the FACT team are a postdoc and a scientific programmer, who will be working 
together with the PhD-student to achieve the project goals. In addition there 
will be close cooperation with the Tunes & Tales project (funded under the 
Computational Humanities program of KNAW) that is aimed at investigating 
sequences of motifs in, and variability of, melodies and folktales in oral 
transmission. (http://ehumanities.nl/tunes-tales).

Our offer
We offer a full-time PhD-position for 4 years (preferred starting date: March 
2012). The starting salary will be ? 2042,- gross per month in the first year 
up to ? 2612,- gross per month in the last year. Additional benefits include 
holiday allowance and end-of-year allowance. Also, there will be opportunities 
to participate in various training courses and to visit national and 
international conferences and workshops, summer schools etc. The PhD-student 
will be employed at the University of Twente, but will work most of the time 
?on site? at the Meertens Institute in Amsterdam (http://www.meertens.knaw.nl).

Your profile

     Master degree in computer science, natural language processing, artificial 
intelligence or a related discipline (with a specialization in natural language 
processing)
     Knowledge of, and preferably practical experience with, corpus?based 
methods for text analysis, machine learning, document classification and/or 
clustering
     Good programming skills
     Affinity with humanities research
     Ability to work in a multidisciplinary team
     Good oral and written communication skills
     Proficiency in English
     Familiarity with the Dutch language is a plus


For more information please contact Mariët Theune (m.theune@utwente.nl / +31 
(0)53 4893718) or Theo Meder (theo.meder@meertens.knaw.nl / +31 (0)20 4628558). 
Please use these email addresses only for obtaining information!

Please send your applications by filling out the application form through the 
link below, before 4 March 2012. Applications should include a motivation 
letter, Curriculum Vitae (with publication list, if applicable), a list of 
courses followed and grades obtained, a relevant research paper and/or thesis, 
and one or two references.

The organisation
The University of Twente. We stand for life sciences and technology. High tech 
and human touch. Education and research that matter. New technology which 
drives change, innovation and progress in society. The University of Twente is 
the only campus university in the Netherlands; divided over six faculties we 
provide more than fifty educational programmes. The University of Twente has a 
strong focus on personal development and talented researchers are given scope 
for carrying out pioneering research.

The faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) 
comprises three disciplines that shape Information and Communication 
Technology. ICT is more than communication. In almost every product we use 
mathematics, electronics and computer technology and ICT now contributes to all 
of societies' activities. The faculty works together intensively with 
industrial partners and researchers in the Netherlands and abroad and conducts 
extensive research for external commissioning parties and funders. The research 
which enjoys a high profile both at home and internationally, has been 
accommodated in the multidisciplinary research institutes MESA+, CTIT and MIRA.

To apply for this position visit AcademicTransfer for the original posting, and 
many other scientific vacancies.
http://www.academictransfer.com/12865