Logic List Mailing Archive
Researcher position in Linguistics & Argumentation Theory, Dundee (Scotland), Deadline: 14 May 2021 (tomorrow!)
Vacancy for
Researcher in Linguistics & Argumentation Theory
Fixed Term 30 Months
Grade 7 (32,817 ? 40,322)
www.arg.tech
The Centre for Argument Technology at the University of Dundee in Scotland
is looking to appoint a postdoctoral researcher in linguistics and
argumentation theory to contribute to work on a new project in partnership
with the University of Potsdam and the United Nations exploring conflict
at UN Security Council meetings.
1. Background
This appointment will be in the Centre for Argument Technology
(www.arg.tech) in Computing within the School of Science and Engineering.
Centre for Argument Technology ARG-tech is one of the world?s leading
research groups in the computational application of theories of argument.
As an interdisciplinary team, we focus on developing foundational theory
in philosophy, linguistics and cognitive science that facilitates the
development of practical AI applications. The goal is to help improve,
teach, track and navigate the discussions and debates that run our
governments, structure scientific research, underpin the corporate
boardroom, drive legal process and frame religious beliefs. Our research
has attracted funding of over 8m, and we have over 200 refereed papers in
print. Our freely available software tools such as OVA (for performing
argument analysis) have tens of thousands of users, we have pioneered
robust new standards such as the AIF and we have the largest freely
accessible corpus of analysed argumentation anywhere in the world in
AIFdb. The group also hosted the editorial office for the journal Argument
and Computation from its inception in 2010 until 2016. Our collaborations
and consultancy with commercial and government organisations including
IBM, DSTL and the BBC have driven our focus on end-user impact, and our
public communication in print and broadcast media has reached over 30
million people.
The University of Dundee aims to transform lives locally and globally
through the creation, sharing and application of knowledge. Dundee is
ranked 4th in the UK (2nd in Scotland) for student satisfaction in 2019,
20th in the World (4th in the UK) in the 2019 Times Higher Education
University Impact Rankings, 14th in the World for the highest proportion
of highly cited publications in the 2019 CWTS Leiden Rankings, and 84th in
the World for research quality in the Nature Index 2019. The University is
a diverse community and is committed to equality of opportunity for all by
providing a supportive, flexible and inclusive working environment. We
have family-friendly policies (including flexible working and childcare
vouchers), staff groups for LGBT+ and BME, and prayer room facilities. The
University and the School of Science and Engineering hold Athena SWAN
Bronze Awards, which recognise the promotion of gender equality, and have
made further commitments to advancing an inclusive culture that supports
and encourages all under-represented groups.
The City of Dundee is a post-industrial city that has worked hard to
reinvent itself. With a population of 150,000, it is small enough to walk
round but has all the cultural and leisure activities you would expect in
a much larger city. Excellent shopping sits side-by-side with a vibrant
cultural quarter, home to Scotland?s award-winning Dundee Rep Theatre and
the highly acclaimed Dundee Contemporary Arts, which has become a lively
social hub and film house as well as a champion of leading-edge arts.
Dundee is the UK?s only UNESCO City of Design and, with the opening of the
new V&A Museum of Design ? an iconic building designed by renowned
architect Kengo Kuma, it has a growing reputation as a creative centre.
Dundee was placed by the Wall Street Journal among their top ten places to
visit in 2018, and 1st in Scotland in the Sunday Times 2019 Best Place to
Live Guide. Salaries in Dundee currently go further on the property ladder
than almost any other city in the UK. The range of properties within
commuting distance of the University covers the widest spectrum ? from
country houses and seaside cottages to handsome town villas and sleek
city-quay apartments.
2. Role Information
We are seeking to appoint an outstanding researcher in linguistics &
argumentation theory. We welcome applications from everyone irrespective
of gender or ethnic group. We particularly encourage applications from
women and members of ethnic minorities as they are currently
under-represented in posts at this level. As a global university, we are
interested in attracting candidates working in all parts of the world and
can offer relocation support. The Centre for Argument Technology is a
highly interdisciplinary environment, and candidates should be willing to
work across traditional disciplinary boundaries.
COVID-19 has introduced new ways of working, and it is expected that the
post will involve a ?soft start? of working primarily from home, wherever
in the world that may be. Candidates must expect to be available for
meetings during working hours in the UK. As restrictions are relaxed,
candidates would then be expected to relocate to Dundee.
3. Project Summary
Conflict is inherently dynamic. Positions morph, contexts change, factions
and allegiances realign, and even when everything else appears to be in
stasis, there is change in the language used to express conflict - in the
framings and nuances and emotions. Our aim is to understand this dynamism
and to test that understanding at scale. We will develop novel,
integrative theory and then apply that theory both to understand ways in
which conflict is presented linguistically and also how it evolves, not
just in terms of its underlying positions but also in its presentation. We
eschew domain- or theme-specific conflict, and instead site our study
within the foremost venue for conflict of the highest level and greatest
import: the UN Security Council. Rather than focus on a single issue or
region or period of the Security Council, our goal is to work with the
entirety of its activity in which significant conflict is presented: a
dataset of almost one million words. Across the 25 years of almost daily
meetings, our techniques will offer insight both to geopolitical analysts
and to the general public into how conflicts at the Council emerge and
evolve, combining analysis of local discourse features such as vagueness
and emotionality with structural features such as justification-giving and
patterns of reasoning, and finally considering how positions in conflict
are framed. Across all of these aspects there are interacting dynamics,
which our theory of conflict trajectories aims to understand so that it
will become possible for the first time to map the language of conflict
simultaneously in great detail and at very large scale. This is the first
time that the techniques of big data have driven the study of the language
of conflict. Though we will bring such computational techniques to bear,
our focus is on delivering the foundational theory, the analytical
techniques and the dataset resources that can subsequently underpin future
computational research and indeed into applied innovation delivering value
for scholars of political science, international relations and as well as
for professionals working in diplomacy and geopolitical analysis and
ultimately the general public. This research project is funded by AHRC in
the UK and DFG in Germany, and is a collaboration with the University of
Potsdam.
4. Key responsibilities
o To explore the role of linguistic features such as emotionality and vagueness in the discourse of conflict
o To extend existing theories of language and argument structure to account for phenomena such as reframing
o To build theoretical models of conflict that capture longitudinal shifts in geopolitical conflict, including shifting positions, increasing consensus and dissensus, resolution and accommodation
o To work with computational scientists to operationalise these models
o To communicate the results of the work to academic, professional and public audiences
5. Person specification
Essential knowledge and skills. The following experience is essential:
o A PhD in the philosophy of argument, in conversation or linguistic analysis, in conflict studies or in a closely related area
o Experience of analytical techniques for language
o Understanding of theories of language, argument, debate or conflict
Desirable knowledge and skills. The following experience would be advantageous though not essential:
o working with models of the structure of argument or debate
o working with models of dialogue and communicative interaction
o exposure to computational models for language processing
o exposure to argument technology
Appointment will be made to Grade 7 (currently 32,817 ? 40,322). Start
date by negotiation.
Application Requirements
Cover letter to Prof. Chris Reed, Director of the Centre for Argument
Technology, outlining suitability for the role, plus CV with publication
list. Apply online at http://arg.tech/2021job02 Contact chris@arg.tech
Closing date 14 May 2021
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