6 March: fyi -- PhD Studentship University of Saarland, Germany Germany]
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PhD Studentship "Joint Attention in Human-Agent-Interaction" in
Psycholinguistics/Human-Agent-Interaction
Saarland University, Saarbruecken, Germany
The Embodied Spoken Interaction (ESI) group at the Saarland
University, headed by Dr. Maria Staudte, invites applications for a
PhD studentship, available from June 1st, 2013 (75% TV-L E13).
People interact using speech as well as other non-verbal cues. Gaze,
for instance, ubiquitously accompanies utterances in face-to-face
interaction and may provide additional referential information from
the speaker or may reveal whether the listener has understood.
Following the partner's gaze to share visual information (and
establish joint attention) can therefore be essential for successful
and efficient communication.
Understanding and modeling the dynamic interplay of speech and
non-verbal cues such as gaze and how they combine to encode a
particular message is a complex enterprise. The use of virtual agents
as interaction partners provides one way to approach this problem: The
artificial partner introduces a precise, controllable, and yet dynamic
component to the interaction with humans. Using them as test beds
enables us to observe, model and test complex multi-modal behaviors.
The proposed PhD project will develop and simulate interactive
behaviors of a virtual character using state-of-the-art virtual agent
software (developed here at the MMCI Cluster of Excellence) and modern
eye- and motion-tracking systems. Besides the technical component,
this research is also empirical and will involve the design of user
studies and data analysis in order to address questions such as when
joint attention is/should be established and how it affects spoken
content.
Applicants should hold a Master degree in computational linguistics,
computer science, cognitive science, psychology or psycholinguistics
(or equivalent)
and should have an interest in modeling and understanding the dynamics
of gaze and speech in interaction. Basic programming skills are
necessary. Experience with experiment design and statistics are an
advantage but not required. Most importantly, the successful applicant
should be enthusiastic about the general research questions and be
prepared to learn new methods.
The Embodied Spoken Interaction (ESI) group is part of the
"Multi-modal Computing and Interaction" Cluster of Excellence
(http://www.mmci.uni-saarland.de/) at Saarland University which
provides a very fruitful and constructive research environment with
excellent opportunities for exchange and cooperation. The group has
access to numerous state-of-the-art eye-tracking laboratories, a 64
channel EEG/ERP lab, and modern computing infrastructure, and conducts
research at the level of international excellence.
The candidate will be expected to contribute to the high standards of
the group and to be actively involved in the preparation and
publication of new results. Further information about the group can be
found at:
http://www.mmci.uni-saarland.de/en/independent_research_groups/esi
Applicants should submit their research statement, a CV, a copy of
their school and university degrees, a representative reprint (thesis
or paper if applicable), and names and contact information of two
references. The position remains open until filled, but preference
will be given to applications received by 1 April.
All documents should be e-mailed as a single PDF to:
Dr. Maria Staudte
e-mail: masta@coli.uni-saarland.de
Department of Computational Linguistics
Saarland University
66123 Saarbruecken, Germany
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