Job Information
- Organisation/Company
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra - ETIC
- Department
- Tecnologies de la Informació i les Comunicacions
- Research Field
- Neurosciences
- Researcher Profile
- First Stage Researcher (R1)
- Country
- Spain
- Application Deadline
- Type of Contract
- Other
- Job Status
- Part-time
- Hours Per Week
- 17,5
- Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?
- Not funded by an EU programme
- Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?
- No
Offer Description
Tasks to be performed:
Project description: In the present project we will explore if phonological biases that are a hallmark of human language processing also emerge in current artificial intelligence large language models. For example, from their second year of life, humans focus more heavily on the consonants than on the vowels to identify words. This consonant bias has been extensively documented across different modalities (oral, written), ages (from young infants to adults), native languages (English, French, Spanish, Dutch) and tasks (word learning, word reconstruction, masked priming). Crucially for the present project, it has been proposed that the consonant bias emerges in humans because of mere exposure to differences in relative frequency between consonants and vowels that are present in natural languages. Thus, it is our hypothesis that we should be able to observe similar phonological biases in current large language models, such as ChatGPT.
The research assistant will join a multidisciplinary team to collect behavioural and modelling data to explore the conditions under which such biases might emerge in large language models. In particular, the research assistant will:
- Test the cues large language models use to identify words.
- Prepare materials across different languages to test the models.
- Implement large language models.
- Prepare scripts that allow for the automatization of testing.
- Explore similar biases in adjacent domains such as music.
The position is linked to the data collection and modelling phase of the subproject "Emergence of phonological biases in large language models" of the María de Maeztu Strategic Research Program on Artificial and Natural Intelligence. The duration of these tasks is estimated for a period of 12 months.
Dedication and working hours: Part time (17,5h/week)
Planned remuneration approx: 16.234,80 € gross / year
Financing fund: Ayuda PRESP08722 - AEI - MDM-CEX2021-001195-M - DTIC - LOZANO, Angel - Unidades de Excelencia María de Maeztu - Departamento de Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones financiada por MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033
Requirements
- Research Field
- Neurosciences
- Education Level
- Undergraduate
- Undergraduate background in engineering.
- Completing a Master in Cognitive Neuroscience or similar.
- Good English skills, both written and spoken.
- Advanced programming skills (e.g., Python).
- Demonstrable experience in a cognitive neuroscience laboratory (preferably with music cognition and deep learning models).
The expected start date is October 1st, 2023, the job is in Barcelona, and Nie and a work permit is required.
Additional Information
The selection of the candidates will be made through evaluation of the curriculum and, where appropriate, with the carrying out a test and/or interview. Valuation will be as follows:
- Academic Training (0-40 points):
- Performance in the required studies and alignment of the topic of the final master’s degree with the tasks of the project.
- Professional experience and Adequacy to the proposed profile (0-40 points):
- Previous experience in a cognitive neuroscience lab and deep learning models.
- Formal training in music.
- Other merits (0-20 points):
- Programming skills en Python, R.
- Communication skills (English is required, Spanish would be valued).
The minimum score to pass the selection process is 70 points. The candidate with the highest score in the selection process will be offered the job and in case of resignation, the position will be awarded to the next person in order of score obtained, as long as the established minimum score has been passed.
For more information about the call, how to apply, the list of those admitted and excluded, as well as the hiring proposal, check the website: https://www.upf.edu/web/etic/management
Work Location(s)
- Number of offers available
- 1
- Company/Institute
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra - ETIC
- Country
- Spain
- City
- Barcelona
- Postal Code
- 08018
- Street
- Roc Boronat 138
- Geofield
Where to apply
- Website
Contact
- City
- Barcelona
- Website
- Street
- Roc Boronat 138
- Postal Code
- 08018
- recerca.etic@upf.edurandp.dtic@upf.edu