COnversational BRAins (COBRA): 15 PhD positions 2693 views

COBRA (a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network) will train the next generation of researchers to accurately characterize and model the linguistic, cognitive and brain mechanisms that allow conversation to unfold in both human-human and human-machine interactions and is inviting applications for 15 Early Stage Researchers (ESR).

About the research:

• The network includes world-level academic research centers on language, cognition and the human brain as well as 4 non-academic partners that include fast-developing SMEs and one world-level company.
• The partners’ both unique combined expertise and high complementarity will allow COBRA to offer early-stage researchers (ESRs) an excellent training programme as well as very strong exposure to the non-academic sector.

Eligibility:

• Applicants must be in the first 4 years of their research careers (full-time equivalent research experience) at the signature of the contract (measured from the time the Master’s degree has been obtained).
• Applicants must not hold a Doctoral Degree yet.
• The fellow must not have resided in the main institution’s country for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the recruitment date, and not have carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in that country.

Applications:

Apply online and the applications must contain the following:

• An up-to-date CV, without gaps, in order for the selection committee to easily check the mobility and experience requirements. CVs that either do not clearly show the applicant’s past experience, or have gaps, will be considered ineligible;
• A letter exposing her/his motivation for a COBRA PhD fellowship, and her preference for two of the fifteen PhD projects proposed in COBRA;
• At least 1 reference letter (in English) from one former supervisor and/or professor;
• The scan of the degree (usually the master’s degree) which would formally entitles her/him to embark on a doctorate, either in the country in which the degree was obtained, or in the country in which the researcher will be recruited. If the degree has not been obtained yet, the applicant will have to provide a declaration of her/his university stating that the degree will be obtained before the expected starting date;
• Transcripts of records (document indicating the applicant’s ranking and marks within her/his master’s degree as well as the courses/modules she/he has followed).
• The complete application should be provided in the form of one single pdf file, named as follows: lastname-firstname.pdf.

Proposed PhD projects

• ESR1 : Categorization of speech sounds as a collective decision process
• ESR2 : Brain markers of between-speaker convergence in conversational speech
• ESR3 : Does prediction drive neural alignment in conversation?
• ESR4 : Brain indexes of semantic and pragmatic prediction
• ESR5 : Communicative alignment at the physiological level
• ESR6 : Lexical alignment in human-machine spoken interaction
• ESR7 : Contribution of discourse markers to alignment in conversation
• ESR8 : Discourse units and discourse alignment
• ESR9 : Acoustic-phonetic alignment in synthetic speech
• ESR10 : Phonetic alignment in a non-native language
• ESR11 : Conversation coordination and mind-reading
• ESR12 : The influence of alignment
• ESR13 : Parametric dialogue synthesis: from separate speakers to conversational interaction
• ESR14 : Gender and vocal alignment in speakers and robots
• ESR15 : Endowing robots with high-level conversational skills