Post-doc position in machine learning for Human-Robot social interaction

The IDIAP Research Institute (www.idiap.ch), a laboratory associated
with EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne) seeks
qualified candidates for

1 postdoctoral research position in computer vision and machine learning
for multi-modal interaction modeling.

The research will be conducted in the context of the HUMAVIPS
(http://humavips.inrialpes.fr/) project, a 3-year project funded by the
European Community. The overall goal of the project is to endow a
humanoid robot (NAO) with audio-visual sensing and interaction
capabilities allowing him to navigate in a complex environment,
localize a group of people, join it and interact with it.

The research done at Idiap focus on the design of multimodal perceptual
algorithms to recognize human non-verbal behaviors (when people speak,
whom they look at), investigate new approaches to model and identify
people interactions and relationships (e.g. who speaks to whom, who is
the most important person of the group) and exploit the recognized
conversational patterns and relationship in a robot-to-group of people
multimodal interface design.

The postdoctoral researcher will address one of the above theme.
She/he should have a strong background in statistics, applied
mathematics,
and computer vision. Experience in one or several of the following
areas is required:
– computer vision and tracking
– event recognition and discovery
– human-robot or human-computer multimodal interface design
The applicant should be familiar with C/C++ programming and the Linux
environment.
The position offers the opportunity to collaborate with the best
research teams in Europe,
and involvement in PhD supervision.

Contract:
Starting date: as soon as possible.
The initial appointment will be until the end of the project (31/01/2013).

The salary ranges from CHF 70 000 to 75 000/year according to training
and previous experience.

Application:
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For further details and application please contact:

Jean-Marc Odobez (odobez(at)idiap.ch, tel : +41 (0)27 721 77 26)

About IDIAP:
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Idiap is an independent, non-profit research institute recognized and
supported by the Swiss Government, and affiliated with the Ecole
Polytechnique
Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).
It is located in the town of Martigny in Valais, a scenic region in the
south of Switzerland, surrounded by the highest mountains of Europe,
and offering exciting recreational activities, including hiking,
climbing and skiing, as well as varied cultural activities.
It is within close proximity to Geneva and Lausanne.
Although Idiap is located in the French part of Switzerland, English is
the working language. Free French lessons are provided.

Idiap offers competitive salaries and conditions at all levels in a young,
dynamic, and multicultural environment. Idiap is an equal opportunity
employer
and is actively involved in the “Advancement of Women in Science” European
initiative. The Institute seeks to maintain a principle of open competition
(on the basis of merit) to appoint the best candidate, provides equal
opportunity for all candidates, and equally encourage both genders to
apply.