POSTDOC IN MACHINE LEARNING FOR SOCIAL SIGNAL PROCESSING

In highly dynamic environments such as airports, using robots to navigate and
interact with individuals and groups of people is very challenging. The EU
STREP project SPENCER aims at developing these capabilities.

We are offering a 2 year full time postdoctoral position, which is a
collaboration between the University of Twente and Delft University.
The position will be embedded in the Pattern Recognition and BioInformatics
Group (http://prb.tudelft.nl/) at the Technical University of Delft, working
closely with Dr. Hayley Hung and employed by the Human Media Interaction Group
(http://hmi.ewi.utwente.nl/) at the University of Twente.

The postdoc will be required to carry out novel research work on devising
methods to automatically analyse social group behavior to facilitate better
human-robot interaction. This involve cross-disciplinary research methods, using
findings in social psychological research to inspire the design of computational
models that automatically interpret socially relevant characteristics of
individuals and groups. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to
work with a trans-European research team (University of Aachen, University of
Freiburg, etc). The successful applicant will also gain valuable experience in
carrying out research, while also having contact with industrial partners
(BlueBotics, KLM) to transform the research findings into a working
demonstrator. There will also be opportunities to participate in various
national and international conferences and workshops etc.

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*Your Profile:*
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All applicants should have or expect to obtain a PhD within four months of
commencing the position. Interested applicants should have a strong background
in some or all of the following subjects, or a related discipline:
social signal processing, machine learning, computer vision, signal processing,
affective computing, social computing, pattern recognition. Experience working
with models for sensor and/or data fusion is a bonus.

The successful applicant will have:
– a proven track record in carrying out excellent research;
– a strong publication record in international conferences and journals;
– 3+ years programming experience;
– curiosity and good analytical skills;
– the ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team;
– motivation to meet deadlines;
– an affinity with the relevant social science research;
– excellent oral and written communication skills;
– an interest in communicating their research results to a wider audience;
– proficiency in English;
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*Application procedure:*
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Interested applicants should send an up to date curriculum vitae (with a
complete list of publications), letter of application, and the names and the
contact information (telephone number and email
address) of three references.

The letter of application should summarise (i) why the project is of interest to
the applicant, (ii) evidence of suitability for the job, (iii) the applicant’s
research contributions in the previous 3-5 years, and (iv) what the applicant
hopes to gain from the position.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Dr. Hung at
hayleyhung@gmail.com, strictly for information about the position.

All applications material should be uploaded via the University of Twente vacancies page:
http://www.utwente.nl/vacatures/
(click on the link ‘Postdoc Position in Social Computing’ and then ‘Apply Now’)

Please submit applications on or before February 8, 2013. Late applications may
be also be considered but early applications will be given priority.

Further information about our offer and the institutions can be found at:
http://www.utwente.nl/vacatures/
(click on the link ‘Postdoc Position in Social Computing’)