PhD position in the MCSA-DN “VoCS" - Detection and perception of smiled speech

The PhD student will investigate how to detect, quantify and qualify smiled speech and how the perception of it affects social interactions. To that end, an audiovisual database of smiled speech will be collected to enable studies into the detection and perception of smiled speech, investigating its acoustic and perceptual characteristics (in healthy subjects and Parkinson’s patients), and investigating the influence of smiling on impression formation. Secondments will take place at Audeering (Germany) and Maastricht University. We are seeking a cross-disciplinary PhD candidate with a background in Computer Science/Computational Linguistics/Digital Phonetics and an interest in speech communication science, human technology interaction, and machine learning. You will be working at the Human Media Interaction group in which computer science meets social science to investigate, design, and evaluate novel forms of human-computer interaction.

• Background:

1. Academic background matching with the research project. You have a background in Computer Science/Computational Linguistics/Digital Phonetics (or equivalent) with interests in speech communication science, human technology interaction, and machine learning.

• Degree: At the date of the recruitment, candidates must have a Master’s degree in a relevant field and should not have been already awarded a doctoral degree. Researchers who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis but who have not yet formally been awarded the doctoral degree will not be considered eligible.
• Necessary skills:

1. You are a motivated, enthusiastic researcher driven by scientific curiosity
2. You have a scientific mindset and have analytical, critical-thinking capacity
3. You have experience with speech and acoustic analyses, and machine learning
4. You have experience with programming languages such as Python, R

• Mobility: Recruited researchers can be of any nationality but must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of their host organization for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to their recruitment. Short stays, such as holidays, are not taken into account.
• English language: Candidates must demonstrate their ability to understand and express themselves sufficiently in both written and spoken English, in order to fully benefit from the network training.

Successful Doctoral Candidates will be part of an international and interdisciplinary network.

• As a PhD candidate at UT, you will be appointed to a full-time position for 48 months (the last 12 months will be funded by the UT), with a qualifier in the first year, within a very stimulating and exciting scientific environment;Recruited researchers will benefit from training modules, transferable skills courses, secondments, and participation in workshops and conferences.
• The University offers a dynamic ecosystem with enthusiastic colleagues;
• Your salary and associated conditions are in accordance with the collective labour agreement for Dutch universities (CAO-NU);
• There are excellent benefits including a holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary, an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%, and a solid pension scheme;
• A minimum of 232 leave hours in case of full-time employment based on a formal workweek of 38 hours. A full-time employment in practice means 40 hours a week, therefore resulting in 96 extra leave hours on an annual basis.
• Financial package: (a) PhD funding for 36 months; (b) Living allowance (EUR 3400 per month, subject to a country correction coefficient, which adjusts the salary based on the cost of living in the host country; the final amount may vary depending on the location of the host institution); (c) Mobility allowance (EUR 600); (d) Family allowance (EUR 660), if applicable. Please find out more about these allowances and your eligibility on the website of VoCS.
• Free access to sports facilities on campus
• A family-friendly institution that offers parental leave (both paid and unpaid);
• You will have a training programme as part of the Twente Graduate School where you and your supervisors will determine a plan for a suitable education and supervision;
• We encourage a high degree of responsibility and independence, while collaborating with close colleagues, researchers and other staff.

You will work in the Human Media Interaction group at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) of the University of Twente. The Human Media Interaction (HMI) group does research into multimodal interaction: from brain-computer interfaces to social robots to touch-sensitive technology. Many projects at the HMI group delve into how such interactive technologies may be used to support and enhance users with their tasks, or in daily lives. Within HMI, you will work in a team of people focusing on spoken language processing, conversational agents, and natural language processing. The HMI group is a multidisciplinary group of enthusiastic, kind, and passionate researchers with an open mind to science and society.