Umeå universitet, Teknisk-naturvetenskaplig fakultet

Umeå University is one of Sweden’s largest higher education institutions with over 37,000 students and about 4,700 employees. The University offers a diversity of high-quality education and world-leading research in several fields. Notably, the groundbreaking discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing tool, which was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, was made here. At Umeå University, everything is close. Our cohesive campuses make it easy to meet, work together and exchange knowledge, which promotes a dynamic and open culture.

The ongoing societal transformation and large green investments in northern Sweden create enormous opportunities and complex challenges. For Umeå University, conducting research about – and in the middle of – a society in transition is key. We also take pride in delivering education to enable regions to expand quickly and sustainably. In fact, the future is made here.

Are you interested in learning more? Read about Umeå university as a workplace

PhD Student Position in Computing Science within the Umeå University Industrial Doctoral School

at the Department of Computing Science

Multimodal Data Analysis for Online Broadcasting: Extracting and Fusing Metadata at Scale

The Department of Computing Science at Umeå University is a dynamic environment with around 100 employees representing more than 20 countries worldwide. We conduct education and research on a broad range of topics in Computing Science. The Language Processing Centre North based at the department conducts research related to the processing of language, both in isolation and in multimodal contexts in which language is an integral part of media contents such as video material. The centre collaborates with various researchers and research groups all around the world, and is providing an inspiring research atmosphere.

Visit http://lpcn.umu.se/ for more information

As we strive for a more balanced gender distribution within the department, we specifically encourage female applicants.

Project description:
By 2021, video is predicted to account for 82 percent of all consumer Internet traffic. Regrettably though, for computers video is mostly a black box they cannot see into. Algorithmic processing of video content is based on auxiliary metadata, rather than the video itself. The aim of this project is to extend recently developed techniques that map written language into semantic representations (SR), thus resulting in techniques that yield SRs for multimodal data, offering the computer a view into the video that opens for e.g., advanced video search, trailer generation, and real-time programmatic advertising.

The challenge is to combine metadata from complementary sources into uniform SRs, and to cope with large video archives. This requires us to find a suitable form of representation, and to devise optimization schemes that balance the trade-off between efficiency and accuracy.

Umeå University Industrial Doctoral School for research and innovation:

The Industrial Doctoral School (IDS) is a multidisciplinary research school where the projects are based on collaborations between Umeå University and external organizations. The PhD students in IDS form an interdisciplinary group that, in addition to each scientific specialization, is given a tailor-made course package providing a solid basis for future work within research and development. A PhD position in IDS also includes a three-month internship at the external organizations for each doctoral student.

About the position

The successful applicant will receive a competitive salary for a period of four years of full time PhD studies, provided that the studies are progressing reasonably well. PhD students are typically offered the opportunity to gain teaching experience on suitable undergraduate courses. If so, the employment period is extended to cover the time spent on teaching (at most 20 %).

Requirements and qualifications:

We are looking for a graduate student with excellent knowledge in Computing Science and Mathematics, preferably combined with practical experience. In particular, candidates must be well acquainted with both the mathematical foundations and the computational methods of machine learning, and must be able to apply them to the area of video analysis. Since the project is part of Umeå University’s Industrial Doctoral School, industrial experience regarding the application of relevant techniques is a merit that will be taken into account in the process of selecting the most suitable candidate for the position.

The general requirement for admission to PhD studies is that the applicant has 240 ECTS of completed coursework. The specific entry requirements for PhD studies in computing science demand that this includes completed second-cycle courses of 60 ECTS credits in computing science, or on topics considered to be directly relevant for the PhD project in question.

In addition to these requirements, candidates should have excellent skills in oral and written presentation in English.

The main assessment criteria are scientific skill, aptitude for the project, and the ability to accomplish tasks both independently and by working in a team.

The application:

Applications must be written in English or Swedish and shall contain:

  • a cover letter describing the candidate’s qualification and experience as well as how those are relevant to the current position (maximum 2 A4);
  • documentation of completed academic courses with grades (transcript of records) and copies of degree certificates;
  • Curriculum Vitae;
  • relevant theses and any other kind of significant scientific work the candidate wants to draw attention to;
  • the names and contact details of two persons willing to act as references.

Start date: 1 June 2018 or, alternatively, by agreement.

For further information, contact Professor Frank Drewes tel. +46 90-786 9790, e-mail drewes@cs.umu.se or associate professor Johanna Björklund tel. +46-90-786 7927, e-mail johanna@codemill.se.

Applications must be submitted electronically using the e-recruitment system Varbi, and be received no later than 22 April 2018.

According to the Higher Education Ordinance (chapter 12, 2§) the hiring decision cannot be appealed.

We look forward to receiving your application!

 

Type of employment Temporary position
Contract type Full time
First day of employment 2018-06-01 or as otherwise agreed
Salary Monthly salary
Number of positions 1
Full-time equivalent 100%
City Umeå
County Västerbottens län
Country Sweden
Reference number AN 2.2.1-262-18
Contact
  • Frank Drewes , 090-786 9790
  • Johanna Björklund, 090-786 7927
Union representative
  • SACO, 090-786 53 65
  • SEKO, 090-786 52 96
  • ST, 090-786 54 31
Published 26.Mar.2018
Last application date 22.Apr.2018 11:59 PM CEST

Return to job vacancies