Ph.D. Researcher in Speech Synthesis, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

Post Specification

Post Title:

Ph.D. Researcher in Speech Synthesis

Post Status:

3 years

Department/Faculty:

Centre for Language and Communication Studies (CLCS)

Location:

Phonetics and Speech Laboratory

Salary:

€16,000 per annum (plus fees paid)

Closing Date:

31st January 2013

Post Summary

A Ph.D. Researcher is required to work in the area of speech synthesis at the Phonetics and

Speech Laboratory, School of Linguistic, Speech and Communication Sciences. The position

will involve carrying out research on the topic of Hidden Markov Model (HMM)-based speech

synthesis. Specifically, we are looking for a researcher to work on developing a source-filter

based acoustic modelling for HMM-based speech synthesis which is closely related to the

human speech production process and which can facilitate modification of voice source and

vocal tract filter components at synthesis time.

Background to the Post

Much of the research carried out to date in the Phonetics and Speech Laboratory has been

concerned with the role of the voice source in speech. This research involves the development

of accurate voice source processing both as a window on human speech production and for

exploitation in voice-sensitive technology, particularly synthesis. The laboratory team is interdisciplinary

and includes engineers, linguists, phoneticians and technologists.

This post will the main be funded by the on-going Abair project which has developed the first

speech synthesisers for Irish (

www.abair.ie), and the researcher will exploit the current Abair

synthesis platform. In this project the aim is to deliver multi-dialect synthesis with multiple

personages and voices that can be made appropriate to different contexts of use. The post will

also be linked to the FastNet project which aims at voice-sensitive speech technologies. A

specific goal of our laboratory team is to leverage our expertise on the voice by improving the

naturalness of parametric speech synthesis, as well as making more flexible synthesis platforms

which can allow modifications of voice characteristics (e.g., for creating different

personalities/characters, different forms of expression etc).

Standard duties of the Post

Initially the researcher will be required to attend some lectures as part of the Masters

programme on Speech and Language Processing. This and a supervised reading

programme will provide a background in the area of voice production, analysis and

synthesis.