Postdoctoral research position:

Wordspotters for radiomining in rural Africa

A postdoc position focussing on automatic identification of spoken keywords in multilingual environments with few or no resources is available in the Digital Signal Processing Group of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Stellenbosch. The project will develop wordspotters that can be used to monitor community radio broadcasts in rural African regions as a source of early warning information during natural disasters, disease outbreaks, or other crises. Specific project objectives include the development of a research system, the production of associated publishable outputs, and the development of a web-based demonstrator. The position is part of a collaborative project with the United Nations Global Pulse. Further information is available on the web at http://pulselabkampala.ug/radiomining.

Applicants should hold a PhD (preferably obtained within the last 5 years) in the field of Electronic/Electrical Engineering, Information Engineering, or Computer Science, or other relevant disciplines. Suitable candidates must have practical experience with automatic speech processing systems and should have an excellent background in statistical modelling, signal processing, and/or speech analysis. The candidate must also have good programming skills and be able to use high level programming languages for developing prototype systems. Finally, candidates must have excellent English writing skills and have an explicit interest in scientific research and publication.

The position will be available for one year, with a possible extension to a second year, depending on progress and available funds.

Applications should include a covering letter, curriculum vitae, list of publications, research projects, conference participation and details of three contactable referees and should be sent as soon as possible to: Prof Thomas Niesler, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602. Applications can also be sent by email to: trn@sun.ac.za. The successful applicant will be subject to University policies and procedures.

Interested applicants are welcome to contact me at the above e-mail address for further information regarding the project.