Connectionists: Job: Postdoc at UCLouvain (1-3 years): automatic assessment of learner’s productions in FFL

[Adrien Bibal]

The UCLouvain is looking for a

Postdoctoral researcher in Machine Learning or Natural Language Processing

  *

    Fixed-term full-time (100%) contract for one year, renewable twice

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    At the Centerfor Natural Language Processing (Centre de
    traitementautomatiquedu langage; Cental), at the Institute for
    Language and Communication (ILC) at the UCLouvain (Louvain-la-Neuve)

  *

    Starting date: September 2021

This postdoctoral research position is integrated within an ambitious 
research project conducted at the Centerfor Natural Language Processing 
(Centre de traitement automatique du langage; Cental; 
_https://uclouvain.be/fr/instituts-recherche/ilc/cental 
<https://uclouvain.be/fr/instituts-recherche/ilc/cental>_), in 
collaboration with FEI (France Éducation International; 
_https://www.france-education-international.fr 
<https://www.france-education-international.fr/>_). Funding is available 
for 3 years, but employment takes the form of one-year fixed-term 
contracts. Renewal of the contract is contingent upon the realization of 
research objectives defined within the project.

The project will bring together multiple researchers to develop an 
automated solution to assist and support the correction of writing skill 
tests for the French language for certificate evaluation purposes. 
Specifically, the project aims at developing a system that can (1) 
automatically evaluate the CEFR level of writing skills of test takers 
by training an artificial intelligence system on data provided by FEI, 
and (2) provide various diagnostic indicators based on pedagogical 
resources in French as a Foreign Language. The first objective is in 
line with work on English aimed at the automatic evaluation of learner 
productions in relation to the Common European Framework of Reference 
(CEFR) (Tack et al., 2017; Arnold et al., 2018; Yannakoudakis et al., 
2018; Baillier et al., 2019). The second objective is in line with work 
conducted at the Cental on the diagnosis of complexity of written 
productions (CEFRLex in François et al., 2014; Pintard and François, 
2020 or AMesure in François et al., 2020).

The tasks of the postdoctoral researcher will mainly consist in (1) 
preparing the FEI corpus for statistical treatment, (2) implementing a 
Python package for the extraction of linguistic (e.g. measuring the 
complexity of lexical or syntactical structures, cf. Tack et al., 2017) 
and pedagogical features (e.g. developmental stages, cf. Bartning and 
Schlyter, 2004) correlated with the CEFR level of productions of 
learners of French as a Foreign Language, (3) developing an AI model 
capable of automatically predicting this CEFR level, and (4) testing the 
system with human assessors. The postdoctoral researcher will also be 
responsible for the dissemination of results via scientific publications 
and yearly reports. The researcher will work in close collaboration with 
the other team members to ensure the successful implementation of these 
tasks.

*Work environment*

The Cental is part of the Institute for Language & Communication 
(_https://uclouvain.be/fr/instituts-recherche/ilc 
<https://uclouvain.be/fr/instituts-recherche/ilc>_) which is part of the 
University of Louvain. The university is situated in Louvain-la-Neuve 
(_https://uclouvain.be/fr/sites/louvain-la-neuve 
<https://uclouvain.be/fr/sites/louvain-la-neuve>_), a pleasant and 
dynamic pedestrian city. The research project is headed by Prof. Thomas 
François (_https://cental.uclouvain.be/team/tfrancois/ 
<https://cental.uclouvain.be/team/tfrancois/>_), an expert in 
readability and automatic text simplification. Research missions to 
Paris (Sèvres) will be organized to ensure and maintain close 
collaboration with FEI. FEI is internationally known for its expertise 
in the domain of proficiency level evaluation for French as a Foreign 
Language and is responsible for the organization of the main French 
language tests, namely TCF, DELF and DALF.

*Qualifications*

The ideal candidate will have:

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    A PhD in Information Technology, Computational Linguistics, Natural
    Language Processing or equivalent

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    Excellent computer skills:

      o

        Programminglanguages : Python (mastery)

      o

        Experience with sckit-learn, pandas, TensorFlow, PyTorch or
        Keras is a plus

      o

        Web technologies: HTML, JavaScript, CSS, Flask, MySQL and PostGreSQL

      o

        Operating systems: Linux (server management)

      o

        Experience in the creation and dissemination of Python libraries
        via Github (or equivalent) is a plus

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    Knowledge of the main algorithms used in supervised machine learning
    is required. Knowledge of Deep Learning is a plus

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    Excellent knowledge of English (at least level C1) and good
    knowledge of French (at least level B2)

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    Excellent research profile (publications, conferences, etc.)

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    Firm grasp of the main tools and algorithms in NLP

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    Research experience in one of the following domains is a plus:
    computer-assisted language learning, readability, automated essay
    scoring, language assessment, etc.

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    Autonomy, team spirit, capacity to listen and analyzeneeds, reactivity

*Employment conditions*

This fixed-term postdoctoral position is subject to following conditions:

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    Fixed-term one-year contract, renewable twice, for a possible total
    of three years

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    Gross salary is commensurate with seniority and will vary between
    4250€ and 4850€ per month

This position normally requires a relocation to Belgium. Applicants from 
outside the EU are responsible for obtaining a visa and required 
permits, with the support of the corresponding department at the UCLouvain.

*Application*

Application deadline: 30 June 2021

If you are interested in this position, please send your application to 
Thomas François (_thomas.francois at uclouvain.be 
<mailto:thomas.francois at uclouvain.be>_). The application must include:

 1.

    A detailed CV in French or English including qualifications and
    required skills, publications and other academic and scientific
    experience

 2.

    A letter of motivation *in French*describing your interest for the
    position, how your profile corresponds to the description of the
    position and to the objectives of the project, etc.

 3.

    A letter of reference in French or English

Short-listed candidates will be invited to participate in a video 
conference interview. The exact modalities will be communicated via mail.

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