PhD Position - Information Systems and Semantic Web - Univ. Koblenz, Germany

PhD POSITION
MULTI-LINGUAL ONTOLOGY LEARNING
UNIVERSITY OF KOBLENZ-LANDAU, GERMANY

The research group for Information Systems and Semantic Web (ISWeb) of
Prof. Steffen Staab at the University of Koblenz-Landau, Department of
Computer Science, is seeking candidates for a research associate
having earned a M.Sc. (or equivalent) and pursueing a Ph.D. degree.
The position will be assigned to the MULTIPLA project (Multi-Ontology
Learning: Crossing the Boundaries of Domains and Languages). The
project will be devoted to developing new paradigms for ontology
learning with a particular focus on combining different natural
languages and domains for knowledge retrieval applications. This
project is funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft). The project duration is 3 years.

For further information on the MULTIPLA project: see 

http://isweb.uni-koblenz.de/Projects/multipla

Applicants should have essential skills and experience in at least
one, and preferably several, of the following areas: ontology learning
methods, development and evaluation of information retrieval models
(probabilistic, logical, or language models). Additionally, knowledge
in the areas of Web Mining, Machine Learning, Information Extraction
and multi-lingual Information Retrieval would be desirable. The
appointment will be made on the German salary scale for public service
(Grade TVL-13), ranging from EUR 35.000 - EUR 39.000 pa depending on
grade-relevant qualifications and experience. The project work will
require the development of new techniques for learning ontologies for
different natural languages or domains, methods for aligning the
different ontologies as well as knowledge retrieval approaches capable
of using these aligned ontologies. There will be the opportunity to
develop your research profile, to write technical and research
publications, and to collaborate with other researchers in a dynamic,
interdisciplinary project consortium.

We offer a work environment that is well equipped with the newest
hardware and software technology. The research group ISWeb has well
established links to national and international research institutions. 
We conduct a number of collaborative research projects that are funded
by the European Community (EU FP6, FP7) and German research funds. 
Further information about the ISWeb group can be found at 

http://isweb.uni-koblenz.de

Applications including a curriculum vitae, a cover letter stating why
the applicant has special interest in this position, copies of
relevant certificates/diplomas, and names and addresses of two
references, should be sent by E-Mail to the ISWeb secretary Ms Silke
Werger ([email protected]) citing 'MULTIPLA'. Application deadline
is September 15, 2007.

Koblenz University is an equal access / equal opportunity /
affirmative action employer.

For further information, please contact the ISWeb MULTIPLA coodinator,
Dr. Sergej Sizov, http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~sizov

Kind Regards
Steffen Staab