Amphibians, reptiles, mammals – all of them communicate via acoustic signals. And humans are able to assess the emotional value of these signals. This has been shown in a new study conducted by researchers at Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Ruhr-Universität Bochum, in collaboration with colleagues from Alberta, Canada, and Vienna, Austria, in the journal “Proceedings of the Royal Society B”. The team was headed Dr Piera Filippi.

The AI lab at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels is looking to fill two paid PhD positions: one to model the acquisition of speech using spectrotemporal features and dynamic Bayesian networks. and a second one to model the cultural evolution of Kata Kolok, a village sign language using an agent-based model. These projects are part of a larger research group investigating the emergence and evolution of language and speech. Envisaged starting date is October 1st 2017.

We are looking for a highly motivated student with a major in Artificial Intelligence or Computer Science who has a strong interest in natural language modelling and symbolic computation. Your research project will be embedded in the Marie Curie ITN (Initial Training Network) project called ESSENCE (Evolution of Shared Semantics in Computational Environments).

For more information on this position and how to apply: http://www.essence-network.eu/node/23