Summary
The Language Technology research unit at the University of Helsinki, also known as “Helsinki-NLP,” is offering a fully-funded PhD scholarship for a highly motivated NLP student. This 3-year position, with a potential extension of up to one additional year, will focus on the critical area of cross-lingual fact transfer in large multilingual language models. The research aims to explore how pre-training data influences the factual accuracy of text generated in different languages and to identify potential data gaps. This is an excellent opportunity for aspiring researchers to contribute to cutting-edge NLP research under expert supervision.
Designation
PhD Student (Fully-Funded)
Key Scholarship Details
| Category | Detail |
|---|---|
| Scholarship Type | Fully-funded PhD |
| Duration | 3 years (with potential 1-year extension) |
| Start Date | January 1st (adjustments possible) |
| Supervisors | Jörg Tiedemann and Timothee Mickus |
| Project | FLaM project within the Helsinki-NLP team |
Research Area
The PhD research will delve into the role of pre-training data in cross-lingual transfer for factual tasks. This includes investigating how data from one language can be leveraged by multilingual Large Language Models (LLMs) to produce factually correct text in other languages. Conversely, the project will also explore how failures in this process can help identify and characterize gaps in pre-training data.
Location
University of Helsinki, Language Technology research unit (“Helsinki-NLP”), Helsinki, Finland
Eligibility/Qualification
- Hold a Master’s degree in Computational Linguistics, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Machine Learning, or a closely related field.
- Must not have been previously enrolled in another PhD program.
Scholarship Description
This scholarship provides full funding for a PhD student for an initial period of three years, with the possibility of extending for an additional year. The successful candidate will work within the renowned Helsinki-NLP team, contributing to the FLaM project. The research will be supervised by Jörg Tiedemann and Timothee Mickus, focusing on innovative aspects of cross-lingual fact transfer and pre-training data analysis in multilingual LLMs.
How to Apply
Applicants are required to send an email to both timothee.mickus@helsinki.fi and jorg.tiedemann@helsinki.fi with the exact subject line:
[crosslingual fact transfer, PhD application]
The application email must include the following documents:
- A curriculum vitae (CV) detailing education, limited to a maximum of one page.
- The name and email address of one reference, preferably a former supervisor (e.g., for a Master’s thesis).
- A research statement, not exceeding 500 words, outlining how the applicant’s interests align with the described topic and their expected achievements during the PhD.
- An academic transcript displaying grades received.
Last Date for Apply
Full consideration will be given to applications received before September 30th. The position will remain open until a suitable candidate is found.
Apply Link
Please send your application directly via email to: timothee.mickus@helsinki.fi and jorg.tiedemann@helsinki.fi
