Research Fellowship – Flowance | POCI-01-0247- FEDER-047022 – 840298

CALL FOR RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP – 840298

University of Coimbra opens a call for one research fellowship, in the framework of the project “Flowance – Automatic Dialogue Flow Extraction and Guidance” (reference: POCI-01-0247-FEDER-047022), financed by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), through Portugal 2020 (PT2020), and by the Competitiveness and Internationalization Operational Programme (COMPETE 2020),in the following conditions:

Scientific area: Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language Processing, Dialogue Systems.

Skills/Qualifications/Admission requirements: Bachelor’s Degree in Informatics Engineering, Computer Science, or similar enrolled in a Master’s Degree in Informatics Engineering, Computer Science, or similar.

Although the recipients must be enrolled in a cycle of studies leading to the attribution of an academic degree, at the time of application it is not necessary for the candidate to have made such an enrollment, and proof of enrollment must be presented until the fellowship is contractualized. Candidates are only required to meet the requirements to enroll in the training offer. If there are candidates already enrolled (including attending a course), they compete on an equal footing with those who are not enrolled.

Work plan/ Objectives: Study and application of recent natural language processing techniques applied to dialogue analysis, namely in context monitoring and representation.

Planned activities:

– Survey of techniques for extracting and representing information in dialogue systems;

-Identification of public dialogues annotated with context information;

-Experimentation in public dialogues;

-Evaluation of results;

-Writing a report about the conclusions reached.

In addition to knowledge in the scientific domain of the problem, fellows are expected to acquire skills in research methods and teamwork.

Regime: The attribution of the fellowship does not generate or entitle a relation of a legal-labour nature, and the fellowship is undertaken in an exclusive dedication regime. The fellowship holder is awarded the Fellowship Statute of the UC, in its current wording, according to the Research Fellowship Holder Statute , and according to the Regulation for Research Fellowships of the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., both in their current wording.

Location: Department of Informatics Engineering of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology at the University of Coimbra.

Duration: 6 months.

Renewal: Possibly renewable until the end of the Flowance project.

Scientific orientation: Professor Hugo Ricardo Gonçalo Oliveira and Professor Catarina Helena Branco Simões da Silva.

Financial conditions: The amount of the fellowship is € 875,98 corresponding to the monthly compensation stipulated in the FCT table (https://www.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/valores.phtml.en ), plus social security (Seguro Social Voluntário, first level contributions) and personal accidents insurance. The payment will be made by bank transfer. This amount will not be increased during the entire period of the fellowship duration.

Selection methods: CV Evaluation (50%) and Interview (50%).

Selection criteria: The evaluation of the CV (50%) will focus on:

A. Bachelor’s Degree average (25%);

B. Adequacy of the CV to the work plan (25%)

The evaluation of the Interview (50%) will focus on:

C. Interest in the areas of natural language processing, dialogue and feelings analysis (25%);

D. Motivation (25%).

Jury responsible for selection: Catarina Helena Branco Simões da Silva, Hugo Ricardo Gonçalo Oliveira and Ana Cristina da Costa Oliveira Alves.

Alternate Juror: Ricardo Manuel da Conceição Rodrigues.

Formalization of application: Applications must be formalized by sending the following elements:

1. Detailed curriculum vitae including academic titles and the list of grades obtained

2. Motivation Letter;

3. Bachelor’s Degree Certificate;

4. The intention of enrolment in a Master’s Course (mentioned in the application) or Proof of registration in a Master’s Course (optional-the proof of enrollment must be presented until the fellowship is contractualized).

Declaration on the honor of the candidate(s) with the indication of the fellowship(s) of the typology to which the contest was held and the respective duration(s).

Applicants with academic degrees obtained abroad will be required to present a Certificate of Recognition in accordance with applicable law. This document is mandatory only in the contractualization phase.

Applications submission: Applications must be submitted in https://apply.uc.pt .

Submission of applications: Between 19/09/2022 and 30/09/2022.

Submission deadline date: 30/09/2022.

Additional information: The evaluation results will be announced within 90 working days after the end of the applications submission deadline, by notifying the applicants via email. After the announcement of the results, candidates are considered automatically notified to, if they wish to do so, comment on the results on a preliminary hearing period within 10 days after that date. After this, the selected candidates will have to declare in writing their acceptance. Unless a justification worthy of consideration is presented, if the declaration is not submitted within the referred period, it is considered that the candidate waivers the fellowship. In case of resignation or withdrawal of the selected candidate, the next candidate with the highest evaluation score will be notified immediately.

Once the selection process is completed, the fellowship contract will be drawn up in accordance with the draft contract provided by the FCT.

After the contracted period, the fellowship holder and supervisor must prepare the final report in accordance with the respective assessment criteria that were established.

Pursuant to subparagraph h) of Article 9 of the Portuguese Constitution, the University of Coimbra, as employer, actively promotes a policy of equal opportunities between men and women in access to employment and professional development, and acts to prevent each and every kind of discrimination.

Therefore, no one can be privileged, benefited, harmed or deprived of any right or immune from any duty on account of, in particular, ancestry, age, sexual orientation, gender, marital status, family, economic situation, education, origin or social condition, genetic heritage, reduced work capacity, disability, chronic illness, nationality, ethnic or racial origin, territory of origin, language, religion, political or ideological beliefs and trade union membership.

Selection reserve list: N.a.