Studentships and Internships ( Pretoria)

Job Description:

Reference     : JO 303386

Closing date : Friday, November 29, 2013


CAREER OPPORTUNITY

The CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) is a leading scientific and technology research organisation, implementing projects throughout Africa and making a difference in people’s lives.


Studentships and Internships

Human Language Technology research group, CSIR Meraka Institute

The CSIR Meraka Institute is a national strategic initiative that contributes to enhancing quality of life and economic competitiveness in South Africa and the continent through ICT by:

• Researching and developing new technology that enables ICT access, inclusion and use;
• Researching, developing and transferring innovative ICT products, processes and services into the market;
• Researching, developing, building and operating world-class cyber infrastructure; and
• Contributing skills and outcomes that are changing the profile of our ICT landscape.

The Human Language Technology (HLT) research group (RG) of the CSIR Meraka Institute studies the way in which speech- and language-related technologies can be created and applied to benefit the people of southern Africa. In collaboration with a network of partners, the RG creates speech and language technologies such as automatic speech recognition systems; speech synthesis systems; computer-assisted language learning systems; and mobile data collection systems. Statistical pattern recognition and artificial intelligence research form the basis from which many of these technologies are developed. These technologies are then applied and tested in real-world mobile and server-based applications. The RG operates in a youthful, energetic environment consisting of researchers and developers from backgrounds in engineering and computer science.
As part of our HCD strategy – aimed at growing scientific, engineering and technology skills – we are offering studentship and internship opportunities within the RG.
Master’s Studentships (X2)
Intended areas of research:

• Conduct basic and applied research into projects related to the following areas of research (subject to supervisory capacity within the HLT):

• Automatic speech recognition
• Speech synthesis
• Speaker verification
• Natural language processing
• Speech-enabled mobile and/or server-based application development
• Usability design and evaluation (as these pertain to HLT-enabled applications)
• Universal usability (as these pertain to HLT-enabled applications).

Additional responsibilities:

• Work in various project teams, comprising other researchers, developers, students and interns.

General requirements:
Within the first six months of appointment, the successful candidates must identify a suitable topic, find a match with a supervisor within the group, and register at a tertiary institution affiliated to the group and/or supervisor.
The successful candidates may be hosted at the CSIR Meraka Institute or their university of registration, subject to an agreement with the CSIR Meraka Institute. Should they be hosted at a university, the successful candidates will be required to spend a specified amount of time at the CSIR Meraka Institute (to be determined based on project-related work).
Studentships’ requirements:

• Minimum qualifications required:
•  
  • An Honours degree (or equivalent) in one of the following disciplines: electronic engineering, computer engineering, computer science, computational linguistics, mathematics, applied mathematics or linguistics.
  •  
• Minimum other competence required:
•  
  • Technical: programming skills in at least one programming language, as well as experience in working within the Linux OS and OpenSource environment.
  • IT: Good computer skills, specifically related to word-processing, spreadsheets and presentations.
  • Interpersonal: The ability to work well in a creative scientific environment as part of a team, with a good fit with the culture of the organisation (e.g. working on various projects simultaneously, contributing to an innovative research and development environment, positively influencing team work, etc.).
  • Language: Full spoken and written proficiency in English.
  •  
• Preferred/recommended requirements:
• Experience:
• 
  
  •  Good research profile and publication rate; one to two years’ experience in participating in a relevant project (see list of research areas above) from conception to completion, including management of all resources relating to the project.
  • Technical: Programming skills in a variety of programming languages, especially C, C++, Python or Perl.
  • IT: Experience in environments like Matlab, Statistica, etc.
  • Language: Knowledge of or fluency in any official South African language(s) and/or language(s) spoken in Africa.

Internships (X2)
Intended areas of research:

• Support basic and applied research into projects related to the following areas of research:

• Automatic speech recognition
• Speech synthesis
• Speaker verification
• Natural language processing
• Speech-enabled mobile and/or server-based application development
• Statistical pattern recognition, artificial intelligence and machine learning.

• Gain work experience in the above research areas by:

• Acting as research assistant to more senior researchers, conducting research tasks related to the above topics; or
• Applying expertise to projects and contributing to projects where possible; or
• Assisting with the development, testing, maintenance and support of systems and software, including monitoring systems, keeping systems up and running, and conducting fault finding.

• Work in various project teams, comprising researchers, developers, students and other interns.

Internships’ requirements:

• Minimum qualifications required:
  • A Bachelor’s degree in one of the following disciplines: electronic engineering, computer engineering, computer science, computational linguistics, mathematics or applied mathematics.
• Minimum other competence required:
  • Technical: Programming skills in at least one programming language, as well as experience in working within the Linux OS and OpenSource environment.
  • IT: Good computer skills, specifically related to word-processing, spreadsheets and presentations.
  • Interpersonal: The ability to work well in a creative scientific environment as part of a team, with a good fit with the culture of the organisation (e.g. working on various projects simultaneously, contributing to an innovative research and development environment, positively influencing team work, etc.).
  • Language: Full spoken and written proficiency in English.
  •  
• Preferred/recommended requirements:
• • Experience: Participation in a relevant project in the intended areas of research from conception to completion with responsibility for ensuring allocated activities are completed on time, brief and budget.
  • Technical: Programming skills in a variety of programming languages, especially C, C++, Python or Perl.
  • IT: Experience in environments like Matlab, Statistica, etc.
  • Language: Knowledge of or fluency in any official South African language(s) and/or language(s) spoken in Africa.
  
  
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