Responsible Natural Language Processing: Fully-Funded Studentships Announced
UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in Responsible and Trustworthy in-the-world Natural Language Processing announces new funded PhD studentships at the University of Edinburgh.
The UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in Responsible and Trustworthy in-the-world NLP is setting out to train the next generation of researchers and innovators in designing responsible applications of natural language processing.
The centre is recruiting its first cohort of 10 to 12 students to start in September 2024. This will be followed by a further four cohorts to start in the following academic years. The PhD studentships are fully funded, and open to international and UK applicants.
The funding is for four years of study and the deadline for applications is March 11th 2024.
About Natural Language Processing
Natural Language Processing is the technology that underpins many AI applications, including personal assistants (like Siri, Alexa), chatbots (like ChatGPT) and “Generative AI” applications that use text prompts to generate other media (like Midjourney).
Understanding how systems like these operate in the world is critical to ensuring responsible, sustainable, and socially sensitive design.
If we are to avoid common issues with natural language processing systems such as bias, future systems must be built by interdisciplinary, diverse teams who understand the complexities of responsibly developing, deploying and overseeing these systems in real-world settings.
The Importance of Diversity
The Centre for Doctoral Training will therefore look to recruit students with diverse backgrounds relevant to understanding the technical, social, design and legal aspects of these systems. This includes students that have backgrounds in computer science, language science, design, human-computer interaction, social science, and law.
They are looking to form cohorts of students with complimentary skills, so they can share their different skills and expertise across disciplines. They will also be training students and giving them experiences of collaborating across disciplines in teams of hybrid expertise, in applied projects with more than 70 partners.
Interdisciplinary collaboration and team science will be promoted as core to the future of AI research and practice, as will the importance of diverse skills, backgrounds and expertise in AI design and development.
The recruitment approach will prioritise diverse applicants across gender, socio-economic status and ethnic diversity. The Centre for Doctoral Training will also be hosting a series of global majority Natural Language Processing visiting fellows to work with students throughout their training, and also funding students to work with policymakers to translate their research into policy and practice.
With more than 70 industrial, public sector, charity and international research partners, students can expect to benefit from a diverse and engaged community of practice around responsible and trustworthy Natural Language Processing.
How to Apply
Interested? Find out how to apply for 2024 studentship, and apply by 11th March.
