Postdoc in Speech Perception, Sociolinguistics and Speech Technology

Job description

This postdoctoral position is part of the research project Listen Up, which develops an interactive training program to increase awareness of gender bias in speech perception, using controllable neural text-to-speech (TTS) and voice conversion.

The project combines experimental speech perception research, sociolinguistics, gender studies and speech technology. We study how listeners interpret voices and how assumptions about gender, authority, confidence and professionalism emerge through listening. The goal is to develop an engaging interactive training program that helps users reflect on and challenge their own listening biases.

An important part of the project is designing engaging and thought-provoking listening experiments that go beyond measuring bias and lead to reflection and awareness for participants.

We are looking for someone who is intellectually curious, creative, collaborative and genuinely interested in questions of gender, communication and social perception. The ideal candidate enjoys designing perceptual experiments, working closely with participants and thinking across disciplinary boundaries.

Candidates may come from a range of relevant backgrounds, including speech technology, sociolinguistics, phonetics, psycholinguistics, HCI, interaction design, cognitive science, gender studies, media technology or related fields.

The position is partially funded by InspireLab, a KTH research center that supports research projects developing and using technology to improve conditions for women and address concrete gender equality challenges. More information: https://tinyurl.com/3d2ssu8c

Your responsibilities will include:

• Designing and conducting speech perception experiments investigating how listeners interpret and evaluate voices
• Developing engaging listening tasks, interactive experimental paradigms and speech stimuli using neural text-to-speech and voice conversion tools
• Analysing qualitative and quantitative data on voice perception, gender bias and sociolinguistic variation, including how participants reflect on and describe their own listening assumptions
• Collaborating with researchers and students in an interdisciplinary research environment
• Publishing results in leading venues across speech science, sociolinguistics, HCI and speech technology

The position is based at the Department of Speech, Music and Hearing (TMH) at KTH.

Qualifications

Requirements

• A doctoral degree or an equivalent foreign degree. This eligibility requirement must be met no later than the time the employment decision is made.
• PhD in speech technology, linguistics, phonetics, psycholinguistics, HCI, cognitive science, gender studies, media technology or a related field
• Experience with experimental research involving speech, language, listening, communication or human behaviour
• Experience with data analysis and scientific programming (e.g. Python, R or similar)
• Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively in an interdisciplinary research environment

Personal skills

• We are particularly looking for someone who is creative, perceptive, collaborative and excited about building research that people genuinely enjoy engaging with.
• Awareness of diversity and equal opportunity issues, with specific focus on gender equality

Preferred qualifications

• A doctoral degree or an equivalent foreign degree, obtained within the last three years prior to the application deadline
• Experience with speech perception, sociophonetics, experimental linguistics or speech technology
• Experience designing interactive experiments or studies
• Research related to gender, communication, bias or social perception
• Experience with speech synthesis, voice conversion or interactive systems
• Interest in research communication or public engagement

Great emphasis will be placed on personal skills.

Join us at KTH

KTH shapes the future through education, research and innovation. As a leading international technical university, we play an active role in advancing the transition towards a sustainable society. At KTH, you have the opportunity to grow and develop in a creative and dynamic environment, with good working conditions and attractive benefits. Equality, diversity and equal opportunities are essential to quality and form an integral part of KTH’s core values as a university and public authority.

Learn more about our benefits and what it's like to work and grow at KTH.

Trade union representatives

Contact information to trade union representatives.

To apply for the position

Log into KTH's recruitment system to apply for this position. You are responsible for ensuring that your application is complete according to the instructions in the ad.

The application must include:

• CV including relevant professional experience and knowledge.
• Copy of diplomas and grades from your previous university studies. Translations into English or Swedish if the original documents have not been issued in any of these languages.
• Brief account of why you want to conduct research, your academic interests and how they relate to your previous studies and future goals. Maximally two pages long.

Your complete application must be received at KTH no later than the last day of application, midnight CET/CEST (Central European Time/Central European Summer Time).

About the employment

The position offered is for, at the most, two years.

A position as a postdoctoral fellow is a time-limited qualified appointment focusing mainly on research, intended as a first career step after a dissertation.

Other information

For information about processing of personal data in the recruitment process.

It may be the case that a position at KTH is classified as a security-sensitive role in accordance with the Protective Security Act (2018:585). If this applies to the specific position, a security clearance will be conducted for the applicant in accordance with the same law with the applicant's consent. In such cases, a prerequisite for employment is that the applicant is approved following the security clearance.

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Disclaimer: In case of discrepancy between the Swedish original and the English translation of the job announcement, the Swedish version takes precedence.

1. Eva Szekely, [email protected]