PhD candidate position on Natural Language Processing in Law

2 Mar 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company

Maastricht University (UM)

Research Field

Technology

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

Netherlands

Application Deadline

21 Mar 2024 - 22:59 (UTC)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Not Applicable

Hours Per Week

38.0

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by an EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

The law affects us all, but technology is not equally available for everyone. In practice, technology often benefits the wealthy the most. In this project, you will seek to contribute to a better understanding of how NLP and/or LLMs can assist in making the law more accessible to those with no or limited legal expertise. You will use NLP to analyze legal data and possibly create synthetic data to create annotated datasets or fine-tune LLMs. The work builds on previous work, which includes (but is not limited to) https://aclanthology.org/2023.eacl-main.203/ , https://aclanthology.org/2023.nllp-1.15/ , and https://ebooks.iospress.nl/volumearticle/53654 . Your work is expected to have a tangible real-world impact. The ability to find innovative technical solutions to legal challenges could become a key skill of your future career, be it as a researcher, entrepreneur, or engineer.

You will undertake PhD research at the intersection of law and computer science under the supervision of professors of the Maastricht Law & Tech Lab. Your primary task is conducting the research for your PhD project. Your exact project will be determined in consultation with you and according to your interests and skills. As such, you will be expected to develop your own independent research agenda with the support of our experienced researchers in the Law & Tech Lab. A small proportion of the appointment may be devoted to teaching activities, which commonly amount to teaching activities in eight weeks per year.

You will be allowed to collaborate with researchers from different disciplines, including machine learning, data science, and law. You will be part of an exciting, vibrant, and quickly growing community where researchers from different disciplines meet and form interdisciplinary teams that conduct academically and societally relevant research. You will be offered the opportunity to gain insights not only on applying computational techniques but also on law, regulation, and ethics. For this, you will be encouraged, coached, and allowed to attend courses, conferences, and workshops that will add social and legal knowledge to your skill set. PhD researchers participate in the Maastricht University Graduate School of Law.

Requirements
Specific Requirements

• MSc degree in Computer Science, AI, Machine Learning, or Data Science (or equivalent).
• Proven experience with applying natural language processing. Affinity with law is a plus.
• Interest in learning about other disciplines, law in particular.
• Community-friendly team player.
• Excellent oral and written English communication.
• Optional: geek-friendly.

Additional Information
Benefits

What we offer
As PhD candidate position on Natural Language Processing in Lawat Faculty of Law, you will be employed by the most international university in the Netherlands, located in the beautiful city of Maastricht. In addition, we offer you:

• Good employment conditions. The position is graded in scale P according to UFO profile Promovendus, with corresponding salary based on experience ranging from €2770,00 and €3539,00 gross per month (based on a full-time employment of 38 hours per week). In addition to the monthly salary, an 8.0% holiday allowance and an 8.3% year-end bonus apply.
• An employment contract for a period of 12 months with a scope of 1,0 FTE. Upon a positive evaluation, an extension of 3 years will follow.
• At Maastricht University, the well-being of our employees is of utmost importance, we offer flexible working hours and the possibility to work partly from home if the nature of your position allows it. You will receive a monthly commuting and internet allowance for this. If you work full-time, you will be entitled to 29 vacation days and 4 additional public holidays per year, namely carnival Monday, carnival Tuesday, Good Friday, and Liberation Day. If you choose to accumulate compensation hours, an additional 12 days will be added. Furthermore, you can personalize your employment conditions through a collective labor agreement (CAO) choice model.
• As Maastricht University, we offer various other excellent secondary employment conditions. These include a good pension scheme with the ABP and the opportunity for UM employees to participate in company fitness and make use of the extensive sports facilities that we also offer to our students.
• Last but certainly not least, we provide the space and facilities for your personal and professional development. We facilitate this by offering a wide range of training programs and supporting various well-established initiatives such as 'acknowledge and appreciate'.
• The terms of employment at Maastricht University are largely set out in the collective labor agreement of Dutch Universities. In addition, local provisions specific to UM apply. For more information, click here .

Maastricht University is committed to promoting and nurturing a diverse and inclusive community. We believe that diversity in our staff and student population contributes to the quality of research and education at UM, and strive to enable this through inclusive policies and innovative projects led by teams of staff and students. We encourage you to apply for this position.

Additional comments

Curious?
Are you interested in this exciting position but still have questions? Feel free to contact professor Gijs van Dijck at [email protected] / +31 43 388 1396 for more information.

Applying?
Or are you already convinced and ready to become our new PhD student? Apply now, no later than 21 March 2024 for this position. The interviews will be held in April 2024.

Applications should include:

• a letter of motivation
• a curriculum vitae
• representative work (e.g. a master thesis).

The vacancy is open for internal and external candidates. In case of equal qualifications, internal candidates will be prioritized.

Website for additional job details

https://www.academictransfer.com/338515/

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Maastricht University

Country

Netherlands

City

Maastricht

Postal Code

6211LH

Street

Bouillonstraat 3

Geofield

Where to apply

Website

https://www.academictransfer.com/en/338515/phd-candidate-position-on-natural-la…

Contact

City

Maastricht

Website

http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/

Street

Minderbroedersberg 4

Postal Code

6211 LK

STATUS: EXPIRED