"Research Assistant in Multimodal Retrieval and Language Processing"

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The role

We are seeking a Graduate Researcher to join a multidisciplinary team working on a research project funded by eBay which aims to create a framework to support vision-language (V-L) research. The framework to be developed will be leveraging existing pre-trained vision-language models to improve the performance of matching listings with existing products, and for tasks like product listing moderation, attribute extraction, explained relevance prediction. This framework can later also serve as a testbed for customer support chatbots with image understanding and image-based product search. The appointed research is expected to be involved in the development and evaluation of the framework, and to contribute to the research publications produced in the project.

About you

The appointed candidate will have at least a MSc in computer science and a very good understanding of how visual language models work and can be used in practical applications.

We are particularly interested in individuals who have:

• Strong background at least two of the following areas: machine learning, natural language processing, large language models and multimodal processing
• Excellent programming skills
• The ability to work both independently and as part of a collaborative team, often across disciplines.
• Experience with scientific writing and the preparation of research outputs.

How to apply

Please upload your CV and a covering letter where you outline your interest in the role and how your background fits with the project. Shortlisted applicants will be invited to an interview last week of September, with the successful candidate expected to start shortly afterwards.

Informal enquiries related to the project to Professor Constantin Orasan by email: C.Orasan@surrey.ac.uk

Interviews will be held on Wednesday 8th October.

The University of Surrey reserves the right to close this vacancy early/extend based on Volume and Calibre of applications.

Further details

For more information and to apply online, please download the further details and click on the 'apply online' button above.

In return we offer a generous pension, relocation assistance where appropriate, flexible working options including job share and blended home/campus working locations (dependent on work duties), access to world-class leisure facilities on campus, a range of travel schemes and supportive family friendly benefits including an excellent on-site nursery.

Click here to find out more about the benefits we offer to support you.

The University of Surrey is committed to providing an inclusive environment that offers equal opportunities for all. We place great value on diversity and are seeking to increase the diversity within our community. Therefore we particularly encourage applications from under-represented groups, such as people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups and people with disabilities.