Postdoctoral Researcher

The Idiap Research Institute together with a global industry partner, leader in Consumer Electronics, invite applications for two post-doctoral positions in speech and speaker recognition for HMI devices. The positions are funded for two years by the Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI), enabling a collaboration between Idiap and an innovative product company.

The successful candidates will work with Dr. Philip N. Garner, and/or Dr. Petr Motlicek in Idiap's Speech and Audio Processing group, engaged in world-class research in speech processing. Exceptionally qualified candidates can also be considered for a longer-term Research Associate position.

To apply, follow the links at http://www.idiap.ch/education-and-jobs/job-10232

Description

In recent years, the state of the art in speech and speaker recognition has been dominated by deep learning. Such technology is typically highly parametric; training can require significant CPU or GPU resources. The goal of the project is to investigate the application of the state of the art to the more limited resources of consumer-grade embedded systems which operate in combination with cloud services.

We envisage three related research threads:

1. Parameter reduction, in which we will apply sparsity and relevance constraints to train networks that function using as few parameters as possible.

2. Smart handover, in which we will assess the complexity of voice commands to optimise workload between local devices and cloud-based services.

3. System combination, in which we will build on the commonality between technologies for multilingual speech recognition, keyword spotting and speaker recognition to create a single system with multiple capabilities.

The successful candidates will work at Idiap in Martigny, but in close collaboration with the partner’s R&D team based in Switzerland. The project is a unique combination of applied science and academic research expected to yield both reference designs and academic publications.

Profile

Candidates should have either or both of:
1. A strong background in engineering, mathematics or a related discipline, along with the associated familiarity with modern distributed programming environments and languages such as C++, Python and Perl.
2. An exceptional academic record and a clear aptitude for creative (and independent) research in a related discipline.
In either case, familiarity with speech processing tools such as Kaldi and deep learning toolkits such as Torch will be a distinct advantage. Although a PhD is normally a prerequisite for a post-doctoral position, candidates without a PhD may be considered in exceptional cases.

Timescale

All positions are offered on a one-year basis with the possibility of renewal based on funding and performance. The starting salary will be 80,000 CHF/year. Starting date could be immediate, but otherwise as soon as possible in 2018.

Idiap is an independent, not-for-profit, research institute recognized and funded by the Swiss Federal Government, the State of Valais, and the City of Martigny.

Idiap offers competitive salaries and conditions at all levels in a young, high-quality, dynamic, and multicultural environment. Idiap is an equal opportunity employer and is actively involved in the "Advancement of Women in Science" European initiative. The Institute seeks to maintain a principle of open competition (on the basis of merit) to appoint the best candidate, provides equal opportunity for all candidates, and equally encourage both genders to apply.

Idiap is located in the town of Martigny in Valais, a scenic region in the south of Switzerland, surrounded by the highest mountains of Europe, and offering exceptional quality of life, exciting recreational activities, including hiking, climbing and skiing, as well as varied cultural activities. It is within close proximity to Lausanne and Geneva. Although Idiap is located in the French part of Switzerland, English is the official working language. Free French lessons are also provided on a complimentary basis.

For frequently asked questions (FAQs) about living in Switzerland, please go to http://www.idiap.ch/en/faq