We are seeking a new postdoctoral researcher in machine learning and statistical natural language processing, to work on joint models of computer programs and natural language.
The LUCID project (Language analysis for Universally Clear, Integrated Development), will focus on new methods based on NLP to help developers to write clearer code. We will develop new analysis methods that learn the relationships between program semantics on the one hand and comments and names on the other. These methods will be based on novel combinations of program analysis methods, from the programming languages community, and statistical natural language processing (NLP) methods, such as topic models and neural language models. This project builds on a growing research area at the intersection of programming languages, software engineering, natural language processing, and machine learning, which has variously been called “naturalness of software” and “big code”.
The successful candidate will have a background in statistical language processing or machine learning and a strong interest in the application area. The researcher will be supervised by Dr Charles Sutton at the University of Edinburgh. The programming language aspects of the work will be led by Dr Earl Barr, University College London, and his associated research staff.
Why Edinburgh
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The School of Informatics is one of the top-ranked departments of computer science in Europe, and one of the largest and best research centres in the world, with over 100 faculty and 400 PhD students and researchers. A national research assessment exercise (REF 2014) concluded that the School produced more world-leading and internationally excellent research in computer science than any other university in the UK. Our strength in machine learning, natural language processing, and the larger fields has been recognized by recent awards of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Data Science (fully funds 50 PhD students over 8 years), and by being selected as one of only 5 UK universities to be a founding partner of the Alan Turing Institute.
The city of Edinburgh is a beautiful city of historic sandstone buildings, many of which are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, that provides a high quality of life — or, in the words of Alexander McCall Smith, “a city of shifting light, of changing skies, of sudden vistas. A city so beautiful it breaks the heart again and again.”
How to Apply
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Please apply at the official University system here:
https://www.vacancies.ed.ac.uk
Related papers and more information may be found here:
http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/
Informal enquiries can be directed to Charles Sutton <csutton@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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