Assistant Professor Machine Translation

Leiden University is looking for an assistant professor to conduct research and teach undergraduate and graduate courses in Machine Translation in Leiden.

The lecturer will hold a position within the Leiden University Centre for Linguistics and teach courses as needed in the BA programme Linguistics, the MA programme Linguistics (specialization Computational Linguistics and specialization Translation), and the Minor programme Translation.

Key responsibilities

• Developing, teaching, and co-ordinating courses on Machine Translation and Computational Linguistics. The position will have a focus on adaptivity in machine translation: adaptivity to specific end-user groups (such as refugees or people with low-literacy), specific contexts (e.g. medical or legal translation, or creative and literary translation) or specific media (i.e. MT in audio-visual translation).
• Supervising student internships, and BA and (Res)MA theses in English;
• Playing an active role in recruiting students by contributing to open days, orientation and information sessions;
• Fulfilling administrative duties within the programme, the LUCL institute and/or the Faculty of Humanities;
• Conducting research based on an individual research plan within one of the research programmes of LUCL and presenting the results in the form of publications, conference presentations and other means to academic, professional/societal partners and wider audiences;
• Acquiring project funding at national, European and international levels.

 Selection criteria

• You hold a PhD degree in Computational Linguistics, Machine Translation, Computer-Assisted Translation, or Artificial Intelligence;
• You are aware of current issues and viewpoints within the field of Machine Translation, as demonstrated by recent publications on machine translation in peer-reviewed academic journals and edited volumes;
• You have “hands-on” experience in machine translation;
• You have a strong academic teaching record, both at the BA and MA level, including courses specifically on machine translation, as demonstrated by recent teaching evaluations and teaching innovation/design;
• You are a committed and inspiring teacher, with an inclusive approach to education and the ability to engage a diverse community of BA and MA students;
• You have a research profile that fits within LUCL and a proven track record of research, as demonstrated by a list of peer-reviewed publications commensurate with career stage;
• You are a clear communicator and team player, enthusiastic to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries, in both teaching and research;
• You possess excellent language skills (C1 or higher) in both English and at least one other language (preferably one of the languages taught in the BA and MA programmes of Leiden’s Faculty of Humanities, i.e. Dutch, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Turkish, Arabic).

Our organisation
Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL) is one of seven Institutes that falls under the Faculty of Humanities. With over 120 linguists working at the Institute, it is a rich research environment that prides itself on fostering scientific excellence. At LUCL we offer extensive research support to our researchers. For example, our in-house grant officer will advise and help you apply for grants, a dedicated project officer will guide you with project finances and a communications advisor is on hand to assist you in publicising your research. 

LUCL has a longstanding tradition in the study of the world’s languages and features unique linguistic expertise. Current theoretical insights are combined with modern experimental methods in its research profile area ‘Language Diversity in the World’. Researchers from our six umbrella research groups are experts in their respective fields but equally find innovative ways of collaborating with other fields and disciplines. 

The Faculty of Humanities is rich in expertise in fields such as philosophy, religious studies, history, art history, literature, linguistics and area studies covering nearly every region of the world. With its staff of 995, the faculty provides 27 master’s and 25 bachelor’s programmes for over 7,000 students based at locations in Leiden and in The Hague. For more information: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/humanities.

 Terms and conditions
We offer an 1 fte temporary appointment of one year. This position may lead to a permanent appointment depending on good performance. Salary ranges from € 3,974.- to € 5,439.- gross per month (pay scale 11) based on fulltime employment in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities and commensurate with qualifications and experience. Depending on qualifications, you may start at the appropriate step in scale 10 until you fully meet the requirements for scale 11 as specified by the Faculty of Humanities, particularly with regard to the number of years of relevant work experience. The starting date will be as soon as possible.

Leiden University offers an attractive benefits package with additional holiday (8%) and end-of-year bonuses (8.3 %), training and career development. Our individual choices model gives you some freedom to assemble your own set of terms and conditions. Candidates from outside the Netherlands may be eligible for a substantial tax break. More at https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/working-at/job-application-procedure-and-employment-conditions.

Leiden University requires teaching staff to obtain the University Teaching Qualification (UTQ). If the successful applicant does not already possess this qualification or its equivalent, he/ she must be willing to obtain this Qualification within two years.

Diversity and inclusion
Fostering an inclusive community is a central element of the values and vision of Leiden University. Leiden University is committed to becoming an inclusive community which enables all students and staff to feel valued and respected and to develop their full potential. Diversity in experiences and perspectives enriches our teaching and strengthens our research. High quality teaching and research is inclusive.

Information
Enquiries can be made to Prof. Lisa Cheng, Academic Director of LUCL, e-mail WDlucl@hum.leidenuniv.nl. For practical questions, please contact the Institute Manager, Maarit van Gammeren, e-mail m.s.k.van.gammeren@hum.leidenuniv.nl.

Applications
Please submit your application online no later than 25 December 2022 via the blue button in our application system. Your application should include:

• A CV including education and employment history, publications, and courses taught; 
• A letter of motivation outlining a research agenda in a field related to Machine Translation (max 2 pages); 
• Two sample course descriptions;
• Names, positions, and email addresses of three referees (no reference letters at this point).

Interviews will be held in January 2023. A teaching presentation and a research presentation will be part of the procedure.

You are kindly requested to be available in this period.

Enquiries from agencies are not appreciated.