Postdoctoral position in multilingual natural language processing (NLP) - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

The Department of Linguistics and Philology carries out research and offers education in language studies and philology with a focus on the languages and cultures of Asia, the classical languages of Europe, general linguistics, and computational linguistics. Education is offered at the basic, advanced, and doctoral level. Some seventy persons work at the department. Together with students and partners, they create a multicultural and intellectually vibrant environment.

Duties
The primary duties involve conducting independent research and preparing applications for external research funding in the field of multilingual natural language processing (NLP). Multilingual NLP refers to computational models that can process multiple natural languages, either for intrinsically multilingual tasks such as translation or cross-language information retrieval or as a way of pooling resources from multiple languages to perform any task such as question answering or summarization. Research on multilingual NLP today focuses mainly on large language models trained on multiple languages, and open research questions concern how to train the models efficiently and effectively, how to evaluate models reliably on a wide range of languages, and how to understand the processes through which linguistic information is encoded and shared across languages in the models. A special research interest is how multilingual models can be used to support languages with limited data resources.

The role also includes contributing to the development of the department’s academic environment through collaboration with fellow researchers and lecturers. Teaching and supervision duties may account for up to 20% of a full-time position. The holder of the post is expected to spend most of his or her working hours at the department in Uppsala.

Requirements
To be eligible for appointment as a postdoctoral researcher, applicants must hold a doctoral degree, or a foreign qualification deemed equivalent, in a subject relevant to the duties of the position. The degree must have been awarded no more than three years prior to the application deadline, unless special circumstances apply. Such circumstances may include leave due to illness, parental leave, elected positions within trade unions, or other similar situations. Documented expertise as a researcher in multilingual natural language processing is also required. Strong proficiency in English, both spoken and written, is an additional requirement. Furthermore, the applicant must possess the personal qualities necessary to carry out the duties of the position effectively.

Selection
In the selection process, particular emphasis will be placed on the scholarly excellence and originality of each applicant. The quantity, depth, and scope of his or her previous work will be important. Significant consideration will be given to how clearly the research plan demonstrates the connection between the proposed project and the applicant’s prior research, as well as how it may complement and strengthen the research environment at the department. In this context, particular value will be placed on projects that substantially relate to one or more of the department’s other main areas of research, viz. General Linguistics, Greek and Byzantine Studies, Indology, Iranian Languages, Latin, Semitic Languages, Sinology, and Turkic Languages.

As teaching may be included in the role, documented teaching qualifications will also be taken into consideration. The university will primarily consider applicants who, based on an overall assessment of documented qualifications, expertise, and skills, are deemed to have the best potential to carry out the duties of the position and contribute to the positive development of the department.

The application should include:

• a project plan of at most three pages (excl. references)
• doctoral diploma
• doctoral thesis
• other revelant publications
• other supporting documents

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position for two years according to the central collective agreement. Scope of employment: 100%. Starting date as agreed. Placement: Uppsala.

For further information about the position please contact: Head of Department Dimitrios Iordanoglou, dimitrios.iordanoglou@lingfil.uu.se.

Please submit your application by 12 November 2025, UFV-PA 2025/3151.

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