PhD position - 3DTechSign (B.C.) Sign Language Research Group

About this position

The successful candidate will join the Sign Language group at the Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL) and conduct a PhD within the 3DTechSign project, investigating the application of technologies to sign language data, and creating tools for research into the neurocognition of sign language. The researcher will contribute to all aspects of the project, with a focus on comparing existing pose estimation tools and evaluating their use with sign language data (including the creation of a benchmark motion capture data set). The validated pose estimation tools will be adapted to specific sign language research needs; the PhD student will work with other team members on such topics as categorical perception in sign language, (semi-)automatic transcription of individual signs and continuous signing, and creating synthetic sign stimuli that manipulate the temporal and spatial information in the signal.

The PhD student will enroll in the Cognitive Neuroscience program at the University of the Basque Country (EHU), and will work under the direct supervision of Dr Costello. In addition to the excellent doctoral training opportunities at the BCBL (programming, neuroimaging techniques, scientific communication), the student will receive specialized training in collecting and managing sign language data, data management, analysis and visualization, applying computer vision tools to sign language data, machine learning techniques and sign language proficiency. The student will attend a summer school and/or courses to learn machine learning techniques that can be applied to sign language data.

The student will carry out at least one 3-month research stay with international collaborators. The position also involves participation in group and center-wide scientific meetings, presentation of findings at international conferences and preparation of peer-reviewed publications.