Academic/Research

The Analytical Crisis and Reputation Management group at Northwestern University is seeking to fill a postdoctoral research position for a project on "Language and Political Behavior."

This project brings together researchers from the Departments of Linguistics and Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences as part of the Northwestern Institute in Complex Systems (NICO). Its goal is to analyze written and spoken text in business and politics in order to detect and trace issues and opinions, tonality of documents, and to explore the relationship between linguistic output and voting patterns, interest group positioning and survey data. The project also explores applications to political and reputational risk management. The selected candidate�s primary responsibilities will lie in the following areas:

• Information extraction: Event detection using adaptive information extraction tools. Examples of events are side effects of drugs, corporate financial fraud, lawsuits against drug companies, etc.

• Topic or event evolution: Tracking the emergence and development of events, changes in emphasis and salience of the topics related to them, over time.

The position is available immediately and will remain open until filled. The initial appointment will be for 12 months, with the possibility of extension by another 12 months, subject to performance and availability of funding. Finan- cial compensation will be competitive and commensurate with the candidate�s qualification.

Prospective candidates should send their curriculum vitae, including list of publications, to the following address:

Prof. Stefan Kaufmann
Department of Linguistics
Northwestern University
2016 Sheridan Rd.
Evanston, IL 60208, USA

Applicants should arrange for three letters of reference to be sent directly to the same address. For full consideration, application materials including letters should arrive no later than January 31, 2007.

For further information, contact Stefan Kaufmann at kaufmann at northwestern.edu.

Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer, and applications from minority and women candidates are especially welcome. Hiring is contingent upon eligibility to work in the United States.