Job Opportunities in Music Cognition

[Luke Windsor <windsor@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Job Opportunities in Music Cognition

At the Nijmegen Institute of Cognition and Information of the Nijmegen
University a research team is being assembled for the Music, Mind, Machine
project. This project aims at improving the understanding of the temporal
aspects of musical knowledge and music cognition using computational
models. The research is interdisciplinary in nature, with contributions
from musicology, psychology and computer science.

The following positions are vacant:

Computer Scientist / Lisp Programmer. (vacancy number 21.2.97)
A challenging position is available for a Computer Scientist/programmer
with experience in Common Lisp and CLOS. Knowledge of the Macintosh system,
MCL, MIDI and audio applications is an advantage. He/she will work on the
development of computational models of music perception. The design of WWW
interfaces and some maintenance of system software will be part of the
task. Appointment will be full-time for four years. This researcher will
become member of the Music, Mind, Machine project team at the NICI.

Research Assistant (vacancy number 118)
The task of the research assistant (AiO) will be to design adaptive methods
for learning rhythm perception. Possible methods that will be considered
are neural networks, Hidden Markov models and probabilistic graphical
models. The candidate needs an excellent background in physics, mathematics
or computer science. This work will lead to a PhD degree in Physics.
Additional expertise in either music or psychology is an advantage.
Appointment will be full-time for four years or 8/10 for 5 years. Gross
salary will be NLG 2135 per month in the first year, increasing to NLG 3812
in the fourth year, based on full-time employment. This researcher will
become member of the neural network research group at the Laboratory for
Medical and Biophysics and will be employed by KUN. This group consists of
8 researchers and PhD students and conducts theoretical and applied
research on neural networks.

Postdoctoral Researcher (vacancy number 21.7.97)
Quantisation is the process of separating the categorical, discrete time
components -durations as notated in the musical score-, from the continuous
deviations as present in a musical performance. The project has next to the
fundamental aspects (connectionist models of categorical rhythm perception
and their empirical validation), an important practical focus and aims at
developing a robust component for automatic music transcription systems.
The postdoc will investigate an existing connectionist model for
quatization and will design and evaluate the prototype system and supervise
the implementation of the components. Extensions of the model to handle
tempo-tracking, polyphony and possibly beat induction are foreseen.
Furthermore the theoretical results obtained in the post-graduate project
need to be integrated and put to practical use. We look for a cognitive
scientist with experience in both experimental methods and in computational
modeling, preferably using Lisp. Experience with quantization and
relaxation networks is an advantage. Appointment will be full-time for
three years, with a possible extension. Depending on experience, the salary
will be between NLG 3882 and NLG 8201 gross per month. This researcher will
become member of the Music, Mind, Machine project team at the NICI.

Music Technologist/Programmer (vacancy number 21.8.97)
This technical assistant will be responsible for setting up the hard- and
software and conducting the recording of performance data, the construction
of user-interfaces, interfaces to existing music notation software, and the
implementation of an Internet version of the prototype. We look for an
engineer with experience in MIDI and related music technologies, Apple
Macintosh, World-Wide Web and Internet, and/or Lisp programming.
Appointment will probably be half-time for three years, with a possible
extension. The salary, depending on experience, will be between NLG 3694
and NLG 5603 gross per month. This researcher will become member of the
Music, Mind, Machine project team at the NICI.

More information
Details about the context of the research can be found at
http://www.nici.kun.nl/mmm and http://www.mbfys.kun.nl/SNN
Employment will begin in early 1998. Nijmegen University intends to employ
a proportionate number of women and men in all positions in the faculty.
Women are therefore urgently invited to apply.
Applications (three copies) should include a curriculum vitae and a
statement of the candidate's professional interests and goals, and one copy
of recent work (e.g., thesis, computer program, article). Please mark
envelope and letter with the vacancy number. Applications for the OIO
position (Vacancy 118) should be sent before October 25, 1997 to the
Personnel Department of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of
Nijmegen, Toernooiveld 1, 6525 ED Nijmegen (Vacancy 118). Applications for
the other positions (21.2.97, 21.7.97 or 21.8.97) should be sent before
November 15, 1997 to the Department of Personnel & Organization, Faculty of
Social Sciences, University Nijmegen, P.O.Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The
Netherlands.

__________
Luke Windsor
NICI
Nijmegen Institute for Cognition and Information

e-mail: windsor@nici.kun.nl
post:   NICI - P.O. Box 9104 - 6500 HE Nijmegen - Nederland/The Netherlands
phone:  +31 (0)24 361 5606
fax:    +31 (0)24 361 6066