Research Fellow - College of Arts and Law - 107761 - Grade 7 in Birmingham

The Department of Linguistics and Communication seeks to appoint a Research Fellow to work on the British Academy funded project ‘Language evolution and sociolinguistic variation in signing communities’ (or ‘EvoSLang’) led by Dr. Rose Stamp and Prof. Adam Schembri. EvoSLang combines sociolinguistic and language evolution approaches to understand the factors affecting lexical competition; why do some variants “win” out in language evolution and others disappear out of usage? In this project, we compare variation across three sign languages of different ages and sociolinguistic profiles: British Sign Language (BSL), Israeli Sign Language (ISL) and Kufr Qassem Sign Language (KQSL). The focus of this position will be to investigate the factors which affect lexical competition, including ease of perception and production, social value, iconicity, etc. Using motion capture and tracking methods, we plan to automatically measure the processes of change in sign languages. In addition, we will create a series of online perception tasks, which help us to understand how signers recognise, classify and judge different signing styles. One of our goals is to create a gender- and ethnically-neutral avatar to serve as the stimuli for the experiment.

The research fellow will have a background in Computer Science or information Systems (or related fields), high level research skills, as well as a demonstrated ability to work independently. It is a bonus if the fellow has an interest or some experience in sign language; they should have a willingness to learn BSL. The Department of Linguistics and Communication has an outstanding international reputation, with particular strengths in relevant areas such as corpus linguistics, quantitative sociolinguistics, cognitive linguistics, and a growing interest in sign language research and gesture studies. As a member of the Department, the research fellow will join a lively and flourishing research community where they will enjoy opportunities for intellectual and other leadership in a collegiate and highly ambitious environment.

This is a full-time post with a duration of one year, with an anticipated start date of November 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter. We believe that signed language research may be effectively carried out by researchers from a range of backgrounds. However, in light of the under-representation of deaf scholars and professionals in academia, we are committed to creating opportunities for deaf scholars. In addition to meeting the eligibility requirements, we therefore strongly encourage deaf individuals to apply. Applicants must already have the right to work in the UK, as visa sponsorship is not available for this role.

Role Summary

• Work within specified research grants and projects and contribute to writing bids
• Operate within area of specialism
• Analyse and interpret research findings and results
• Contribute to generating funding
• Contribute to licensing or spin out deals with demonstrated commercial success (such as revenues, asset or company sales, IP generated) and/or public understanding of the discipline or similar

Main Duties

• Ability to analyse and interpret data
• Disseminate research findings for publication, research seminars etc
• Supervise students on research related work and provide guidance to PhD students where appropriate to the discipline
• Undertake management/administration arising from research
• Willingness to contribute to Departmental/School research-related activities and research-related administration
• Engagement in public engagement activities, often under supervision of a project leader
• Problem solving that may arise when working towards research objectives & deadlines
• Develop research objectives and proposals for own or joint research, with assistance of a mentor if required
• Contribute to writing bids for research funding
• Apply knowledge in a way which develops new intellectual understanding
• Contribute to developing new models, techniques and methods
• Contribute to enterprise, business development and/or public engagement activities of manifest benefit to the College and the University, often under supervision of a project leader
• Collect research data; this may be through a variety of research methods, such as scientific experimentation, literature reviews, and research interviews
• Present research outputs, including drafting academic publications or parts thereof, for example at seminars and as posters
• Provide guidance, as required, to support staff and any students who may be assisting with the research
• Deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines
• Foster a fair and equitable workplace for all staff
• Identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant university policies and procedures

Person Specification

• PhD in Computer Science or related fields (or be near completing)
• High level research skills, as well as a demonstrated ability to work independently
• Experience in a range of different approaches to the study of motion
• High level analytical capability
• Ability to communicate complex information clearly
• Fluency in relevant models, techniques or methods and ability to contribute to developing new ones
• Ability to assess resource requirements and use resources effectively
• Understanding of & ability to contribute to broader management/administration processes
• Experience developing & applying machine learning models to computer vision tasks
• Practical experience in computing languages (python, JAVA script, C++) & deep learning
• Technical expertise (e.g., adapting/tweaking/debugging code)
• Ability to create online experiments, using online platforms such as Qualtrics
• Contribute to the planning and organising of the research programme and/or specific research project
• Co-ordinate own work with others to avoid conflict or duplication of effort
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics and duties under the Equality Act 2010, including fostering good relations and advancing the universities Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED)

Informal enquiries to Rose Stamp, email: r.j.stamp@bham.ac.uk

Use of AI in applications: We want to understand your genuine interest in the role and for the written elements of your application to accurately reflect your own communication style. Applications that rely too heavily on AI tools can appear generic and lack the detail we need to assess your skills and experience. Such applications will unlikely be progressed to interview.

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.