Postdoctoral Researcher in ML / NLP Opportunity at Microsoft Research Africa: Large Language Models (LLMs) for African Low-Resource Languages

ICT and Web Design
December 6, 2024
Contract Full Time

Apply for this job

Email *
Phone Number *

Job Description

Nairobi, Nairobi City, Kenya

 

Save

 

Share job

Date posted
Dec 02, 2024
Job number
1789748
Work site
Up to 50% work from home
Travel
0-25 %
Role type
Individual Contributor
Profession
Research, Applied, & Data Sciences
Discipline
Research Sciences
Employment type
Post Doc Research

Overview

The Microsoft Research Lab – Africa is a research institute located in Nairobi, Kenya. Our mission is to understand, build and deploy innovative cloud and AI technologies which not only address core opportunities in Africa and help to solve local challenges at scale, but which will create a more productive future globally.   

We are currently seeking a Postdoctoral Researcher to join our team, with a specialized focus on Large Language Models (LLMs) and image generation models. This role offers a unique opportunity to advance Machine Learning (ML) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) technologies tailored for the cultural and linguistic diversity of Africa. If you have experience in NLP for African language, generative model evaluation or designing culturally inclusive generative AI this might be the position for you.  

Qualifications

 

Required/Minimum Qualifications:  

  • Ph.D. candidate in the field of Computational Linguistics, Computer Science, Data Science, AI, or a related field.  
  • Passionate about building equitable AI solutions for Africa.  
  • Proficiency in NLP and AI, with specific interest in LLMs and their applications.  
  • Demonstrated experience with Python, NLP frameworks and related libraries.  
  • Solid background in Data Science and Machine Learning techniques.  
  • Ability to work with complex datasets and computational models.  
  • Strong problem-solving, analytical, and communication skills.  

Preferred/Additional Qualifications:  

  • Desirable: Experience in writing papers for academic journals and conferences, such as EMNLP, NAACL, ACL.  

 

 

 

Responsibilities

  • Conduct research in ML, NLP, and LLMs to improve AI technologies for African cultures and languages. 
  • Establish new ways of benchmarking multi-modal output and methods for iteratively improving that output. 
  • Work as part of a multidisciplinary team, integrating insights from different research specialties including human-computer interaction into your research 
  • Analyze, validate, and document research findings and methodologies.  
  • Publish research findings in leading AI journals and conferences. 
  • Mentor students, interns, and junior researchers in related fields. 
Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.
Industry leading healthcare
Educational resources
Discounts on products and services
Savings and investments
Maternity and paternity leave
Generous time away
Giving programs
Opportunities to network and connect
Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.

Related Jobs