Scholarship details
Recent developments in artificial intelligence and voice technology have enabled significant progress to be made in the field of (social) robot development. The most recent iteration of robots has the capacity to strike up conversation with their human operators and form social bonds with them on a deeper level than ever before. The adaptability of robots’ linguistic capabilities, which makes it possible for them to adapt to the language of the user, is one of the most significant advantages of robotics. This can be a language from another country; for example, the robot Franny who shows passengers the way at Frankfurt Airport speaks 44 different languages. However, this can also be a language from the local area. Because multilingual seniors frequently revert to their first, native language, which is typically the one used in the setting of the family, knowing the language of the region in which you live can be a valuable advantage in a variety of fields, including medicine and care for the elderly, for example. Robots that speak many languages could be an advantage for language training in schools, or they could be utilized as a cutting-edge interactive tool to pique students’ interest in the native tongue of their region.
The purpose of this Doctor of Philosophy project is to study whether or not the experience of interacting with human robots may be improved by making use of regional languages. In addition, the project intends to investigate whether or not the utilization of regional language in human-robot interactions is beneficial in educational settings. For example, the project will investigate whether or not the activation of elderly people to exercise or the motivation of children to learn aspects of a regional language can be improved through the utilization of regional language. The project will expand upon a text-to-speech implementation of a regional variant of Low Saxon known as “Gronings” that is currently being developed and included into the consumer robot known as “Pepper.” The doctoral student will conduct field investigations in schools and facilities that provide care for the elderly in order to investigate the potential benefits of employing local languages in human-robot interactions. It is also possible to create and construct a voice recognition system for the local language, and it is conceivable to incorporate this system into the robot, although this depends on the candidate’s level of experience as well as their level of interest.
About Scholarship Provider
The University of Groningen was established in 1614, making it one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. It is also currently regarded as one of the top 100 universities in all of the world. We are an institution that places a strong emphasis on research and we provide a wide variety of well acclaimed bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs in English across all subject areas. More than 36,000 students are enrolled at our institution at the moment, and of those, more than 9,000 are foreign students from from 127 different nations. We are ecstatic to announce that for the past two years in a row, we have been honored with the coveted International Student Satisfaction Excellence Award.
Groningen’s University is primarily responsible for luring a large number of students from other countries because of the excellent level of education it provides. Despite this, the city remains one of the most well-kept secrets in the Netherlands. The city is located in the north-eastern part of the Netherlands and is roughly two hours away by rail from Schiphol Airport. It is home to almost 200,000 people, with one in four of those residents being students. Groningen is a vibrant student city that is also a highly secure location to call home. When you first arrive in, the first thing that will strike you is the city’s vibe, which is one that is youthful, secure, and entertaining.
Students who have completed their bachelor’s degrees with us have the option of continuing their education by enrolling in a master’s program at one of the many universities located all over the world. Some people will choose to extend their education by getting a doctoral degree in the subject that they have already mastered. Notable former students include Ben Feringa, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the first Dutch woman to graduate from a Dutch university (Aletta Jacobs), and the first Dutch person to journey into space (Wubbo Ockels).
The university provides more than one hundred different Master’s degree programs and specializations, of which more than ninety are taught in English. Additionally, the university provides over fifty different Bachelor’s degree programs, of which thirty-six are taught in English. The university is organized into eleven faculties, which include economics and business, theology and religious studies, behavioral and social sciences, arts, law, medical sciences, spatial sciences, science and engineering, philosophy, liberal arts (offered by University College Groningen), and Campus Fryslan. In addition, the university features a campus in Fryslan. Each of these schools provides Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degree programs, as well as exchange opportunities, and some of them even offer Shot Certificate programs as well.
At the moment, the educational institution is home to over 30,00 pupils hailing from in excess of a hundred and twenty nations. This university has more than 3,000 people working in the academic department on a full-time basis. In addition, the University of Groningen maintains exchange partnerships with educational institutions located in a variety of countries and provides a comprehensive curriculum for international students.
More than three million printed volumes, one million ebooks, 80,000 electronic journals, and 5,000 magazines are all accessible through the University’s three libraries: the University Library (UB) in the city center; the Zernike library; and the central medical library. The institution also has a Language Centre that provides a variety of language courses, including Dutch, Italian, Japanese, Hebrew, and even Hebrew, in order to assist overseas students in adjusting to life in the Netherlands and making the most of their academic experience there.
As a result of the university’s location in the Netherlands, which is consistently ranked as one of the most student-friendly countries in the world, there is never a dull moment in a student’s life at the University of Groningen. Because students make up one-quarter of the population in Groningen, the city never runs out of opportunities to celebrate student life in the form of festivals and other events, and there is always something for everyone, no matter the season. In addition to their academic commitments, a significant number of students participate in extracurricular activities and organizations in fields as diverse as athletics, education, politics, and many others.
The institution has been there for four centuries, and in that time it has welcomed incredibly gifted students from a wide variety of academic fields, transforming itself into a center of education for all who have passed through its halls. The institution has produced a number of remarkable individuals, including the first female student at a university and the first female lecturer in the Netherlands, as well as two winners of the Nobel Prize, the first Dutch astronaut, and even the first president of the European Bank.
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Scholarship Sponsor(s): University of Groningen
Scholarship Country: Netherlands
Scholarship Worth: €2,249
Study Level: PhD
Nationality: International Students
Scholarship Offer:
Candidates who are successful in gaining admission to the PhD program at the University of Groningen will be eligible to receive a stipend of € 2,249 per month for a maximum of four years.
Eligibility for Scholarship.
- In order for the applicants to be considered, they are required to fulfill all of the following and stated criteria:
- All applicants are required to demonstrate a high level of proficiency in programming.
- The applicants are required to have strong familiarity with the programming language Python, as well as a keen interest in or previous work with voice technologies.
- Applicants who can demonstrate prior experience programming robots will be given preference over those without such experience.
Required Forms and Documents for the Application
- A motivation letter
- A copy of your curriculum vitae that includes the names of three references
- A proposal for further investigation (max 2 pages)
- A digital copy of your diploma, together with your transcripts
- An indication that you are proficient in English
- Other related papers (please merge these documents with the attachments of 4 or 5).
Nationality
The University of Groningen 2022 PhD Scholarships in Human-robot Interactions in Regional Language, Netherlands is open to all International Students
It was given a grant of £7.5 million by the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund of Innovate UK to develop a quantum computer that is capable of correcting its own flaws and applying the technology to high-impact problems in the aerospace industry. The University of Sussex scholarship proposes to illustrate essential operational concepts in collaboration with a variety of business partners by adapting an existing quantum computer prototype.
Application Procedure
- Applicants are required to submit their applications through email to Associate Professor Kay C. Vopel ([email protected]), and they must attach the following materials to their submissions: a) A curriculum vitae that includes the names and contact information of two referees. b) Degree certificates and grades verifying that the candidate satisfies the entry requirements into the Doctor of Philosophy program. c) The candidate’s own original work, a scientific text published in English (e.g., Master thesis, a paper currently in draft, or a publication in a scientific journal)..
Application Deadline
The application deadline for University of Groningen 2022 PhD Scholarships in Human-robot Interactions in Regional Language, Netherlands Is 7 June 11:59pm
