Machine learning for natural language modelling and processing

Text and language processing is of great importance in many applications where an intelligent system is required to understand language and respond to queries. The PhD project will use machine learning techniques for semantic summarization and knowledge extraction from language/text, as well as for the generation of meaningful responses to queries.

Particular attention will be placed on generative models, their supervised or unsupervised training, and their application to a range of tasks that involve language processing.

The resultant models will be used in order to develop intelligent systems that can understand and respond to natural language.

How to apply

If you are interested in applying for the above PhD topic please follow the steps below:

1. Contact the supervisor by email or phone to discuss your interest and find out if you woold be suitable. Supervisor details can be found on this topic page. The supervisor will guide you in developing the topic-specific research proposal, which will form part of your application.
2. Click on the 'Apply here' button on this page and you will be taken to the relevant PhD course page, where you can apply using an online application.
3. Complete the online application indicating your selected supervisor and include the research proposal for the topic you have selected.

Good luck!

This is a self funded topic

Brunel offers a number of funding options to research students that help cover the cost of their tuition fees, contribute to living expenses or both. See more information here: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/research/Research-degrees/Research-degree-funding. The UK Government is also offering Doctoral Student Loans for eligible students, and there is some funding available through the Research Councils. Many of our international students benefit from funding provided by their governments or employers. Brunel alumni enjoy tuition fee discounts of 15%.

Meet the Supervisor(s)

Nikolaos Boulgouris - Nikolaos V. Boulgouris is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) with the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering of Brunel University London. From 2004 to 2010 he was an academic member of staff with King's College London, and before that he was a researcher with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the University of Toronto, Canada. He has published more than 100 papers in international journals and conferences (Google scholar search) and he has participated in numerous national and international research consortia. Dr. Boulgouris currently serves as Senior Area Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Image Processing. In 2018 he served as Technical Program Chair for the IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP). In the past he served as Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, from which he received the 2017 Best Associate Editor Award, and also as Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, and the IEEE Signal Processing Letters. He was co-editor of the book Biometrics: Theory, Methods, and Applications, which was published by Wiley - IEEE Press, and guest co-editor for two journal special issues. He is an elected member of the IEEE Multimedia Signal Processing Technical Committee (MMSP - TC). From 2014 to 2019, he served as an elected member of the IEEE Image, Video, and Multidimensional Signal Processing Technical Committee (IVMSP - TC). Dr. Boulgouris is a Senior Member of the IEEE and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.