PhD in Natural Language Processing

University of Copenhagen; København; On-site; DKK 323,000 - 387,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Copenhagen invites applications for a PhD fellowship in cultural interpretation with language models, within CuRe: Cultural Reasoning for Responsible Language Model Development. The project spans NLP, literary studies and computational humanities, with a stay planned at McGill University and a start in February 2027 or soon after.

The candidate will build datasets, analyze model interpretations against cultural context, and publish findings in top NLP and AI venues,

Qualifications

• A master’s degree or equivalent qualification relevant to the PhD project.
• Strong programming skills, preferably in Python, and experience with ML or NLP tools.
• Knowledge of modern NLP and language models and ability to design, implement and evaluate computational experiments.
• Excellent written and spoken English; ability to work across computer science and humanities.

Responsibilities

• Carry through an independent research project under supervision.
• Complete PhD courses corresponding to approx. 30 ECTS / ½ FTE.
• Participate in active research environments, including a stay at another research institution, preferably abroad.
• Teaching and knowledge dissemination activities.
• Write scientific papers aimed at high‑impact journals.
• Write and defend a PhD thesis on the basis of your project.

Skills

Python programming

NLP tools

English proficiency

Interdisciplinary work

Education

Master's degree

Tools

Python

Job description

PhD Project in Cultural Reasoning with Language Models

The AI Section at the Department of Computer Science invites applicants for a PhD fellowship in computational modelling and evaluation of cultural interpretation with language models. The position is part of the research project "CuRe: Cultural Reasoning for Responsible Language Model Development" (DFF project 5334-00088B), funded by Independent Research Fund Denmark. The expected start date is February 1st, 2027 or as soon as possible thereafter. Language models can produce fluent interpretations of texts while obscuring the cultural assumptions, uncertainty and alternative readings underlying their answers. CuRe investigates how language models understand and reason about culture, ambiguity and interpretation, and how these capabilities can be evaluated and improved to support responsible language model development. Literary texts provide a demanding testbed: their interpretation depends on historical and cultural knowledge, close attention to textual evidence and the ability to accommodate several plausible readings. The PhD candidate will develop computational methods and evaluation resources for culturally grounded interpretation. Working closely with researchers in natural language processing and literary studies, the candidate is expected to: construct datasets and benchmarks linking literary passages, relevant cultural and historical context, textual evidence and expert or reader interpretations; analyse what cultural knowledge and interpretive strategies language models use, where their interpretations fail and how confidently they present uncertain conclusions; develop methods for grounding interpretations in evidence and for representing uncertainty, ambiguity and multiple plausible interpretations; evaluate the resulting methods through automatic experiments and studies with literary scholars and other readers; and publish the results in leading venues in natural language processing, artificial intelligence and computational humanities. The exact research questions will be refined together with the successful candidate. Relevant methodological directions include language model evaluation and probing, retrieval and retrieval-augmented generation, explicit representations of interpretive evidence and uncertainty, data annotation, human-centred evaluation and multilingual or cross-cultural analysis. The empirical work will primarily use modern Scandinavian literary texts, while aiming to develop methods and findings that generalise beyond literature. The project includes a planned research stay at McGill University. We are looking for candidates with a strong computational background and an interest in how language, culture and interpretation can be studied rigorously. Applicants may have a background in natural language processing, computational linguistics, computer science, machine learning, artificial intelligence, data science, digital humanities or a closely related field. Formal training in literary studies is not required, but the successful candidate must be motivated to work across disciplinary boundaries and to engage seriously with humanities research questions.

Group and Facilities

The PhD fellow will join the CoAStaL research group and the AI Section at the Department of Computer Science. The research environment brings together faculty, postdoctoral researchers and PhD students working on multilingual and cross-cultural NLP, multimodality, language model training and evaluation, responsible AI and computational humanities. The section collaborates broadly with leading research groups in Denmark and abroad. CuRe is an interdisciplinary collaboration with the Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics at the University of Copenhagen. The project builds on established joint work in computational literary studies and provides access to large literary corpora, domain expertise and relevant annotation resources. The PhD fellow will therefore be part of both a technically strong NLP environment and a close collaboration with literary scholars. The group is part of the Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen. We are located in Copenhagen. We offer creative and stimulating working conditions in a dynamic and international research environment. Our research facilities include modern GPU computing resources, shared data and annotation infrastructure and access to relevant text corpora.

Supervisors

Principal supervisor: Associate Professor Desmond Elliott, Department of Computer Science, [e-mail].

Co‑supervisor: Tenure‑Track Assistant Professor Daniel Hershcovich, Department of Computer Science, [e-mail].

Co‑supervisor: Associate Professor Jens Bjerring‑Hansen, Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics, [e-mail].

Contract and Compensation

The position is offered as a three‑year full‑time study within the framework of the regular PhD programme (5+3 scheme).

Salary, pension and other conditions of employment are set in accordance with the Agreement between the Ministry of Taxation and AC (Danish Confederation of Professional Associations) or other relevant organisation. Currently, the monthly salary starts at 31,800 DKK/approx. 4,200 EUR (August 2026 level). Depending on qualifications, a supplement may be negotiated. The employer will pay an additional 18.07% to your pension fund. Foreign and Danish applicants may be eligible for tax reductions, if they hold a PhD degree and have not lived in Denmark the last 10 years.

Responsibilities and Tasks

• Carry through an independent research project under supervision
• Complete PhD courses corresponding to approx. 30 ECTS / ½ FTE
• Participate in active research environments, including a stay at another research institution, preferably abroad
• Teaching and knowledge dissemination activities
• Write scientific papers aimed at high‑impact journals
• Write and defend a PhD thesis on the basis of your project

Qualifications

• A master’s degree or equivalent qualification relevant to the PhD project.
• Strong programming skills, preferably in Python, and experience with machine learning or natural language processing tools.
• Knowledge of modern NLP and language models and an ability to design, implement and evaluate computational experiments.
• Experience with one or more of the following is an advantage: language model evaluation, retrieval or retrieval‑augmented generation, data annotation, interpretability, multilingual NLP or computational humanities.
• Relevant research experience, publications, thesis work or professional activities.
• Ability to work independently, formulate research questions and collaborate across computer science and the humanities.
• A curious and critical mindset with a strong interest in culture, interpretation and responsible AI.
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Knowledge of a Scandinavian language or experience with literary analysis is an advantage but not a requirement.

Eligibility and Compliance

To be eligible for the regular PhD programme, you must have completed a degree programme, equivalent to a Danish master’s degree (180 ECTS/3 FTE BSc + 120 ECTS/2 FTE MSc) related to the subject area of the project, e.g. [relevant educations]. For information of eligibility of completed programmes, see General assessments for specific countries and Assessment database. The position is covered by the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff.

Application Deadline

The deadline for applications is November 8th, 2026, 23:59 CET.

Process

After deadline, a number of applicants will be selected for academic assessment by an unbiased expert assessor. You are notified whether you will be passed for assessment. The assessor will assess the qualifications and experience of the shortlisted applicants with respect to the above‑mentioned research area, techniques, skills and other requirements. The assessor will conclude whether each applicant is qualified and, if so, for which of the two models. The assessed applicants will have the opportunity to comment on their assessment. Interviews with selected candidates are expected to be held in week 49.

Contact

Questions? For specific information about the PhD fellowship, please contact the project supervisor Daniel Hershcovich at [e-mail] or [phone].

About the University

The University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the surrounding community and invites all regardless of personal background to apply for the position. Part of the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU), and among Europe’s top‑ranking universities, the University of Copenhagen promotes research and teaching of the highest international standard. Rich in tradition and modern in outlook, the University gives students and staff the opportunity to cultivate their talent in an ambitious and informal environment. An effective organisation – with good working conditions and a collaborative work culture – creates the ideal framework for a successful academic career.