Research Assistant (Natural Language Processing (Singapore Mandarin Usage Dictionary))

Nanyang Technological University; Singapore; On-site; SGD 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Job summary

NTU's School of Humanities in Singapore invites a full-time Research Assistant with a background in NLP to contribute to the Singapore Mandarin Usage Dictionary project. The role focuses on corpus construction, speech-to-text processing, and developing computational models.

Based in Singapore, you will train and evaluate models such as Word2Vec and BERT, assist in dictionary integration, and document workflows.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in CS, computational linguistics, NLP, or related field.
• Hands-on NLP/ML experience including model training, fine-tuning, evaluation.
• Familiarity with NLP models and toolkits (Word2Vec, BERT) and speech-to-text workflows.
• Proficiency in Python and ML/NLP libraries (PyTorch, scikit-learn).
• Strong written and verbal communication; Mandarin proficiency preferred for the Grant project.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively with meticulous attention to detail.

Responsibilities

• Support corpus construction including speech-to-text processing and transcription.
• Perform data preprocessing, cleaning, and quality checks on corpus data.
• Contribute to training, fine-tuning, and evaluation of NLP models (Word2Vec, BERT).
• Implement models and carry out systematic performance evaluation.
• Prepare model outputs for linguistic validation and dictionary integration.
• Contribute to the online dictionary platform development including database integration.
• Document code, workflows, and datasets; support other project tasks.

Skills

NLP

Python

PyTorch

Word2Vec

BERT

Speech-to-text

Data preprocessing

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computational Linguistics, Natural Language Processing, or a related field

Tools

PyTorch

scikit-learn

Job description

The School of Humanities (SoH) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, brings together vibrant research and teaching across Chinese, English and literature, history, linguistics and multilingual studies, and philosophy. For more details, please visit https://www.ntu.edu.sg/soh. We are looking for a full-time Research Assistant with a background in Natural Language Processing (NLP) to support the technical components of the MOE SSHR Thematic Grant project, Singapore Mandarin Usage Dictionary. The role will focus on corpus construction, including speech-to-text processing and transcription of spoken corpora, and on the training, fine-tuning, and evaluation of computational models (e.g., Word2Vec, BERT) for identifying lexical variation and region-specific features in Singapore Mandarin. The Research Assistant will be based in Singapore and work closely with the Principal Investigator, Co-PI, and collaborators. The position is offered on an initial contract of 18 to 24 months.

Key Responsibilities

• Support corpus construction, including speech-to-text processing and transcription of spoken corpora
• Perform data preprocessing, cleaning, and quality checks on written and spoken corpus data
• Contribute to the training, fine-tuning, and evaluation of computational models (e.g., Word2Vec, BERT)
• Implement models and carry out systematic performance evaluation
• Prepare model outputs for linguistic validation and dictionary integration
• Contribute to the technical development of the online dictionary platform, including database integration and search functions
• Document code, workflows, and datasets, and support other project-related tasks as assigned

Job Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computational Linguistics, Natural Language Processing, or a related field
• Technical hands-on experience in NLP or machine learning, including model training, fine-tuning, and evaluation
• Familiarity with NLP models and toolkits (e.g., Word2Vec, BERT) and with speech-to-text workflows
• Proficiency in Python and common machine learning / NLP libraries (e.g., PyTorch, scikit-learn)
• Good written and oral communication skills; proficiency in Mandarin Chinese so as to support the technical components of the Grant project, Singapore Mandarin Usage Dictionary
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively, meticulous with an eye for detail, and excellent organizational skills

We regret to inform that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

Hiring Institution: NTU

A research-intensive public university, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has 33,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students in the Engineering, Business, Science, Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences, and Graduate colleges. It also has a medical school, the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, established jointly with Imperial College London. NTU is also home to world-class autonomous institutes – the National Institute of Education, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Earth Observatory of Singapore, and Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering – and various leading research centres such as the Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute (NEWRI) and Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N). Ranked amongst the world’s top universities by QS, NTU has also been named the world’s top young university for the past seven years. The University’s main campus is frequently listed among the Top 15 most beautiful university campuses in the world and has 57 Green Mark-certified (equivalent to LEED-certified) buildings, of which 95% are certified Green Mark Platinum. Apart from its main campus, NTU also has a campus in Novena, Singapore’s healthcare district. Under the NTU Smart Campus vision, the University harnesses the power of digital technology and tech-enabled solutions to support better learning and living experiences, the discovery of new knowledge, and the sustainability of resources. For more information, visit www.ntu.edu.sg About NIE About RSIS About LKCMedicine About NTUItive