PhD - addressing mental health issues based on LLM
Addressing mental health issues through interventions based on large language models.
University: University College Dublin
School: Information and Communications Studies (ICS)
Supervisor: Dr. Arjumand Younus (arjumand.younus@ucd.ie)
Starting date: September 2024
Deadline for application: 29th April 2024 - CLOSED
Interviews with short-listed candidates: 13-14th May 2024
Position: 100%, full-time position, tuition fees waived by the School of Information and Communication Studies (ICS).
Remuneration: PhD studentship renewable for up to four years and consisting of:
- PhD student stipend of €22,000k per annum (tax free)
- Scholarship students will be prioritised when applying for travel funding and overheads from ICS.
- Some equipment and travel funding will be available.
Eligibility: EU and non-EU students are equally eligible for studentships under this award
Requirement: Students accepted under this scheme must meet the university entry standards.
Description of the Post
The School of Information and Communication Studies (ICS) at University College Dublin (UCD) is inviting one fully funded PhD scholarship under the supervision of Dr. Arjumand Younus. The successful candidate will be interested in developing methods and techniques for mental health interventions that make use of the newly emerging large language models. The candidate will complete a project of their own design. Suggested topics of focus include:
- AI chatbots for mental health: With the success of chatbots like ChatGPT there have been questions around the use of chatbots for mental health interventions. The focus for the PhD will be on the development and integration of large language models for personalised, persuasive chatbot interventions to promote positive mental health outcomes. Candidates interested in focusing on this or a similar topic should have strong technical and programming skills together with some amount of knowledge of artificial intelligence ethics.
- Social Media Mental Health Behavioural Analysis Detecting signs of mental disorders through automatic analysis of social media posts. This would involve use of pre-trained language models (popularly known as large language models) to guide the learning process over mental health terminology and social media data for a coupling between the two. It is also envisaged that some form of qualitative analysis will be performed over the proposed methods to help inform healthcare policymakers on the effectiveness of technology-mediated mental health support. Candidates interested in focusing on this or a similar topic should have some technical and programming skills and a mixture of quantitative and qualitative analysis skills.
Candidates are also encouraged to modify and build upon one or more of these topics, or to propose their own PhD topic which will help to propose newer research directions in addressing mental health issues via technology-mediated interventions.
Depending on the topic, the successful candidate should have a background in Computer Science and/or Data Science. The candidate should also demonstrate that they are willing to learn new methods, techniques, tools, and technologies as necessary to undertake research related to this PhD. Candidates should be methodical,
rigorous, analytical and have a strong attention to detail. They should be capable of working independently, while also making contributions to the related projects at ICS (https://www.ucd.ie/ics/), UCD.
Research Area
The successful candidate will be supervised by Dr. Younus, and will contribute to her overall research within social computing. The candidate is expected to have a strong general interest in natural language processing and text mining. An understanding of qualitative methods within social computing is desirable. Dr. Younus’s work is focused on the use of artificial intelligence for social good applications. Common topics in her work include studying vulnerable populations, technology-mediated communications, and social media analytics.
Responsibilities
The post-holder will be expected to write and successfully defend a PhD thesis focused on the areas listed in the description of the post and meet the degree requirements set by UCD to advance through the PhD programme. The candidate is also expected to produce research outputs in relation to their doctoral research and attend conferences to disseminate the research findings. The post-holder will collaborate closely with their supervisor to produce outputs on their combined research areas. The candidate will ideally produce single-, first-, and co authored research by the end of the post. The candidate is expected to take part in seminars, workshops, and events organised within ICS and across UCD that are relevant to the project. The post-holder will be expected to contribute to the intellectual life in ICS and UCD and participate in research activities to the level and extent of their qualifications. The candidate will also be expected to complete a total of 30 ECTS credits spread across the post as part of the university’s structured PhD path. Finally, the candidate will engage in teaching and tutor training and module support during their studies.
Role profile
The topic requires that the successful candidate be familiar with and/or proficient in (or willing to learn) the necessary research and technical skills. This is a PhD with a heavy technical focus, and hence, candidates are expected to have a strong technical background with good knowledge of programming, and some knowledge of qualitative research methods within the social computing domain. They should have experience of or must be willing to learn quantitative research methods and data analysis techniques. It would be beneficial if candidates had a Computer Science, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence or a similar technical background, and/or they can demonstrate practical and applicable technical skills.
Post Requirements
Strong written command of English is required. English proficiency at the C2 or C1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is advised.
Candidates are expected to hold a strong Masters degree of 2:1 and above (or equivalent GPA) in Computer Science and/or Data Science or other relevant subject areas. The candidate should be able to demonstrate exceptional organisational experience and skills.
Preference will be given to candidates who:
- Can demonstrate experience and skills that match their proposed PhD topic - i.e., Those who propose a quantitative or data focused project should be able to demonstrate that they are technical, analytical, detailed and process orientated. Those who propose a non-technical PhD should be able to demonstrate an understanding of social science and qualitative methods and an ability to integrate or build upon robust theories from the literature.
- Have read some of the main literature related to their proposed topic.
Applications are open to students of all nationalities and backgrounds. Women and people of colour are especially encouraged to apply.
Enquiries
Prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to contact Arjumand with the following before submitting a formal application.
1. A one-page cover letter describing how you meet the mandatory/desired requirements.
2. A detailed curriculum vitae (CV) including education history, programming skills, research projects/publications and other relevant information.
3. A one or two page outline of a proposed research topic, which may be based on one of the two topics above, or be of their own design on the topics of mental health interventions through large language models
4. Scanned copies of relevant academic transcripts.
5. English Language Proficiency for non-native English speakers, in line with UCD requirements.
https://www.ucd.ie/registry/prospectivestudents/admissions/policiesandgeneralregulations/generalrequirements/minimumenglishlanguagerequirements/
How to Apply
Applications need to be submitted via UCD’s application portal: https://www.ucd.ie/registry/prospectivestudents/admissions/graduateapplicants/applying/
The candidate should apply to Programme Code W139 using the UCD Admissions online application portal (a €50 application fee applies). Please see the main ICS and UCD Graduate Studies sites for detailed application requirements:
https://www.ucd.ie/ics/study/phdresearchprogrammes/ and https://www.ucd.ie/graduatestudies/studywithus/applicationprocess/
The School of Information and Communication Studies ( https://www.ucd.ie/ics/ ) requires PhD applicants to submit their curriculum vitae, an applicant statement (500-700 words), and a personal statement (up to 32,000 characters). Candidates are advised to describe their research interests, explain why they believe this position fits their profile, and include a brief description of the topic they would like to explore in their PhD project. In addition to that, applicants should submit a writing sample, preferably a piece that has been published or a chapter of a thesis, as additional information. Applications will be reviewed through our system of open, transparent, and merit-based recruitment of researchers. Short-listed candidates will be invited to an interview for the position, which will be held online. Candidates will be given at least five days’ notice if selected to interview.
For any questions related to this post please contact Arjumand Younus ((opens in a new window)https://people.ucd.ie/arjumand.younus) at: (opens in a new window)arjumand.younus@ucd.ie.