We are seeking a highly motivated and skilled student research assistant to join our research project focused on Multilingual Natural Language Processing (NLP) in the legal domain. This position offers a unique opportunity for a passionate student with a background in NLP and a keen interest in linguistics and legal research. In this position, you will be involved in various tasks related to definition modelling and annotation, definition extraction and automated semantic alignment, development of harmonization indexes for EU and national legislation, construction of harmonized glossaries and legal knowledge graphs and automated identification of relevant case-law using NLP technologies. This role will provide valuable experience and insights into cutting-edge NLP technologies while contributing to an EU-funded research project. The work carried out for this position is performed as a part of the FACILEX project, which is funded by European Union’s Justice Programmer (2022).

More details about the project are available on the website: https://site.unibo.it/facilex/en

Responsibilities

• Definition Modelling and Annotation:
  - Collaborate with the research team to create and enhance models for annotation and extraction of definitions from unstructured legal texts
  - Annotate legal documents with appropriate linguistic information to facilitate NLP processing.
   
• Definition Extraction and Automated Semantic Alignment:
  - Utilize NLP techniques to extract and categorize legal definitions from large-scale multilingual legal datasets.
  - Develop and implement automated methods for semantic alignment of definitions and concepts for EU and national legislations.
   
• Harmonization Modelling and Measuring:
  - Develop models for harmonizing legal terms across different languages and legal systems.
  - Construction of multilingual legal knowledge graphs and glossaries to align definitions, concepts, semantic relations from different legal systems and languages.
  - Ensure that the knowledge graph is up-to-date, accurate and readily accessible for project’s partners and stakeholders.
   
• Identification of Relevant Case-Law:
  - Utilize NLP technologies, such as text similarity models, to identify and extract relevant case-law from multilingual legal corpora.
  - Curate annotated datasets for case-law analysis and support the team in conducting legal research.

• Currently enrolled as a student pursuing a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Data Science/Artificial Intelligence/Computer Science.
• Solid understanding of NLP techniques such as language models, word embeddings, topic modelling, machine learning for text analysis, text similarity, etc.
• Proficiency in Python programming.
• Familiarity with linguistic concepts and willingness to work on unstructured multilingual legal corpus.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication and writing skills in English.
• Multilingual proficiency, particularly in EU languages, is a plus.
• Note: Adherence to the deadlines of the project. Since this project has strict deadlines, the student must work according to the project schedule and ensure the timely delivery of the milestones.

Fixed-term contract: 12 months.

As a student research assistant at the Faculty of Law, you will be employed by the most international university of the Netherlands, located in the beautiful city of Maastricht. In addition, we offer you:

• Good employment conditions. The position is in grated in scale 6 until 6.4, according to the UFO profile Student Assistant, with corresponding salary ranging from €2.618,- to €2.846,- gross per month (based on a full-time employment of 38 hours per week).
• In addition to the monthly salary, an 8.0% holiday allowance and an 8.3% year-end bonus are applicable.
• An employment contract for a period of 12 months with a scope of 0.4 FTE.
• As Family-friendly University, we offer flexible working hours and the possibility to work partly from home if the nature of your position allows it. You will receive a monthly commuting and internet allowance for this. If you work full-time, you will be entitled to 29 vacation days and 4 additional public holidays per year, namely carnival Monday, carnival Tuesday, Good Friday, and Liberation Day. If you choose to accumulate compensation hours, an additional 12 days will be added. Furthermore, you can personalize your employment conditions through a collective labor agreement (CAO) choice model.
• As Maastricht University, we offer various other excellent secondary employment conditions. These include a good pension scheme with the ABP and the opportunity for UM employees to participate in company fitness and make use of the extensive sports facilities that we also offer to our students.
• Last but certainly not least, we provide the space and facilities for your personal and professional development. We facilitate this by offering a wide range of training programs and supporting various well-established initiatives such as 'acknowledge and appreciate'.

The terms of employment at Maastricht University are largely set out in the Collective Bargaining Agreement of Dutch Universities. In addition, local provisions specific to UM apply. For more information, Click here

Maastricht University

Why work at Maastricht University?

At Maastricht University (UM), everything revolves around the future. The future of our students, as we work to equip them with a solid, broad-based foundation for the rest of their lives. And the future of society, as we seek solutions through our research to issues from all around the world. Our six faculties combined provide a comprehensive package of study programmes and research.  

In our teaching, we use the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) method. Students work in small groups, looking for solutions to problems themselves. By discussing issues and working together to draw conclusions, formulate answers and present them to their peers, students develop essential skills for their future careers.

With over 22,300 students and more than 5,000 employees from all over the world, UM is home to a vibrant and inspiring international community.

Are you drawn to an international setting focused on education, science and scholarship? Are you keen to contribute however your skills and qualities allow? Our door is open to you! As a young European university, we value your talent and look forward to creating the future together.  

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Faculty of Law

The Faculty of Law at Maastricht University is a top-quality provider of challenging and rewarding Dutch and European legal education at bachelor’s, master’s and PhD-level. A true pioneer in small-scale teaching and teaching of skills aimed at a broad range of future legal professionals.

The clear focus in research on European and international aspects of the law, Law and tech, and the empirical setting in which the law operates, provides an exceptionally stimulating environment for both students and staff. The Faculty greatly values its open, diverse and inclusive community that makes it a pleasant and rewarding place to work and study. 

The UM Faculty of Law offers a wide range of bachelor's and master's programmes. Would you like to know more about our programmes? Visit our website for more information on the courses, career perspectives and admission requirements of our programmes.