Computational Linguistics at OSU

What is Computational Linguistics? Computational linguistics is a field which brings together resources from linguistics and computer science to address the question how human language works. By utilizing insights from computer science and other related disciplines, computational linguists can create and test computational models of linguistic theories, as well as develop and apply tools to real world tasks, such as information extraction from text, machine translation, and speech synthesis and recognition.

How about Computational Linguistics at the Department of Linguistics at OSU? The university has put significant resources into the CL program at the Department of Linguistics, and intends to expand it further:

The computational linguistics faculty in the Department of Linguistics are
- Chris Brew (language technology, computational psycholinguistics, statistical NLP)
- Detmar Meurers (NLP, constraint-based grammar/HPSG, corpus annotation, syntax)
- Michael White (NLP, natural language generation
and in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering
- Donna Byron (natural language understanding, natural language interaction in virtual environments)
- Eric Fosler-Lussier (statistical NLP, spoken dialog systems, speech recognition)
Other faculty members in Linguistics work in related fields, e.g.:
- Mary Beckman (phonetics, intonation, laboratory phonology, speech synthesis)
- David Dowty (semantic/syntactic theory, lexical semantics, categorial grammars)
- Bob Levine (constraint-based grammar/HPSG, syntax)
- Carl Pollard (mathematical foundations of linguistic theory, constraint-based grammar/HPSG, syntax, semantics)
- Craige Roberts (pragmatics)
- Shari R. Speer (psycholinguistics)
We have redesigned the PhD program to include formal foundations, programming techniques, and introductory and advanced courses for both data-driven and theory-driven approaches.
We have a brand-new, special purpose computer lab designed for teaching and research, superb computing support staff, and state-of-the-art experimental facilities such as eye-trackers.

Most importantly, we have a vibrant research culture which gives all members of our community the possibility, from day one, of developing research programs with real and lasting impact. Check out the list of our recent publications in computational linguistics to see some of the results from our CL community at OSU! See also the list of current and recent projects.

The department is one of the top linguistics departments in the United States and is highly interdisciplinary, with close collaborations not only within but outside the university. We have close intellectual ties and visiting arrangements with the CL groups at the University of Tübingen and Groningen, and extensive external contacts which allow our students to successfully compete for internships (and ultimately full-time staff positions) in leading-edge industrial organizations such as Microsoft, Lucent, AT&T, Nuance, Motorola, and G-Data.

We welcome informal inquiries from students, researchers, and potential faculty colleagues - please contact Chris Brew or Detmar Meurers.