This international network of 10 doctoral research projects aims to train new researchers in developing and using creative methods for analyzing how the meaning of words changes in different situations. They will focus on understanding how language expresses meaning in various contexts, particularly over time.

CASCADE responds to a skills deficit in the academic, public and commercial sectors: the need for people to be able to retrieve, critically evaluate and make better use of the large volumes of textual data that characterise our contemporary information society (the ‘data deluge’). It will help address the critical skills shortage in big data and learning analytics identified by the EU’s European Strategy for Data and the UK’s National Data Strategy, and contribute to the expansion in the EU and UK’s pool of data science talent.

The consortium involves collaboration between some of Europe’s leading universities and companies from the United Kingdom, Belgium, Finland, Germany, and Ireland.

The training approach includes ten research projects hosted by five organizations, along with internships and work placements. It is reinforced by a network-wide program of Training Camps and Research Conventions.

The network is expected to produce 10 doctoral theses and other outputs, such as co-authored articles for experts, Wikipedia articles, Github pages, contributions to public discussions, educational videos for the general audience and secondary schools, as well as new software and algorithms.

The network’s unique feature for potential researchers is its focus on combining computational linguistics and humanities scholarship. This combination aims to provide value and a competitive advantage to organizations involved in semantically-aware information retrieval. These organizations can be academic or commercial, engaged in early-stage research and development, applying new methods, or communicating scientific knowledge for public understanding.

Participating Universities

• Digital Humanities Institute, University of Sheffield
  • Mr. Michael Pidd
  • Dr. Seth Mehl
  • Prof. Susan Fitzmaurice
• Department of Digital Humanities, University College Cork
  • Dr. James O’Sullivan
  • Prof. Órla Murphy
  • Dr. Rosane Minghim
  • Network Manager (to be appointed)
• Quantitative Lexicology and Variational Linguistics, Department of Linguistics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
  • Prof. Dirk Speelman
  • Prof. Dirk Geeraerts
• Department of Digital Humanities, University of Helsinki
  • Prof. Mikko Tolonen
  • Dr. Eetu Mäkelä
• Department of Language Science and Technology, Universität des Saarlandes
  • Dr. Stefania Degaetano-Ortlieb

Partners

• Lexical Computing CZ s.r.o.
• James Hallam Ltd
• School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow
• Cologne Center for eHumanities, Universitat zu Koln
• Insight Research Centre for Data Analytics, University College Dublin
• Netherlands eScience Center
• Vienna Centre for Societal Security
• Meertens Institute, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen