Training and Education

Introduction
Christian Benoît Mentoring Scheme
Internships in speech industries and labs

Introduction

Apart from the tutorial aspects of the ITRWs, ISCA promotes a high level of education in the field of Speech Communication. ISCA also co-sponsors some Summer Schools on Language & Speech and participates in the European Masters in Language and Speech scheme.

Very recently, ISCA invited companies to send internship proposals. Any questions about education and training should be addressed to the ISCA Education and Training Coordinator.

Christian Benoît Mentoring Scheme

Following the untimely loss of our respected friend and colleague - Christian Benoit - the ISCA Board has decided to introduce a 'mentoring' scheme that will aim to support our less experienced colleagues in key aspects of their scientific work. It is expected that the scheme will be of particular help in preparing material and/or presentations for international workshops, conferences and journals.

The Christian Benoit mentoring scheme will attempt to match the experience of volunteer senior scientists with requests for help and guidance from junior colleagues in different institutions around the world.

Kind of support offered:

Do you need help to submit a paper?
Do you feel unfamiliar with language, terminology?
Do you want to increase the chances that your work is accepted?

A brokerage service has been put in place to provide support, provided by volunteer distinguished researchers covering different scientific areas, on:

• pre-review of abstract submission and/or paper submission, to get early feedback on contents and structure of the contribution as well as on the use of language
• identification of the proper publication platform

The service is targeted specifically to young or less experienced researchers and aims at raising the quality of their contributions at the level requested for submission at important journals or conferences.

How it works:

People who would like to take advantage of this service should send a mail to the describing the kind of support requested and providing the following information:

• title of paper or abstract
• scientific area in which the work falls
• deadline for submission

They will be quickly put in contact with an appropriate mentor, competent on the related scientific area, who will review the work and will provide feedback and suggestions for improving it.

It is recommended to request support well in advance of the deadline for submission of the paper or abstract (at least 1 month) in order to leave sufficient time to the mentor for the review. Considering that the mentoring service is provided by volunteers who are quite busy people and who will use their spare time to do the work, every effort will be done to complete the process in a reasonable time.

How to join the group of mentors:

New mentors are highly welcomed, in order to have a better coverage of the different scientific areas and to increase the level of service offered.

If you want to volunteer, you should send a message stating your interest and the research areas to which you could contribute. The message should be addressed to this

Internships in speech industries and labs

Volontary summer work and mandatory internships concern most students in speech processing. Summer work is generally a student demand aiming at improving his/her perception of the industrial life, and at meeting their interests in speech processing for the future of their curriculum and at improving his/her fluency in a given language. It is an excellent opportunity for the company to exhibit a positive image for future hiring. Mandatory internships are part of the curriculum and mostly last several months (4-6 months and sometimes more). Students have to work in a research or development team and contribute to a realization that could be demonstrated. Co-publications with members of the technical staff of the company are elicited. To facilitate matches between the needs of the speech industry and the future speech scientists, ISCA-Training plans to create a data base of internships . The decision to accept a student in the company remains strictly in the hands of the company. ISCA-Training invites companies to send to the ISCA Education and Training Coordinator internship proposals with the following information:

• Company name
• location
• dates
• duration
• topic
• educational level required (BSc, MSc, Engineering, mid- or end of curriculum)
• contact administrative person with full address
• contact technical supervisor with full address
• student compensation: yes or no?
• other supports: lodging (help or proposed at special rate), corporate cafetaria, contribution to travel expenses.
• AUTHORIZATION to advertize these offers on the ISCA Web site and/or ISCA News (f.i. ISCAPad)