Nika Jurov

Nika Jurov is an incoming Assistant Professor of Computational Linguistics at the University of Oregon starting Fall 2025. Before this, she completed her PhD in Linguistics (2024) at the University of Maryland, advised by Naomi Feldman and Bill Idsardi, with a focus on cue weighting in human/machine speech perception. She collaborates with Thomas Schatz on perceptual implicit memory and has been part of Jochen Triesch’s lab (Frankfurt) modeling active attention in bats since Fall 2024.

Her research explores how humans efficiently process variable sound signals, using computational models to replicate cognitive mechanisms underlying speech perception. This work bridges computational linguistics, neuroscience, and machine learning, aiming to explain perceptual adaptability and selective attention. Her Master’s degrees include French Studies/Comparative Literature (University of Ljubljana) and Phonetics/Phonology (University of Paris, advised by Ewan Dunbar), focusing on non-native speech perception.

Key research themes include neural architectures for selective attention, unsupervised speech learning, and comparing human/machine perception. Her interdisciplinary approach combines cognitive modeling with experimental data to uncover mechanisms of perceptual learning and acoustic variability handling.