PhD position ‘An integrated semantic and cognitive model of presuppositional dependencies’ (1.0 FTE)

Utrecht University's Faculty of Humanities is looking for a PhD candidate. Are you interested? Then please read the full profile and apply.

3 months

Conditions

Location: Domplein, Utrecht, Utrecht
Contract Type: Temporary
Hours Per Week: 38 - 38 <span class="translation_missing" title="translation missing: en.vacancies.vacancy_details.hours">Hours</span>

Salary: Salary Indication
Course Levels: <span class="translation_missing" title="translation missing: en.course_levels.wo">Wo</span>

Description

We are looking for a PhD candidate in the project ‘An integrated semantic and cognitive model of presuppositional dependencies’. The project aims to build computational models of the processes that allow us to incrementally build interpretations while we read a text. These models will be hybrid in the sense that they combine linguistic factors familiar from theories of discourse semantics/ pragmatics and more generally cognitive factors. The empirical component of the project will consist of eye-tracking experiments as well as annotating an eye-tracking corpus with relevant information. The modelling component will involve simulating behavioural data connected to the processing of semantic interpretations.

The project is funded by the NWO Open Competition programme and will be conducted at the Utrecht Institute of Linguistics OTS, at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Principal Investigator (PI) is Rick Nouwen.

Taks for the PhD candidate will include:

completion and defence of a PhD thesis within four years;
regular presentation of intermediate research results at workshops and conferences;
publication of at least two peer-reviewed articles in established international journals;
co-organization of project workshops and conferences;
participation in training programmes and expert meetings scheduled for the project group;
participation in selected training programmes scheduled for the Research Institute, Graduate School and the National Research School.

Requirements

We are looking for a candidate with:

a (soon to be completed) (research-oriented) Master’s degree in a relevant discipline (Linguistics, Psychology, Artificial Intelligence) with a focus on psycholinguistic experimentation and/or computational (cognitive) modelling;
team working skills;
excellent English oral proficiency, academic writing and presentation skills;
ability to meet deadlines and work both as an independent researcher and as a team member;
good organizational, social and communication skills.

Arbeidsvoorwaarden

We offer a temporary position (1.0 FTE), starting 1 December 2018, initially for a period of 18 months. Upon good performance and a positive evaluation, the contract will be extended for the remaining period of 30 months (4 years in total). The gross salary ranges between €2,266 and €2,897 (scale P according to the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities) gross per month for a full-time employment. Salaries are supplemented with a holiday bonus of 8 % and a year-end bonus of 8.3 % per year. We offer a pension scheme, (partly paid) parental leave, collective insurance schemes and flexible employment conditions (multiple choice model). More information is available at: working at Utrecht University.

Additionele informatie

For additional information, please contact the PI, Rick Nouwen, or the Research Coordinator at UiL OTS, Maaike Schoorlemmer. See our website for an elaborate project description.