FUNDED Ph.D. CANDIDATE POSITION – FOREIGN-DIRECTED SPEECH PROCESSING

at the BCBL- Basque Center on Cognition Brain and Language (San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain) www.bcbl.eu

1. INFORMATION ABOUT THE POSITION

Position: PhD student
Researcher Profile: First Stage Researcher (R1- up to the point of PhD)
Number of vacancies: 1
Project: Exploring how and when native speakers address foreign listeners in a specific register – foreign-directed speech – aimed to help them understanding and learning.
Location: Spain > San Sebastian
Research Field: Neuroscience > Cognition and Language
Type of contract/Duration of Contract : Temporary > 4 years
Job Status: Full-time
Hours per week: 35
Starting date: January-April 2025 (flexible)
Application deadline: 28th November 2024

Information about the project:

Foreign Directed Speech (hereafter FDS) is a speech register that native speakers use when addressing non-native (foreign) listeners. The present project will provide evidence on the didactic impact of FDS (i.e., facilitated speech perception) on foreign listeners, and evidence on the didactic function of FDS (i.e., being produced to help foreign listeners in perception and comprehension). Our main goal will be to explore to what extend FDS promotes language processing and comprehension. More specifically, we will address whether prediction, comprehension, listening effort, attention and information retention are promoted by FDS relative to NDS (i.e., Native Directed Speech). We will also explore whether FDS is language-, speaker- and listener-specific, or whether it is universal. The outcome of this project will be highly relevant for models on multilingual communication and speech accommodation. It will also have important pragmatic implications given that a large majority of people around the world communicate in a foreign language or with foreign listeners.

Job description:

Designing and implementing studies exploring FDS perception and production in adults
Analysing acoustic, behavioural and electrophysiological data during speech processing
Writing research articles under the supervision of the PI, aiming to publish at top-tier journals
Dissemination of results at international scientific conferences and to general public

PI and research group:

Prof. Clara Martin (https://www.bcbl.eu/en/conocenos/equipo/clara-martin)

Speech & Bilingualism research group (https://www.bcbl.eu/en/research/research-groups/speech-bilingualism)

2. CANDIDATES’ PROFILE AND SELECTION CRITERIA

Required skills:

Good knowledge of the field of cognitive neuroscience and/or linguistics, experimental psychology
Master’s (or equivalent) degree in Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Linguistics, and/or other relevant areas
Good knowledge of acoustics, phonetics, phonology
Strong background in experiment programming and statistical analyses
Excellent written and oral communication skills in English

Desirable skills:

Previous experience in participating in research projects (e.g., data collection, analysis)
Experience with acoustic data analysis
Knowledge of Spanish (or willingness to learn) is a plus

3. WORKING CONDITIONS

Salary: 21,000€/year gross on average across the four years of the contract

Entitlements and other benefits: https://www.bcbl.eu/en/join-us/what-is-like-to-work-bcbl

Training opportunities and Career development plan:

Researchers at any stage of their career, regardless of their contractual situation, are given an opportunity for professional development and for improving their employability through access to a Personal Career Development Plan which includes

(1) Training through individually personalized research projects under senior supervision

(2) Exchanging knowledge with the scientific community and the general public

(3) Network-wide training in theory and methods

(4) Complementary training courses

(5) Involvement in proposal writing, task coordination

(6) Development of skills for the organization of training and scientific events

BCBL seeks to foster an environment where all talents can flourish, regardless of gender, age, cultural background, nationality or impairments. If you have any questions relating to accessibility or support contact us.

4. OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION:

Language policy

The corporative language at the Center is English
The center provides initial level Spanish and Basque lessons to all the international staff members
The interview will be conducted entirely in English

5. APPLICATION PROCESS:

Submission of the application and documentation:

To submit your application, please follow this link: applying for “PhD Foreign-Directed Speech” and attach the following documentation:

A curriculum vitae
A statement outlining research interests and motivation to apply for the position
Transcript of records for the completed master's and bachelor's degrees
Two letters of recommendation

Learn more about the BCBL’s OTM-R policy

Application process timetable: