RA CANDIDATE POSITION – SPOKEN LANGUAGE GROUP

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

  1. INFORMATION ABOUT THE POSITION
  • Position: Research Assistant
  • Researcher Profile: RA
  • Number of vacancies: 1
  • Location:  Spain > Donostia-San Sebastián
  • Research Field: Psychology > Cognition and Language
  • Type of contract/Duration of Contract: Temporary - 12 months (with possibility of extension)
  • Job Status: Full-time (part-time options also available)
  • Hours per week: 35 (to be adjusted as needed for part-time)
  • Starting date: January 2026 (flexible)
  • Application deadline: 13/11/2025 

The Basque Center on Cognition Brain and Language – BCBL- (Donostia-San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain) is offering a 12-month full-time (or part-time) Research Assistant position in the Spoken Language group.

In our group, we use behavioral, eye-tracking, and electrophysiological experimental paradigms to study how humans process and learn spoken language.

Information about the project: 

This project examines how lexical representations evolve, starting at the early encoding of novel words, moving on to the formation of newly-learned words, and finally the processing and plasticity of familiar words.

Job description: 

The selected candidate’s tasks will be:

- Construction of experimental materials: Assistance with selecting linguistic stimuli, constructing auditory and visual stimuli, and building experimental scripts

- Participant recruitment: Contacting participants and scheduling of the experimental sessions

- Experimental data collection: Acquisition of behavioral and eye-tracking data

- Data pre-processing, data quality control, and data management (e.g., data back-up and storage)

PI and research group: 

The selected candidate will form part of the Spoken Language group (https://www.bcbl.eu/en/research/research-groups/spoken-language) under the direct supervision of Dr. Efthymia Kapnoula

  1. CANDIDATE PROFILE AND SELECTION CRITERIA

Required skills:

  • Excellent computer skills (including familiarity with Windows and common office applications such as Microsoft Word and Excel) and willingness to learn specialized software
  • Good written and oral communication skills in English
  • Fluent in Spanish

Desirable skills:

  • Educational background (Bachelor’s and/or Master’s) in Psychology, Linguistics, Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, Speech Pathology, Education or neighboring areas
  • Keen interest in psycholinguistics
  • Previous experience in psycholinguistic research
  • Programming skills (e.g., Python, Matlab)
  • Fluent in Basque

Elegibility:

  • The candidate should be legally entitled to work in Spain

Special consideration:

  • Individuals interested in gaining research experience before starting a PhD position (potentially in the Spoken Language group) are especially welcome to apply.

 

  1. WORKING CONDITIONS

Salary: 19.200€ gross/year (to be adjusted as needed for part-time)

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, sex, sexual orientation, age, sociocultural background, nationality or impairments. We are proud to have in place both an LGTBIQ+ Plan and a Gender Equality Plan to actively promote inclusion and equal opportunities. If you have any questions relating to accessibility or support, please contact us.

 

  1. OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION

Language policy

  • The corporative language at the center is English, additionally knowledge of Spanish is required for this particular position
  • Knowledge of Basque will be an asset for this particular position, but it is not required
  • The center provides initial level Spanish and Basque lessons to all the international staff members
  • The interview will be conducted entirely in English

 

  1. APPLICATION PROCESS

Submission of the application and documentation:

To submit your application, please follow this link: applying for “RA Spoken Language” and attach the following documentation by 13/11/2025:

  • A curriculum vitae
  • A statement outlining your motivation to apply for the position
  • Transcript(s) for degree(s) listed in CV
  • Two letters of recommendation (submitted by the referees no later than the application deadline)

Learn more about the BCBL’s OTM-R policy

 

Application process timeline:

  1. Deadline for application: 13/11/2025
  2. Evaluation by committee: 14/11/2025 - 28/11/2025
  3. Interviews: 1/12/2025 - 5/12/2025
  4. Final decision: 9/12/2025
  5. Feedback to applicants: 9/12/2025
  6. Work contract start date: 01/01/2026 (flexible)

Contact details for enquiries:  

For technical problems with the calls platform please contact: hr@bcbl.eu

For inquiries or questions related to the content of the position and/or information about the project and the research group please contact Dr. Efthymia Kapnoula: e.kapnoula@bcbl.eu