15 Phd and Postdoc Research Positions in Theoretical Linguistics, Graz, Salzburg, Vienna (Austria)
The newly funded Spezialforschungsbereich (SFB) ‘Language Between Redundancy and Deficiency’ is seeking to hire a number of pre- and post-docs for up to four year positions, starting in March 2024, or as soon as possible thereafter. The SFB consists of nine subprojects in the areas of syntax, morphology and semantics, investigating the interface of the symbolic system of grammar and the stochastic cognitive system. The focus of the first four years will be on pronouns, their structure, feature content and interpretation. The SFB involves PIs from Departments of Linguistics, German Studies, Romance Studies and Slavic Studies.
List of subprojects:
• Grammatical Gender in Discourse and Grammar, Edgar Onea, Graz
• Mismatches in Binding and Coreference, Susanne Wurmbrand, Salzburg
• The Role of self in Pronominal Coreference, Boban Arsenijević, Graz
• The (Non-)Deficiency and (Non-)Redundancy of Clitic Pronouns, Dalina Kallulli, Vienna
• Deficiency and Redundancy in Ibero-Romance Pronominal Systems, Albert Wall, Vienna
• Fading Reference – The Pragmaticalization of Pronoun + Verb, Eva-Maria Remberger, Vienna
• Animacy Features and the Flexibility of Pronouns, Steffen Heidinger, Graz
• Deficiency and Redundancy in Expressing Temporal Relations, Daniel Büring, Vienna
The subprojects are connected under the SFB umbrella project, and there will be collaborations among the subprojects, but applications should be submitted for a specific subproject.
We seek excellent early-career researchers with a strong background in theoretical linguistics. Applicants should have MA/PhD degrees in linguistics with specializations as detailed below. The SFB will provide an active and lively research environment with inter-university collaborations as well as ties to the local research communities, and an intellectually open, inclusive and flexible work environment at three leading Austrian universities. International applicants are encouraged, knowledge of German is not a prerequisite. Payment and benefits are as specified in the Austrian Kollektivvertrag for public employees; in addition, the SFB provides funds for travel, conferences, workshops and networking activities.
We are looking forward to receiving your application (in English). Applications should include the following documents:
• Cover letter/statement of interest
• CV
• Written academic paper (thesis, other qualifying paper, publication)
• Copies of degree certificates
• Addresses of potential recommenders or, optional: letters of recommendation
Unless indicated otherwise please submit the documents as a PDF-file, or several PDFs merged in one zip-file.
Application Deadline: Unless noted otherwise below, reviewing of applications will begin immediately, but positions will remain open until filled.
Administrative Subproject:
PI: Edgar Onea
Location: Graz, Department of German Studies
1 Postdoc position
The administrative subproject combines scientific support for the SFB as a whole with administrative support. We are looking for a postdoc researcher who combines a strong scientific background, especially in the domain of experimental methods and statistics, with strong administrative skills and who potentially aspires for a career in research management. Tasks: Ensuring smooth administrative processes, such as finances, controlling, archiving, communication,
travel etc. Organizing events including workshops, retreats, internal meetings of the SFB, guest cooperation partner visits. Administrative support in employment processes, delegation of cross-subproject tasks, including administrative help for existing SFB staff. Ensuring open access availability for SFB publications and data. Coordinating and arranging consultations related to establishing and maintaining a gender equitable work environment. Facilitating the SFB’s public relations efforts by developing press releases, and by creating and supervising the SFB website and social media appearances. Acting as a central anchor for data-management related issues including central data-storage and organization of access to data across subprojects. Conducting an internal review of planned experiments in order to maximize synergy, e.g., by merging several empirical studies into one larger study or including questions of one study as distractors for another. Coordinating IT and technical support for empirical studies within the SFB. Providing statistical support for empirical studies. Contributing to the synthesis of an overall theory of redundancy and deficiency in language.
For the successful candidate excellent command of German and English and a good knowledge (or the ability to quickly acquire good knowledge) of the Austrian educational system and legal framework of the FWF is mandatory. A PhD is required for this position, a PhD in linguistics is preferable but not mandatory. More details for this position can be found on the website of the University of Graz. Application for this position needs to be submitted over the following website: https://jobs.uni-graz.at/de/jobs See application deadline there.
Subproject: Grammatical gender in discourse and grammar
PI: Edgar Onea
Location: Graz, Department of German Studies
1 PhD position (predoc, 75%)
The subproject investigates the pragmatic meaning of grammatical gender on pronouns in German as a contribution to the structuring of discourse referents, from a cross-modal perspective, on par with referential loci in German Sign Language (DGS). The goal of the subproject is to provide a theory of gender, focusing on cases of redundant and deficient gender representation as revealed by the analysis of gender mismatches in anaphoric pronouns. The main tasks are: research on the syntax, semantics and pragmatics of discourse anaphora in German and DGS, gender assignment, including publication and planning and conducting psycholinguistic experiments, participation and regular presentations in weekly meetings, literature surveys and summaries, supervision of student assistants. Applicants should have interests in the topic, solid training in theoretical linguistics, especially in formal semantics (ideally expertise in dynamic semantics, DRT and situation semantics), experimental methods, programming and statistics (at least linear mixed models, ideally also Bayesian statistics), and show initiative and strong research skills.
Subproject: Mismatches in binding and coreference
PI: Susanne Wurmbrand
Location: Salzburg, Department of Linguistics
1 Post-doctoral position
1 (possibly 2) PhD positions (predoc, 75%)
This subproject investigates the syntax, morphology, and semantics of features in pronominal contexts, with special focus on fake indexicals and covariance without binding. The Post-doctoral and PhD students will be expected to work predominantly on the various phenomena of this subproject. But since the SFB subprojects are connected under the goals of the SFB umbrella, there will also be several collaborations with other subprojects. In particular, this subproject is part of the SFB’s theory task force, and therefore close interactions with the other subprojects will be established. The main tasks are: research, participation and regular presentations in weekly meetings, literature surveys and summaries, (supervision of) data collection, administrative duties, supervision of student assistants and, for the Post-doc, some supervision of the PhD students. Applicants should have interests in the topics, solid training in theoretical linguistics, and show initiative and strong research skills.
Please send full applications including at least one letter of recommendation and an indication of your earliest start time to Susanne Wurmbrand, susi@alum.mit.edu.
Subproject: The role of self in pronominal reference
PI: Boban Arsenijević
Location: Graz, Department of Slavic Studies
2 PhD positions (predoc, 75%)
The topic of the subproject are the syntax and semantics of intensified pronouns, as in Even he himself was not sure, with a special regard to reflexivity, in a formal linguistic and typological perspective. The aim of the project is to contribute to a general theory of redundant and deficient operations in grammar. An ideal candidate would master at least one of domains in each A, B and C below. One of the candidates will be expected to do research on one or more Dravidian languages.
A. Language levels:
• Semantics and its interface with syntax
• Syntax and morphosyntax
B. Linguistic approaches:
• Formal linguistics
• Linguistic typology (acquaintance with Dravidian languages is a plus)
C. Methods:
• Experimental research in linguistics
• Work with informants
For more information please contact the PI at: boban.arsenijevic@uni-graz.at
Applications should be sent to boban.arsenijevic@uni-graz.at
Subproject: The (Non-)Deficiency and (Non-)Redundancy of Clitic Pronouns
PI: Dalina Kallulli
Location: Vienna, Department of Linguistics
2 PhD positions (predoc, 75%), and 1 Postdoc
The successful candidates will do research in a project on the morphosyntax and semantics of clitic, null, and other (arguably deficient) pronoun-like elements, including subject-verb agreement, in a formal linguistic typological perspective. Applicants should have a solid background in theoretical linguistics, preferably with a specialisation in (morpho-)syntax and/or comparative linguistics. As one of the foci of the project will be on object agreement (alongside subject agreement), we especially encourage submissions from people who have previously worked on, and/or with speakers of, one or more such languages (e.g. Bantu, Basque, Georgian, Hungarian, etc.).
The successful candidates will be expected to contribute to the project work, including publications and conference participation, assist in organisational matters, and (for the PhD positions) complete a PhD dissertation at the University of Vienna under the supervision of the PI during the four years of the program.
For more information please contact the PI at: dalina.kallulli@univie.ac.at
Applications, including an indication of your earliest starting date, should also be sent to dalina.kallulli@univie.ac.at
Subproject: Deficiency and Redundancy in Ibero-Romance Pronominal Systems
PI: Albert Wall
Location: Vienna, Department of Romance Studies
2 PhD positions (predoc, 75%)
The successful candidates will work on clitic doubling and/or null objects in varieties of Spanish and/or Portuguese, studying the micro-variation within and between these varieties comparatively with experimental methods. The over-arching goal of the project is to develop explicit accounts which link stochastic/variational data to symbolic systems of grammar based on the SFB’s theory of deficiency and redundancy.
Applicants should have an interest in the topic(s), show initiative and have excellent command of Spanish and/or Portuguese (ideally both), as well as a solid background in empirical and/or theoretical comparative Ibero-romance linguistics, ideally with a specialization in experimental methods.
The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to the project work, including publications and conference participation, assist in organizational matters, and complete a PhD dissertation at the university of Vienna during the four years of the program.
For more information please contact the PI (albert.wall@univie.ac.at).
Applications should also be sent to albert.wall@univie.ac.at
Subproject: Fading reference – the pragmaticalization of pronoun + verb
PI: Eva-Maria Remberger
Location: Vienna, Department of Romance Studies
1 PhD position (predoc, 75%)
The successful candidate will do research in a project on the development of highly frequent pronoun-verb-combinations in Italian in order to investigate their grammar at the interfaces to pragmatics. An excellent or near native language competence in Italian is expected. Applicants should have a solid background in theoretical linguistics, preferably with a specialization in Italian morphosyntax, including the interfaces to pragmatics. Experience in corpus and field research as well as a solid knowledge of formal semantics and pragmatics would be a plus.
The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to the project work, including publications and conference participation, assist in organizational matters, and complete a PhD dissertation at the university of Vienna during the four years of the program.
For more information please contact the PI (eva-maria.remberger@univie.ac.at).
Applications should also be sent to eva-maria.remberger@univie.ac.at
Subproject: Animacy features and the flexibility of pronouns
PI: Steffen Heidinger
Location: Graz, Department of Romance Studies
1 Post-doctoral position
This subproject investigates the animacy features of French personal pronouns against the background of the SFB's umbrella topic. Applicants have a doctorate degree in French, Romance, or General linguistics (with a focus on French), excellent knowledge of French, demonstrable experience in the field of experimental linguistics, interest in connecting empirical and theoretical research questions, excellent knowledge of English (allowing for presentation and publication activities). The main tasks of the successful candidate are: independent planning, implementation and analysis of experimental studies on animacy restrictions for French personal pronouns; contribution to a joint comparative analysis of French and Spanish with the PI; presentation and publication activities to disseminate the subproject's results; organization of thematic reading and discussion groups within the SFB, and collaboration in the organization of scientific events of the SFB.
For more information please contact the PI at: steffen.heidinger@uni-graz.at
Applications (with an indication of earliest start time) should be sent to steffen.heidinger@uni-graz.at
Subproject: Deficiency and Redundancy in Expressing Temporal Relations
PI: Daniel Büring
Location: Vienna, Department of Linguistics
2 PhD positions (predoc, 75%)
The subproject will do research on the formal semantics of tense and aspect, including temporal anaphora and temporal quantification. Applicants should have a solid background in theoretical linguistics, preferably with a specialization in formal semantics and/or comparative linguistics. As the project will have one focus on tense-less languages, we especially encourage submission by people who have previously done work on, and with speakers of, one or more tense-less languages (e.g. Guarani, Mandarin, Maya, Thai, Vietnamese etc.).
The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to the project work, including publications and conference participation, assist in organizational matters, and complete a PhD dissertation at the university of Vienna during the four years of the project.
Contact for further information: Daniel Büring (daniel.buring@univie.ac.at)
Applications should be sent to daniel.buring@univie.ac.at