Two Postdoctoral Researchers for the Language in Interaction Research Consortium

• 40 hours per week
• Maximum gross monthly salary: € 4,978
• Dutch Research Consortium ‘Language in Interaction’
• Duration of the contract: 3 years
• Application deadline: 22 September 2019

We are looking for
We are looking for highly motivated candidates to enrich a unique Dutch consortium of researchers that aims to cross the boundaries of various disciplines to unravel the neurocognitive mechanisms of language and its interaction with other cognitive systems. This specific project aims to advance our understanding of the mechanisms of fast, flexible linguistic inference by leveraging recent major advances in our understanding of the representations and computations necessary for sequential model-based action planning.

Currently, our consortium advertises two Postdoctoral Researcher positions. These positions provide the opportunity for conducting world-class research as a member of an interdisciplinary team. Each position has its own requirements and profile.

We ask
Each position has its own requirements and profile.
More information on: https://www.languageininteraction.nl/BQ5-2a.html

General requirements for all positions are:

• a degree in cognitive science, cognitive neuroscience, computational cognitive neuroscience, computer science, mathematics, mathematical psychology, formal linguistics, or a related field;
• affinity with quantitative analyses;
• strong motivation;
• excellent proficiency in written and spoken English.

Applications from excellent candidates with a less than ideal profile will also be considered.

We are
The Netherlands has an outstanding track record in the language sciences. The Language in Interaction research consortium, sponsored by a large grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO), brings together many of the excellent research groups in the Netherlands with a research programme on the foundations of language. In addition to excellence in the domain of language and related relevant fields of cognition, our consortium provides state-of-the-art research facilities and a research team with ample experience in the complex research methods that will be invoked to address the scientific questions at the highest level of methodological sophistication. These include methods from genetics, neuroimaging, computational modelling, and patient-related research. This consortium realises both quality and critical mass for studying human language at a scale not easily found anywhere else.

We have identified five Big Questions (BQ) that are central to our understanding of the human language faculty. These questions are interrelated at multiple levels. Teams of researchers will collaborate to collectively address these key questions of our field.

Our five Big Questions are:
BQ1: The nature of the mental lexicon: How to bridge neurobiology and psycholinguistic theory by computational modelling?
BQ2: What are the characteristics and consequences of internal brain organization for language?
BQ3: Creating a shared cognitive space: How is language grounded in and shaped by communicative settings of interacting people?
BQ4: Variability in language processing and in language learning: Why does the ability to learn language change with age? How can we characterise and map individual language skills in relation to the population distribution?
BQ5: Inference for language and action planning: Common computations?

You will be appointed at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Both successful candidates will become members of our Big Question 5 team. The research is conducted in an international setting. English is the lingua franca.

Radboud University has seven faculties, which together cover the full range of academic disciplines. Its teaching and research staff hail from more than fifty countries. With several brand new buildings and state-of-the-art facilities, the leafy modern campus in Nijmegen provides an open and welcoming environment with a personal touch, encouraging the sharing of knowledge among academics, across disciplines, and within and between research institutes. Radboud University firmly believes that a broad perspective is essential for generating new insights and solutions in both science and society.

We offer

• Employment: 40 hours per week.
• A maximum gross monthly salary of € 4.978 based on a 38-hour working week (salary scale 11).
• The exact salary depends on the candidate’s qualifications and amount of relevant professional experience. The Collective Labour Agreement (CAO) of Dutch Universities is applicable to this positions.
• In addition to the salary: an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus.
• Duration of the contract: you will be appointed for an initial period of 12 months, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by 24 months.
• Dutch Universities and the institute involved have regulations in place that enable their staff to create a good work-life balance.
• You will be able to make use of our Dual Career Service: our Dual Career Officer will assist with family-related support, such as child care, and help your partner prepare for the local labour market and with finding an occupation.
• Are you interested in our excellent employment conditions?

The institute involved is an equal opportunity employer, committed to building a culturally diverse intellectual community, and as such encourages applications from women and minorities.

Would you like more information?
Additional information can be obtained from the contacts for the different positions.

Position 1: Dr. Andrea E. Martin, Dr. Ashley Lewis, and Dr. Saskia Haegens
Position 2: Dr. Andrea E. Martin and Dr. Iris van Rooij

Apply directly
Please address your application to Dr Andrea Martin and submit it, via apply directly, no later than 22 September 2019, 23:59 Amsterdam Time Zone.
Your application should include the following attachments:

• A cover letter quoting at the top the number of the position you apply for.
• Your curriculum vitae, including a list of publications and the names of at least two persons who can provide references.

Please apply before September 22, 2019, 23:59 Amsterdam Time Zone

For more information on your application: +31 24 3611173.

No commercial propositions please.

The Cognitive Psychology Unit of the Institute of Psychology at Leiden University and the Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC) are looking for a highly talented student for a

PhD Position (1.0 fte) in Cognitive Neuroscience

 Vacancy number 6224

Research project “The impact of arousal on cognitive function and cortical state”

The waking state is characterized by constant, sometimes large, fluctuations in arousal level. Recent research suggests that such fluctuations in arousal account for a large proportion of the variability in task performance and spontaneous patterns of cortical activity (cortical state). However, the exact ways in which arousal affects the human brain, mind and behavior are still poorly understood. The major aim of the proposed research is to characterize the computational and neural mechanisms by which moment- to-moment fluctuations in arousal affect cognitive functions and cortical state.

We will manipulate arousal level (e.g., using pharmacology) or monitor spontaneous arousal fluctuations in human subjects, during rest and during the performance of challenging cognitive tasks. We will examine whether these changes in arousal are accompanied by activity changes in the tiny human brainstem nuclei that regulate arousal. Furthermore, we will examine the impact of changes in arousal on cognitive control, learning, and global patterns of cortical brain activity, as assessed with neuroimaging methods. Finally, we will use computational models to examine the mechanisms by which arousal impacts cognitive task performance and cortical state.

The project is part of a research program funded by a Vici grant of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research. The abstract described above concerns the entire research program. The PhD student will be a member of a team of six, closely collaborating researchers. The research group will participate in the Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), an interfaculty center for interdisciplinary research on brain and cognition (www.libc-leiden.nl).

Key Responsibilities

• Literature study, development and execution of behavioral and neuroimaging studies;
• Report results at conferences and in international journals, leading to a PhD dissertation;
• Supervise BSc and MSc thesis projects;
• Participate in the Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC).

Selection Criteria

• Master degree in cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience or closely related field;
• Experience or affinity with neuroimaging techniques and computational modeling;
• Programming experience (e.g., Matlab);
• Excellent research and writing skills;
• Excellent command of

Our faculty

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences comprises four institutes: Education and Child Studies, Political Science, Psychology and Cultural Anthropology & Development Sociology. The Faculty also includes the Centre for Science and Technology Studies. The Faculty is home to 5,000 students and 600 members of staff. Our teaching and research programmes cover diverse topics varying from adoption to political behaviour. For more information, see http://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/social-behavioural- sciences.

For research in our institute we offer an exciting research environment including EEG, fMRI, eye tracking, virtual reality, and brain stimulation. For more information see

https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/social-behavioural-sciences/psychology/cognitive-psychology and http://www.libc-leiden.nl/

Terms and conditions

The appointment is for four years (one year plus a further three years after a positive evaluation) and should lead to a doctoral degree. The gross income is € 2325 per month in the first year, increasing to €2972 per month in the fourth year, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities).

Leiden University offers an attractive benefits package with additional holiday (8%) and end-of-year bonuses (8.3 %), training and career development. Our individual choices model gives you some freedom to assemble your own set of terms and conditions. Candidates from outside the Netherlands may be eligible for a substantial tax break. More at https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/working-at/job- application-procedure-and-employment-conditions.

Diversity

Leiden University is strongly committed to diversity within its community and especially welcomes applications from members of underrepresented groups.

Information

For inquiries, please contact professor Sander Nieuwenhuis, email snieuwenhuis@fsw.leidenuniv.nl.

Applications

Please submit online your application no later than the 5th of May 2019 via the blue button of our application system (from the 23rd of April; https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/working-at).

Applicants should submit online a letter of interest and a cv with a list of publications.

The Cognitive Psychology Unit of the Institute of Psychology at Leiden University and the Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC) are looking for a highly talented researcher for a

Postdoc Position (1.0 fte) in Cognitive Neuroscience

Vacancy number 6225

Research project “The impact of arousal on cognitive function and cortical state”

The waking state is characterized by constant, sometimes large, fluctuations in arousal level. Recent research suggests that such fluctuations in arousal account for a large proportion of the variability in task performance and spontaneous patterns of cortical activity (cortical state). However, the exact ways in which arousal affects the human brain, mind and behavior are still poorly understood. The major aim of the proposed research is to characterize the computational and neural mechanisms by which moment- to-moment fluctuations in arousal affect cognitive functions and cortical state.

We will manipulate arousal level (e.g., using pharmacology) or monitor spontaneous arousal fluctuations in human subjects, during rest and during the performance of challenging cognitive tasks. We will examine whether these changes in arousal are accompanied by activity changes in the tiny human brainstem nuclei that regulate arousal. Furthermore, we will examine the impact of changes in arousal on cognitive control, learning, and global patterns of cortical brain activity, as assessed with neuroimaging methods. Finally, we will use computational models to examine the mechanisms by which arousal impacts cognitive task performance and cortical state.

The project is part of a research program funded by a Vici grant of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research. The abstract described above concerns the entire research program. The postdoc will be a member of a team of six, closely collaborating researchers. The research group will participate in the Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), an interfaculty center for interdisciplinary research on brain and cognition (www.libc-leiden.nl).

Key Responsibilities

• Literature study, development and execution of behavioral and neuroimaging studies;
• Report results at conferences and in international journals;
• Supervise BSc and MSc thesis projects;
• Participate in the Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC).

Selection Criteria

• PhD degree in cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience or closely related field;
• Experience or affinity with neuroimaging techniques and computational modeling;
• Programming experience (e.g., Matlab);
• Excellent research and writing skills;
• Excellent command of

Our faculty

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences comprises four institutes: Education and Child Studies, Political Science, Psychology and Cultural Anthropology & Development Sociology. The Faculty also includes the Centre for Science and Technology Studies. The Faculty is home to 5,000 students and 600 members of staff. Our teaching and research programmes cover diverse topics varying from adoption to political behaviour. For more information, see http://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/social-behavioural- sciences.

For research in our institute we offer an exciting research environment including EEG, fMRI, eye tracking, virtual reality, and brain stimulation. For more information see

https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/social-behavioural-sciences/psychology/cognitive-psychology and http://www.libc-leiden.nl/

Terms and conditions

We offer a full-time, fixed-term post for 2-3 years (to be negotiated), including a 2-month trial period. Salary range from € 3637 to € 4978 gross per month (pay scale 11, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities).

Leiden University offers an attractive benefits package with additional holiday (8%) and end-of-year bonuses (8.3%), training and career development. Our individual choices model gives you some freedom to assemble your own set of terms and conditions. Candidates from outside the Netherlands may be eligible for a substantial tax break. More at https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/working-at/job- application-procedure-and-employment-conditions.

Diversity

Leiden University is strongly committed to diversity within its community and especially welcomes applications from members of underrepresented groups.

Information

For inquiries, please contact professor Sander Nieuwenhuis, email snieuwenhuis@fsw.leidenuniv.nl.

Applications

Please submit online your application no later than the 5th of May 2019 via the blue button of our application system (from the 23rd of April; https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/working-at).

Applicants should submit online a letter of interest and a cv with a list of publications.

The Cognitive Psychology Unit of the Institute of Psychology of the Faculty Social and Behavioural Sciences and the Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC) are looking for a highly talented staff member for the position of

Assistant Professor in Cognitive Psychology or Cognitive Neuroscience (1.0 fte)
Vacancy number 6195

Key Responsibilities

• Conducting independent research in your field (40%);
• Teaching suitable BSc and MSc courses and supervising BSc and MSc research projects (60%);
• Contributing to organizational activities of the institute.

Selection Criteria

• We seek candidates who have demonstrated excellence in teaching abilities, and have experience with various types of teaching and supervision of students at different stages of their education;
• Candidates should have a strong research record, evident from (among others) a completed PhD thesis and peer-reviewed (international) publications on topics in cognitive psychology or related fields;
• Valued research experience: modeling skills; programming; neuroimaging (fMRI and/or EEG); valorization of research; collaboration with industrial / non-academic parties.
• Proficiency in the Dutch language is not essential but candidates are expected to acquire a good command of the Dutch language within the first year;

Our faculty
The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences comprises four institutes: Education and Child Studies, Political Science, Psychology and Cultural Anthropology & Development Sociology. The Faculty also includes the Centre for Science and Technology Studies. The Faculty is home to 5,000 students and 600 members of staff. Our teaching and research programmes cover diverse topics varying from adoption to political behaviour. For more information, see http://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/social-behavioural-sciences.

For research at our institute LIBC we offer an exciting research environment including EEG, fMRI, eye tracking, virtual reality, and brain stimulation. For more information see

https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/social-behavioural-sciences/psychology/cognitive-psychology and http://www.libc-leiden.nl/

Terms and conditions
We offer a four-year term position. Salary range from € 3637.- to € 5656.- gross per month (pay scale 11 or 12 in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities).

Leiden University offers an attractive benefits package with additional holiday (8%) and end-of-year bonuses (8.3 %), training and career development. Our individual choices model gives you some freedom to assemble your own set of terms and conditions. Candidates from outside the Netherlands may be eligible for a substantial tax break. More at https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/working-at/job-application-procedure-and-employment-conditions.

Leiden University requires teaching staff to obtain the University Teaching Qualification (UTQ). If the successful applicant does not already possess this qualification or its equivalent, he/ she must be willing to obtain this Qualification within two years.

Diversity
Leiden University is strongly committed to diversity within its community and especially welcomes applications from members of underrepresented groups.

Information
For inquiries, please contact professor Sander Nieuwenhuis, email snieuwenhuis@fsw.leidenuniv.nl.

Applications

Please submit online your application no later than the 30th of April 2019 via the blue button of our application system (available from April 16^th at https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/working-at). Applicants should submit online a letter of interest and a cv with a list of publications.

Donders Institute, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging
Maximum salary: € 4,978 gross/month
Vacancy number: 30.05.19
Application deadline: 5 May 2019

Responsibilities

We are currently recruiting for a 3-year postdoctoral researcher position regarding “Understanding the nature of the mental lexicon” in the Language in Interaction consortium. The goal of this project is to use advanced computational models applied to neural data to understand the structure and function of the language system and obtain a better understanding of the mental lexicon.

You will be member of Big Question 1 (BQ1), a larger endeavour to develop computational models of the mental lexicon from linguistic, psychological and neuroscience perspectives. Your responsibility is to develop computational models and apply them to neural data to obtain new neurolinguistic insights. To this end, you will make use of existing publicly available datasets. You will also facilitate collaborative projects in BQ1 that combine the scientific expertise across different work packages. You are expected to take a leading role in translating modeling work to scientific output that provides new insights into the neural correlates of language, as disseminated via high-impact publications. The position also includes a small number of organizational and administrative tasks within BQ1 and the larger consortium.

This position provides an opportunity to conduct world-class research as a key member of an interdisciplinary team operating at the interface between artificial intelligence and cognitive neuroscience.

Work environment

The Netherlands has an outstanding track record in the language sciences. The Language in Interaction research consortium, which is sponsored by a large grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific research (NWO), brings together many of the excellent research groups in the Netherlands in a research programme on the foundations of language. In addition to excellence in the domain of language and related relevant fields of cognition, our consortium provides state-of-the-art research facilities and a research team with ample experience in the complex research methods that will be invoked to address the scientific questions at the highest level of methodological sophistication. These include methods from genetics, neuroimaging, computational modeling, and patient-related research. This consortium realises both quality and critical mass for studying human language at a scale not easily found anywhere else.

We have identified five Big Questions (BQs) that are central to our understanding of the human language faculty. These questions are interrelated at multiple levels. Teams of researchers will collaborate to collectively address these key questions of our field.

Our five Big Questions are:
BQ1: The nature of the mental lexicon – How to bridge neurobiology and psycholinguistic theory by computational modeling?
BQ2: What are the characteristics and consequences of internal brain organization for language?
BQ3: Creating a shared cognitive space – How is language grounded in and shaped by communicative settings of interacting people?
BQ4: Variability in language processing and in language learning – Why does the ability to learn language change with age? How can we characterise and map individual language skills in relation to the population distribution?
BQ5: How are other cognitive systems shaped by the presence of a language system in humans?

You will be appointed at the Donders Institute, Centre for Cognition, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The project is embedded in the Donders Institute’s research theme “Brain Networks and Neuronal Communication” and will be supervised by Prof. Marcel van Gerven. The research is conducted in an international setting at all participating institutions. English is the lingua franca.

What we expect from you

We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with a PhD degree in Cognitive Neuroscience, Computational Linguistics, Artificial Intelligence or a related field of research. We expect you to have expertise in the domain of language research, excellent computational skills and Python programming experience, as well as experience with neural data analysis. You will further develop the modeling approaches that are being created within the team and apply these approaches to rich neural datasets to generate new insights about the nature of the mental lexicon. You should have an outstanding scientific track record, excellent organisational, and communication skills, a strong motivation, and high proficiency in written and spoken English.

Applications from excellent candidates with a less than ideal profile will also be considered.

What we have to offer

• employment: 1.0 FTE;
• a maximum gross monthly salary of € 4,978 based on a 38-hour working week (salary scale 11);
• in addition to the salary: an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus;
• term of contract: you will be appointed for an initial period of 12 months, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by 24 months;
• UFO job profile: Researcher, Level 3;
• the Collective Labour Agreement (CAO) of Dutch Universities is applicable to this position;
• Dutch universities and the institute involved have a number of regulations in place that enable employees to create a good work-life balance;
• you will be able to make use of our Dual Career Service where our Dual Career Officer will assist with family related support, such as child care, and help your partner prepare for the local labour market and with finding an occupation.

Are you interested in our excellent employment conditions?

Other Information

The institute involved is an equal opportunity employer, committed to building a culturally diverse intellectual community, and as such encourages applications from women and minorities.

Would you like to know more?

Further information on: Language in Interaction
Further information on: Donders Institute

For more information about this vacancy, please contact:
Prof. dr. Marcel van Gerven, Principal Investigator Artificial Cognitive Systems, and
Telephone: +31 24 365 59 31
E-mail: m.vangerven@donders.ru.nl

Prof. dr. Peter Hagoort, Programme Director Language in Interaction consortium
Telephone: +31 24 361 06 48, +31 24 352 13 01
E-mail: p.hagoort@donders.ru.nl

Are you interested?

You should upload your application (attn. of Prof. dr. M. van Gerven) exclusively using the button ‘Apply’ below. Your application should include (and be limited to) the following attachment(s):

• a cover letter
• CV, including a list of publications and the names of at least two persons who can provide references

Please apply before 5 May 2019, 23:59 CET.

Responsibilities

The Language in Interaction research consortium invites applications for a postdoctoral position in Linguistics. We are looking for a candidate with a background in theoretical and/or computational linguistics.
You will contribute to the integration of linguistic expertise into the empirical research performed by teams of researchers in our consortium that are collaborating to collectively address the key questions of our field. You will be provided the opportunity to conduct research in one or more research areas relevant to the position. Supervision of BSc, MSc and PhD projects will be part of your responsibilities. You will be provided with budgetary resources for travel, materials and lab-use.

This position provides the opportunity for conducting world-class research as a member of an interdisciplinary team. Moreover, it will provide the opportunity to contribute to developing a theoretical framework for our understanding of the human language faculty.

Work environment

The Netherlands has an outstanding track record in the language sciences. The research consortium ‘Language in Interaction’, sponsored by a large grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific research (NWO), brings together many of the excellent research groups in the Netherlands with a research programme on the foundations of language.

In addition to excellence in the domain of language and related relevant fields of cognition, our consortium provides state-of-the-art research facilities and a research team with ample experience in the complex research methods that will be invoked to address the scientific questions at the highest level of methodological sophistication. These include methods from genetics, neuroimaging, computational modelling, and patient-related research. This consortium realizes both quality and critical mass for studying human language at a scale not easily found anywhere else.

We have identified five Big Questions (BQ) that are central to our understanding of the human language faculty. These questions are interrelated at multiple levels. Teams of researchers will collaborate to collectively address these key questions of our field.

Our five Big Questions are:

BQ1: The nature of the mental lexicon: How to bridge neurobiology and psycholinguistic theory by computational modelling?

BQ2: What are the characteristics and consequences of internal brain organization for language?

BQ3: Creating a shared cognitive space:  How is language grounded in and shaped by communicative settings of interacting people?

BQ4: Variability in language processing and in language learning: Why does the ability to learn language change with age? How can we characterise and map individual language skills in relation to the population distribution?

BQ5: How are other cognitive systems shaped by the presence of a language system in humans?

Successful candidates will be appointed at one of the consortium’s home institutions, depending on the position applied for. All successful candidates will become members of our Big Question teams. The research is conducted in an international setting at all participating institutions. English is the lingua franca.

 You will be appointed at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. You will be supervised by Peter Hagoort, programme director of the Language in Interaction consortium. The research is conducted in an international setting at all participating institutions. English is the lingua franca.

 What we expect from you

We are looking for highly motivated candidates to enrich a unique consortium of researchers that aims to unravel the neurocognitive mechanisms of language at multiple levels. The goal is to understand both the universality and the variability of the human language faculty from genes to behaviour.

• a PhD in Linguistics;
• an integrative mindset;
• a theory-driven approach;
• good communication skills;
• strong motivation;
• excellent proficiency in written and spoken English.

What we have to offer

• Full-time position (39 hours per week) with a term of appointment of 4 years.
• The salary is according to the German TVöD (Tarifvertrag für den öffentlichen Dienst) and is classified in salary group E13 (depending on the experience of the applicant between EUR 3.827,03 and EUR 5.683,28 gross per month, based on a full-time employment).
• In addition to the salary: an 8% holiday allowance
• The Max Planck Institute involved has a number of regulations that make it possible for employees to create a good work-life balance.

Other Information

The institute involved is an equal opportunity employer, committed to building a culturally diverse intellectual community, and as such encourages applications from women and minorities.

Would you like to know more?

Further information on: the Language in Interaction Consortium.
Further information on: Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour

For more information about this vacancy, please contact:

Prof. dr. Peter Hagoort, programme director Language in Interaction and director of DCCN and MPI

Telephone: +31 24 3610648, +31 24 3521301

E-mail: p.hagoort@donders.ru.nl

Are you interested?

Please submit your application (attn. of Prof. dr. P. Hagoort) to j.verhoef@donders.ru.nl in electronic form. Your application should include (and be limited to) the following attachments:

• a cover letter,
• your curriculum vitae, including a list of publications and the names of at least two person who can provide references.

Application deadline: February 17, 2019, 23:59 CET.

Responsibilities

We are looking for highly motivated candidates to enrich a unique consortium of researchers aiming to unravel the neurocognitive mechanisms of language at multiple levels. The goal is to understand both the universality and variability of the human language faculty from genes to behaviour.

Currently, our consortium advertises one postdoctoral position and two PhD positions. These positions provide the opportunity for conducting world-class research as a member of an interdisciplinary team. Each position has its own requirements and profile.

Click here for more information on the positions.

Work environment

The Netherlands has an outstanding track record in the language sciences. The Language in Interaction research consortium, sponsored by a large grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), brings together a large number of the excellent research groups in the Netherlands in one research programme on the foundations of language.
In addition to excellence in the domain of language and related relevant fields of cognition, our consortium provides state-of-the-art research facilities and a research team with ample experience in the complex research methods that will be invoked to address the scientific questions at the highest level of methodological sophistication, including methods from genetics, neuroimaging, computational modelling, and patient-related research. This consortium realises both quality and critical mass for studying human language at a scale not easily found anywhere else.

We have identified five Big Questions (BQ) that are central to our understanding of the human language faculty. These questions are interrelated at multiple levels. Teams of researchers will collaborate to collectively address these key questions in our field.

Our five Big Questions are:
BQ1: The nature of the mental lexicon: How to bridge neurobiology and psycholinguistic theory by computational modelling?
BQ2: What are the characteristics and consequences of internal brain organisation for language?
BQ3: Creating a shared cognitive space: How is language grounded in and shaped by communicative settings of interacting people?
BQ4: Variability in language processing and in language learning: Why does the ability to learn language change with age? How can we characterise and map individual language skills in relation to the population distribution?
BQ5: How are other cognitive systems shaped by the presence of a language system in humans?

More information on our Big Questions: www.languageininteraction.nl/Bigquestions.html

Successful candidates will be appointed at one of the consortium’s home institutions, depending on the position applied for. All successful candidates will become members of our Big Question teams. The research is being conducted at the participating institutions in an international setting. English is the lingua franca.

What we expect from you

Each position has its own requirements and profile.
More information on: www.languageininteraction.nl/jobs/bqfifth.html

General requirements for all positions are:
• a degree in the field indicated;
• strong motivation;
• excellent proficiency in written and spoken English.

What we have to offer

• employment: 1.0 FTE;
• you will be appointed at one of the consortium’s home institutions, depending on the position applied for;
• terms of employment depend on the position applied for;
• the institutes involved have regulations in place that enable their staff to create a good work life balance.

Other Information

Both institutes involved are equal opportunity employers, committed to building a culturally diverse intellectual community, and as such encourage applications from women and minorities.

Would you like to know more?

Further information on: the Language in Interaction Consortium
Further information on: the different positions

For more information about this vacancy, please contact:
additional information can be obtained from the contacts for the different positions.

Are you interested?

You should upload your application (attn. of Prof. dr. P. Hagoort) exclusively using the button ‘Apply’ below. Your application should include (and be limited to) the following attachment(s):

• a cover letter; please state at the top the reference number(s) of the position(s) you apply for;
• your curriculum vitae, including a list of publications and the names of at least two persons who can provide references.

Please apply before 16 September 2018, 23:59 CET.
Applicants are welcome to apply for more than one position.

APPLY

No commercial propositions please.

Big Question 4

Scientific summary

We aim to characterise variation in language processing and learning skills and to determine how these variations relate to those in the underlying biology of individual participants. The project has two strands: Strand A focuses on language processing skills in young adults, and Strand B on language learning skills in children and adults.

Strand A will develop a comprehensive battery of language tasks targeting sound, meaning, and grammatical processing of words and longer utterances during speaking and listening. In addition, tasks will be selected or developed assessing general cognitive skills that are likely to affect performance in language tasks. The battery will be normed on a demographically representative sample of 1000 young adults (aged 18-30 years). Strand B uses variability in learning ability to investigate why second-language acquisition can become harder in adulthood. It will consist of two sub-projects, one on grammar learning and one on word learning. In each sub-project, a large number of child, adolescent and adult Dutch participants (aged 8-30 years) will be tested using behavioural and neuroimaging techniques.

Two four-year full-time positions are currently open. The preferred starting date for both positions is September 1^st 2018.

Position specific information

Please find descriptions of the available positions below.

Interested?
Information on the application procedure or Apply directly

Postdoc Position 1

Determining neurobiological underpinnings of linguistic skills

Content Description
This postdoc will manage the sub-project on the neurobiology of language processing within Strand A. In this subproject we use structural MRI, resting state and task-based fMRI and Diffusion Weighted Imaging to determine the individual arrangements of the language connectome. Neuroimaging data will be acquired from about a third of the sample recruited for norming of the test battery (i.e. ~360 people). The task of the postdoctoral fellow will be to develop appropriate test paradigms, pilot them, organize the assessment of the main sample, and take the lead in the data analyses and reporting.

Requirements
Candidates should have a PhD degree (or equivalent) in the neurobiology of language or a closely related field of study. They should be familiar, ideally, with running and analysing MRI data (including DTI data), with carrying out psycholinguistic experiments, and with research on individual differences. They should also have excellent organizational and communicative skills, and programming abilities and they should have knowledge and experience in current data analysis techniques. They should have demonstrable interest in language processing and in the cognitive neuroscience of language.

Applications from excellent candidates with a less than ideal profile will also be considered. Women and members of minority groups are especially encouraged to apply.

Embedding and Terms of employment
This position will be held at the Donders Institute, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

• Employment: 1.0 FTE;
• in addition to the salary: an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus;
• a maximum gross monthly salary of €4,757 based on a 38-hour working week (salary scale 11);
• you will be appointed for an initial period of 18 months, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by 30 months.
• the Collective Labour Agreement (CAO) of Dutch Universities is applicable to this position;
• you will be classified as a Researcher, Level 3 in the Dutch university job-ranking system (UFO);

Further information about Postdoc Position 1
Please contact: Prof. dr. Peter Hagoort or Prof. dr. Antje Meyer

Postdoc Position 2

Individual differences in word learning

Content Description
This postdoc will manage the sub-project within Strand B on word learning. In this sub-project, a large number of child, adolescent, and adult (age 8-30 years) Dutch participants will be tested using behavioural and neuroimaging techniques. Behavioural tasks will include a battery of cognitive tests, the battery of language tasks generated by Strand A, measures of English and Dutch proficiency, and critically, a training task on learning new words. Neuroimaging will include functional MRI, and Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI). The goal is to characterize variability in word learning abilities by linking performance on the training task to the other behavioural data and to the functional and structural neural measures. Why do some individuals find it easier to learn language, and why do aspects of language learning change with age?

Requirements
Candidates should have a PhD degree (or equivalent) in the cognitive neuroscience of language learning, memory, or a closely related field of study. They should be familiar, ideally, with running and analyzing MRI data (including DTI data), with carrying out psycholinguistic experiments, with research on individual differences, and with testing children, although the actual data acquisition will be performed primarily by research assistants. They should also have excellent organizational and communicative skills and programming abilities and they should have knowledge and experience in current data analysis techniques. They should have demonstrable interest in language acquisition (prior work on word learning would be especially welcome) and in the cognitive neuroscience of language and/or memory. They should ideally be a proficient speaker of Dutch.

Applications from excellent candidates with a less than ideal profile will also be considered. Women and members of minority groups are especially encouraged to apply.

Embedding and Terms of employment
This position will be held at the Donders Institute, Centre for Medical Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

• Employment: 1.0 FTE;
• a maximum gross monthly salary of €4,917 based on a 36-hour working week (salary scale 11);
• in addition to the salary: an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus;
• you will be appointed for an initial period of 18 months, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by 30 months;
• the Collective Labour Agreement (CAO) of Dutch University Medical Centres is applicable to this position.

Further information about Postdoc Position 2
Please contact: Prof. dr. Guillén Fernández or Prof. dr. James McQueen