PhD position “Modeling modals: A computational study of modal verb acquisition” (V25.0196)

The Center for Language and Cognition Groningen is seeking a motivated PhD candidate in the fields of linguistics, computational linguistics, language acquisition, and/or cognitive science. This fully funded position offers the opportunity to conduct cutting-edge research, publish in top journals, and engage in teaching activities. You’ll join a dynamic, international academic community with excellent research facilities and professional development opportunities.

The PhD Project
Modal verbs like can or must have various meanings: In a sentence “You must close the door”, must expresses an obligation, while in “I must have left my notebook upstairs”, must expresses an inference. This ambiguity occurs in half of the world’s languages. How confusing is this ambiguity, and how do children resolve it? While previous studies approached these questions by annotating large amounts of language produced by adults or children, we approach the question by employing computational models that learn by finding patterns in language data. Can they learn the different modal meanings simply by paying attention to what they “hear”? Or do they need to come prepared with certain expectations? By using computational models (including probabilistic models and neural language models), we will be able to answer these types of questions. In addition, our project will benefit computational research on language modeling, as our findings will aid the understanding of modal verbs learning in modern neural language models, ultimately contributing to the design of better models.

You will be asked to

• Carry out academic research in linguistics / computational linguistics / language acquisition, as specified in the project description.
• Prepare conference and research papers, conference presentations, and dissertation chapters.
• Present research findings at national and international conferences, workshops, internal seminars.
• Contribute to the activities of an interdisciplinary research group (e.g., explain your research during research group seminars, help co-organize reading groups in the department, etc.).
• Complete the PhD in the specified timeframe (4 years).
• Participate in teaching activities in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th year.

Affiliation
The PhD candidate will be enrolled in the Graduate School for the Humanities at the University of Groningen. They will be involved in either the Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics (LOT) or the Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Research School (BCN), depending on the candidate’s profile. The PhD candidate will be embedded in the Center for Language and Cognition Groningen (CLCG) and will have links with both the Computational Linguistics group and the Semantics and Cognition group. This project will be carried out under the supervision of Dr. Annemarie van Dooren, Dr. Yevgen Matusevych, and Dr. Arianna Bisazza.

Organisation
Since its foundation in 1614, the University of Groningen has established an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative university offering high-quality teaching and research. Its 34,000 students are encouraged to develop their own individual talents through challenging study- and career paths. The University of Groningen is an international centre of knowledge: It belongs to the best research universities in Europe and is allied with prestigious partner universities and networks worldwide.

The Faculty of Arts is a large, dynamic faculty in the heart of the city of Groningen. It has more than 5000 students and 700 staff members, who are working at the frontiers of knowledge every day. The Faculty offers a wide range of degree programmes: 15 Bachelor's programmes and over 35 Master's specialisations. Our research, which is internationally widely acclaimed, covers Archaeology, Cultural Studies, History, International Relations, Language and Literary Studies, Linguistics and Media and Journalism Studies.

• A Research Master’s or Master’s degree in any area related to the project.
• Excellent academic writing skills in English.
• Demonstrable knowledge of (and interest in) linguistics, language acquisition, cognitive science, or related fields.
• Demonstrable skills in at least some of the following: computational linguistics, natural language processing, computational cognitive modelling, neural language models, etc.
• Ability to code in Python and/or other programming languages.
• Knowledge of languages other than English would be advantageous but is not a requirement.
• Interest in interdisciplinary research, motivation to work as part of a team of researchers from different fields.

In accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, the University of Groningen offers you the following conditions

• A salary of € 2,901 gross per month in the first year, up to a maximum of € 3,707 gross per month in the final year, based on a full-time position.
• A holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income.
• An 8.3% end-of-the-year allowance.
• A temporary 1.0 FTE appointment for a specified period of four years. The candidate will first be appointed for twelve months. After six months, an assessment will take place of the candidate’s results and the progress of the PhD project, in order to decide whether employment will be continued.
• The PhD candidate is expected to conduct a total of 0.4 fte teaching spread over the second, third and fourth year of their appointment.
• Excellent work-life balance.
• Willingness to move and reside in the Netherlands.

The appointment will commence on 1 September or 1 October 2025 (by agreement between the candidate and the supervisors). We allow 3 months from selection in case of visa applications.

Applications should be made in English and contain the following materials:

• A short statement (c. 1,000 words), explaining your motivation for applying, your research interests, and your fit within the project. Note: the use of generative AI assistants in drafting this statement is strongly discouraged, as it decreases your chances of passing the pre-selection phase.
• A curriculum vitae (maximum of 3 pages).
• Copies of Master’s diploma and list of grades (or the current transcript with grades, in case you haven’t graduated yet).
• Copy of Master’s thesis (or a term paper, in case you haven’t graduated yet).
• If available, a copy of an article, book chapter or other academic text that you feel best represents your work.
• Contact details of two academic referees (no letters of recommendation are needed for the application process).
• An English language certificate (in case your Master’s degree is not in English).
• In case you haven’t graduated yet, a letter from you Master’s thesis supervisor stating the expected date of graduation.

Please send in your application as two PDF files (one for the Master’s thesis/term paper, and one for all other documents). You may apply for this position until 24 April 11:59pm / before 25 April 2025 Dutch local time (CEST) by means of the application form (click on "Apply" below on the advertisement on the university website).

Shortlisted candidates will be asked to complete a short assignment and submit it before the interview. Interviews with selected candidates will be held on 20-21 May 2025.

The University of Groningen strives to be a university in which students and staff are respected and feel at home, regardless of differences in background, experiences, perspectives, and identities. We believe that working on our core values of inclusion and equality are a joint responsibility and we are constructively working on creating a socially safe environment. Diversity among students and staff members enriches academic debate and contributes to the quality of our teaching and research. We therefore invite applicants from underrepresented groups in particular to apply. For more information, see also our diversity policy webpage: https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/policy-and-strategy/diversity-and-inclusion/

Our selection procedure follows the guidelines of the Recruitment code (NVP): https://www.nvp-hrnetwerk.nl/sollicitatiecode/ and European Commission's European Code of Conduct for recruitment of researchers: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/charter/code

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