Overview
The University of Passau owes its strong visibility and good repute to excellent research, innovative teaching and its tight-knit international academic networks. More than 11,000 students from 100 countries and some 1,300 staff study and work on our university campus, which is located a stoneâs throw from the historical Old Town of Passau and combines state-of-the-art technical infrastructure with award-winning architecture. Internationally successful high-tech companies and a vibrant start-up scene, coupled with a rich culture and Lower Bavarian traditions, give Passau and the surrounding area a special appeal that makes it a great place to live and work.
From October 2023, as part of the research Project âProductive Signs: A computer-assisted analysis of evolutionary, typological, and cognitive dimensions of word familiesâ, funded by the European Research Council in the form of a Consolidator Grant, the Chair of Multilingual Computational Linguistics led by Professor Johann-Mattis List is seeking a
Doctoral Candidate
to be employed on a three-year fixed-term contract, with the possibility of renewal by an additional year following a positive evaluation. To be considered for this position, applicants must have a university masterâs degree in general linguistics, comparative linguistics or computational linguistics. Remuneration is in accordance with pay grade TV-L 13 of the German public-sector collective agreement (pro rata at 65%). The doctoral candidate will be given the opportunity to write a doctoral thesis while employed by the chair.
Duties and Responsibilities
Conduct research in historical language comparison while placing a focus on the computer-assisted analysis of word families, phylogenetic reconstruction and word-family evolution.
Compile datasets for the investigation of word-family evolution, focusing on Romance and Germanic languages, South-East-Asian languages or another language family.
Develop new methods for the investigation of word-family evolution, as well as for the visualisation and analysis of word-family structures.
Participate in the organisation of the research project (i.e. organising conferences, workshops, working-group meetings and providing guidance to student assistants).
Person Specification
A university masterâs degree in general linguistics, comparative linguistics or computational linguistics.
Readiness to carry out research according to the theme of the project (individual ideas and initiative are welcome).
Basic knowledge of programming, specifically with Python (basic knowledge in phylogenetic reconstruction and JavaScript would be an advantage).
Very good knowledge of historical linguistics, specifically in the areas of lexicon development and historical-language comparison. Good etymological knowledge regarding at least one language family would be an advantage.
You are a resilient and reliable team-player.
Excellent spoken and written English language skills (German language skills would be an advantage but are not a requirement).
The University of Passau wishes to increase the proportion of its female staff and expressly encourages women to apply for the position. This position is suitable for candidates with disabilities. Those who are registered disabled are given preference over non-disabled applicants who do not otherwise have statutory preferential status if their overall personal aptitudes, skills and qualifications are equal.
The application deadline is 20 May 2023. To apply, please send your application (motivation letter relating to the job profile, curriculum vitae, certifications, doctoral thesis and two published articles or research papers), attached as a single PDF file , by e-mail to mcl-admin@uni-passau.de . Please write âApplication for the ProduSemy Doctoral Position (Historical Linguistics)â in the subject line of the e-mail. For specific questions on the position, please send an e-mail to mcl-admin@uni-passau.de , writing âQuestion on the ProduSemy Doctoral Position (Historical Linguistics)â in the subject line. E-mailed applications are kept on file for up to six months after the conclusion of the appointment procedure, whereupon they are deleted from our systems.
Please visit www.uni-passau.de/en/university/current-vacancies for our data privacy statement.
