Lehrstuhl für Multilinguale Computerlinguistik - englische Fassung bei Universität Passau

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 stone’s 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 1 April 2024, as part of the research Project “Productive Signs: A computer-assisted
analysis of evolutionary, typological, and cognitive dimensions of word families”, 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

Graduate Research Assistant (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 master’s 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 language/cognition and psycholinguistics with the help of cross-

linguistic datasets while placing a specific focus on the analysis of word families from
a cognitive perspective.

• Compile datasets for the investigation of cognitive aspects of word families.
• Develop new methods for the investigation of cognitive aspects of word-family

workshops, working-group meetings and providing guidance to student assistants).

Person Specification

• A university master’s degree in general linguistics, comparative linguistics or

computational linguistics.

• Readiness to carry out research within the project’s terms of reference (your own ideas

and initiative are very much welcomed).

• Basic knowledge of programming, specifically with Python (basic knowledge in

phylogenetic reconstruction and JavaScript would be an advantage).

• Very good knowledge of psycholinguistics or cognitive linguistics, specifically in the

area of lexicon development. Good knowledge of historical linguistics and linguistic
typology would be an advantage.

• You are a resilient and reliable team-player.
• Excellent spoken and written English and German language skills.

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 21 January 2024. To apply, please send your application
(motivation letter relating to the job profile, curriculum vitae, certifications, doctoral thesis and
optionally two published articles or research papers), attached as a single PDF file, by e-mail
to Professor Mattis-List at mcl-admin@uni-passau.de. Please write “Application for the
ProduSemy Doctoral Position (Psycholinguistics)” 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 “Question on the ProduSemy Doctoral Position (Psycholinguistics)” 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.