Language is what makes us human. That is why we need more research that helps us better understand language and how we use it. Would you like to contribute to a greater understanding of the cognitive and social processes underlying language systems, processing and use? Then you have a part to play as a PhD candidate at the Centre for Language Studies.

We are looking for two PhD candidates. As a PhD candidate, you will participate in the Graduate School for the Humanities. You will write a PhD dissertation, and provide your services to the Faculty of Arts at Radboud University for a period of six months. As this position is embedded in the Centre for Language Studies, your dissertation should be in accordance with one of the four focus areas of this centre. Descriptions of these areas, and of the research groups that contribute to these focus areas, can be found on the CLS website.

• You have a Master's degree (or expect to complete the degree before September 2024) in one of the disciplines related to CLS.
• You are result-oriented and fluent in English, and have excellent writing skills.
• Demonstrable research experience in the field of your proposal will be considered an advantage.

Fixed-term contract: 4 or 5 years.

• We will give you a temporary employment contract (0.8 FTE 5- year contract - 1.0 FTE 4- year contract) of 1,5 years, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, your contract will be extended by 2.5 years (4-year contract) or 3.5 years (5-year contract).
• You will receive a starting salary of €2,770 gross per month based on a 38-hour working week, which will increase to €3,539 from the fourth year onwards (salary scale P).
• You will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8,3% end-of-year bonus.
• You will be able to use our Dual Career and Family Support Service. The Dual Career Programme assists your partner via support, tools, and resources to improve their chances of independently finding employment in the Netherlands. Our Family Support Service helps you and your partner feel welcome and at home by providing customised assistance in navigating local facilities, schools, and amenities. Also take a look at our support for international staff page to discover all our services for international employees.
• You will receive extra days off. With full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the statutory 20.

Work and science require good employment practices. This is reflected in Radboud University's primary and secondary employment conditions. You can make arrangements for the best possible work-life balance with flexible working hours, various leave arrangements and working from home. You are also able to compose part of your employment conditions yourself, for example, exchange income for extra leave days and receive a reimbursement for your sports subscription. And of course, we offer a good pension plan. You are given plenty of room and responsibility to develop your talents and realise your ambitions. Therefore, we provide various training and development schemes.

CLS aims to achieve a deeper understanding of the nature of language and the way it functions by explicitly connecting and integrating research on the cognitive and social processes underlying language systems, language processing, language use, and language acquisition. We actively seek to deploy our findings to optimise language-related tasks in society.

Our strategy is to conduct empirical research on language, from single sounds to discourse in multiple modalities, including speech, text, gestures, signs, and images. We highly value diversity in research techniques, applying observational, behavioural, and neurocognitive methods, as well as language and speech technology. To facilitate research, CLS invests in the collection of extensive data sets and in developing innovative automated techniques for analysing text, audio, and video.