Description of the workplace

The successful applicant will be working in the English unit at the Centre for Languages and Literature, the largest department in the Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology. At this unit, research and teaching is conducted within language and linguistics, literature, education, academic writing, and English for specific purposes (ESP). Here you will be conducting cognitive and experimental linguistic research in the Humanities Lab in close collaboration with, and under the leadership of, professor Panos Athanasopoulos. There are currently around 15 linguistic PhDs and 6 PhD students employed by or associated with the English unit. These linguists represent a number of different research areas, for instance syntax, cognitive linguistics, psycholinguistics, language acquisition, linguistic variation, language history and academic writing. We care about having a nice work environment where everyone is respected and seen.

Work duties and areas of responsibility

Applications for this postdoc position are welcome from excellent candidates in  the areas of psycholinguistics, cognitive linguistics, or cognate fields (e.g. cognitive/experimental psychology). You will readily fit in an existing programme of research looking at the effects of language-specific categories on cognitive representation and processing. The main project will focus on comprehension of spatiotemporal metaphors and time perception, developing further the research published in these papers: 

• The Whorfian time warp: Representing duration through the language hourglass
• Cognitive restructuring: Psychophysical measurement of time perception in bilinguals

This is an on-site position, and it is a requirement that you participate in the daily work in Lund.

You are expected to:

• design, develop and program laboratory experiments in language and cognition.
• coordinate data collection in a timely manner.
• process, prepare, and statistically analyse data.
• draft reports on results.
• conduct literature surveys as required.
• contribute to publications both as lead author and as co-author.
• contribute to the project's seminars, meetings, workshops and other activities.
• establish and maintain training and contact with Lund University Humanities Lab.
• contribute to and develop the research environment in the area of language and cognition at the Centre for Language and Literature at Lund University.
• assist in the write-up of a joint application for further funding.

Teaching, supervision and other teaching-related duties may be involved within the framework of the position, but for not more than 20% of working hours.

Please feel free to send questions about the duties involved in this post to Professor Athanasopoulos (link above).

Qualifications

Qualification requirements:

• You are to have completed a Ph.D. or an international degree deemed equivalent. This requirement must be fulfilled no later than the date when the employment decision is made, and as an applicant, you are responsible for supplementing your application with documentation that confirms the completed doctoral degree. The supplement should be emailed to Fabian Beijer. The position is a career development post, and its purpose is to act as an initial step on a career path. The candidate most likely to be considered for the post is one who has completed a doctoral degree no more than three years prior to the application deadline. If there are special circumstances such as leave of absence because of illness, parental leave, position as elected representative in trade union organisations, military service or service/assignments relevant to the subject area, this time can be deducted from the time elapsed since the doctoral degree was completed.
• Documented capacity to independently design, develop, and execute psycholinguistic experiments.
• Documented experience of research in the field of psycholinguistics (or related area).
• Good cooperative skills and a strong collaborative approach to research.
• Full proficiency in English.

Assessment criteria

The general assessment criteria are the ability to develop and conduct high-quality research and the ability to teach. The main criterion for a postdoctoral fellowship is research expertise. As documentation for the assessment of qualifications, you are to submit (i) a curriculum vitae, (ii) a cover letter describing how you fulfil the qualification requirements and (where applicable) the desirable qualifications of the post, and (iii) two publications, one of which can be a copy of your PhD thesis, and the other a peer reviewed paper in an international journal. Only applicants whose expertise and previous work could strengthen the research team and the project as a whole will be considered for the position of postdoc.

Desirable qualifications (in order of importance)

• Experience with experiment generating software (e.g. PsychoPy), and statistical models (e.g. linear mixed-effects) and packages (e.g. R).
• Documented ability to develop and carry out research of high international quality in relevant research fields, and to obtain external research funding, commensurate to career stage.
• Proven track record of dissemination in relevant contexts (e.g. international high-quality journals, major conference presentations, invited talks, etc.).
• Good working knowledge of Swedish.

Terms

The appointment is limited to two years and is full time in accordance with the “Agreement regarding fixed-term employment as a postdoctoral fellow” collective agreement made between Swedish Agency for Government Employers and OFR/S, Saco-S, on 19 November 2021.

Lund University is a public authority which means that you receive specific benefits, generous annual leave and an advantageous occupational pension. Read more about being an employee at Lund University on the University website Work for us.

Training in teaching and learning in higher education equivalent to two weeks in accordance with the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions is offered within the framework of the position if teaching is part of the work duties.

How to apply

Your application should be written in English and must contain the following:

• A CV and copy of the Ph.D. degree.
• A list of publications (including DOI, ISBN or ISSN numbers).
• A cover letter of no more than 1500 words making the case for how you fulfil the qualification requirements and (where applicable) the desirable qualifications of the post.
• Two publications, one of which can be the PhD thesis and the other a peer reviewed paper in an international journal.

The applicant is responsible for making sure that the application is complete in accordance with the instructions above and for submitting it to the University by the application deadline through the recruitment portal.