Personal tools
Max Planck Institute
About MPI

 

The Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics is an institute of the German Max Planck Society. Our mission is to undertake basic research into the psychological,social and biological foundations of language. The goal is to understand how our minds and brains process language, how language interacts with other aspects of mind, and how we can learn languages of quite different types.

The institute is situated on the campus of the Radboud University. We participate in the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, and have particularly close ties to that institute's Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging. We also participate in the Centre for Language Studies. A joint graduate school, the IMPRS in Language Sciences, links the Donders Institute, the CLS and the MPI.

 

IMPRS PhD Fellowships

Call for Applications: 2013 IMPRS for Language Sciences PhD Fellowships

What are the foundations for language in our species? How do genes build the brain capable of learning and processing diverse languages? If you have a background in
- Genetics
- Brain sciences
- Psychology
- Linguistics or anthropology
you could contribute to the fundamental science in this area and earn a PhD degree in the International Max Planck Research School for Language Sciences.


The IMPRS for Language Sciences is now advertising four doctoral fellowships in the following departments:

The International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) for Language Sciences is a joint initiative of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics (MPI) and two research institutes based at the Radboud University Nijmegen, the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour and the Centre for Language Studies. The research school offers unrivalled training, top facilities (from genetics labs, brain imaging machines, psychology labs to supported fieldwork opportunities) and an outstanding interdisciplinary environment.


The fellowship positions are, in the normal case, three years in length. Fellowship recipients will receive a monthly salary sufficient to cover living costs in Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Applicants must have a Masters degree (or expect to complete the degree before September 2013) in a relevant field. The working language of the research school is English.

Only applications prepared according to the below guidelines will be considered. Please email your application as one PDF document including the following information:

1. Curriculum vitae. Include:
  • Relevant work and educational background
  • Details about your Masters degree, including name of supervisors, date of completion, title of thesis and a brief description of your topic, and any grades you received for relevant coursework
  • Details about any relevant technical or research skills set and proficiency. This may include information on programming, statistics, mathematical knowledge, experimental design/methods, neuroimaging, practical phonetics, corpus methods, fieldwork, etc.

2. Research proposal that should be linked to the overall research profile of one or more of the departments. On a single page, please provide:
  • Title of your project (maximally 10 words)
  • The research department(s) to which your proposal would fit
  • Research question (one sentence, maximally 20 words)
  • Theoretical motivation of the proposed research (why is your question interesting?)
  • Suggested empirical approach (which method(s) will you employ?)

Please note that the details of the research projects, should you be offered a post, will, of course have to be agreed with your supervisor. We ask for a research statement to get a first impression of your interests.

3. Personal statement. On half a page, please explain
  • why you are keen to join the IMPRS
  • which transferable skills you would hope to acquire.
  • The IMPRS is an active community, where PhD students take part in enrichment and training and help organize activities for the research school. If you were awarded a fellowship (a) whom would you like to invite as a guest speaker? (b) what kind of activities would you propose to enhance learning and communication in the IMPRS?

4. References. Please provide:
Contact details of two academic referees. We will only contact them if you are shortlisted for an interview.

5. Proof of English-language proficiency. Non-native speakers of English must provide an electronic copy/scan of TOEFL/Cambridge/IELTS certificate or equivalent. This may be submitted within three months after the application deadline.

Applications must be received by 15 January 2013.

Please send your application and any queries by email with the subject  "IMPRS application" to imprs@mpi.nl. In your email, please specify how you heard about the IMPRS for Language Sciences.

Interviews with shortlisted candidates will be held in February 2013. Start dates for the positions will be 1 September 2013.

For more information about the IMPRS for Language Sciences, please visit our website: www.mpi.nl/education/imprs-for-language-sciences
Last checked 2012-11-28 by Dirkje van der Aa

Max Planck Institute
for Psycholinguistics


Street address
Wundtlaan 1
6525 XD Nijmegen
The Netherlands


Mailing address
P.O. Box 310
6500 AH Nijmegen
The Netherlands

Phone:   +31-24-3521911
Fax:        +31-24-3521213
E-mail:   

Image right

scrabble