Student Assistant position for a fluent Russian speaker

Job description

We are seeking a student assistant, fluent in Russian, to help with the Department’s research on how children learn to use and understand language. The student assistant will assist with preparing and conducting a lab-based eye tracking study with adults and/or children. The position would suit an undergraduate with an interest in a career in research on language or child development, teaching, or child-focussed work.

Activities

• Creating, recording and norming stimulus materials
• Scheduling participants and running lab-based studies with children and/or adults
• Coding and transcribing observational and experimental data
• Assisting with everyday lab business, e.g. recruitment

Requirements

• Excellent (fluent) use of written and spoken Russian
• Good fluency in spoken English
• A relevant Bachelor’s study (e.g. Psychology, Linguistics, Cognitive Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, or a related discipline)
• Excellent attention to detail and organizational skills
• Experience with running experimental or observational studies with adults and/or children, preferably on topics related to language, is an advantage, as is experience with the use of PRAAT and/or Python (however, training will be provided for all tasks)
• Flexible availability (e.g. willingness to work some Saturdays)

Conditions of employment

• Position available from 1st May 2023, though start date is negotiable
• Term of appointment of 6 months initially, with the possibility of extension
• Between 16 and 19 hours per week, set according to the student’s study schedule
• The hourly rate is 13.95 Euro (with a Bachelor’s degree) and 12.00 Euro (without a Bachelor’s degree)

Application procedure

Please submit your application directly via this link on our recruitment portal. There is no application deadline. Interviews will take place from 15th March onwards; rolling recruitment will continue until the post is filled.

Applications should include:

1. A cover letter outlining your motivation to apply and detailing how you fit the requirements above
2. A current CV, listing relevant experience
3. Transcripts of courses, and grades achieved, from relevant Bachelor’s study
4. The names and contact details of two referees (referees will not be contacted unless you are invited to interview)

For further information or questions about these positions, please contact the secretary of the Language Development Department, Ilse van den Dobbelsteen (Ilse.vandenDobbelsteen [at] mpi.nl).

Employer

The Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen is a research institute entirely devoted to the study of language. Our 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. We are situated on the campus of the Radboud University, and have close collaborative links with the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour and the Centre for Language Studies at Radboud University. We also work closely with other child development researchers as part of the Baby and Child Research Center. Staff and students at the MPI have access to state-of-the art research and training facilities (including audio-visual equipment, EEG, fMRI, eye tracking, virtual reality labs, molecular biology labs and a child-friendly child development lab).

We are part of the Max Planck Society, an independent non-governmental association of German-funded research institutes dedicated to fundamental research in the natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. The Max Planck Society is an equal opportunities employer. We recognise the positive value of diversity, promote equality and challenge discrimination. We therefore welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates, irrespective of gender, disability, marital or parental status, racial, ethnic or social origin, colour, religion, belief, or sexual orientation (https://www.mpi.nl/page/equal-opportunities).