Δύο υποτροφίες για διδακτορικό στη φιλοσοφία της γλώσσας και τα αρχαία Ελληνικά στο Radboud University Nijmegen

Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies 

Vacancy number: 21.05.13 
Closing date: 8 December 2013 

Responsibilities

You will work on a project funded by the European Research Council entitled ‘Unraveling the Language of Perspective’. The main supervisor of this project is Dr. Corien Bary. The two sub-projects within this main project are ‘Ancient Greek Particles and Perspective Shifts‘ and ‘Evaluative Expressions and Perspective Shifts’. You will be trained as a researcher according to an individual Training and Supervision Plan and each sub-project should result in a doctoral dissertation at Radboud University Nijmegen. 

Short description of the project: 
People always take in a certain perspective when they speak. Languages have a wide variety of linguistic means to express perspective. Although perspectival elements are most frequently used from the perspective of the speaker, they can also be used from the perspective of someone else, a possibility that is fully exploited in narratives. The central aim of this project is to deepen our understanding of perspective shifts. The project will focus on Ancient Greek, a language with a particularly rich perspective system. Not only do many classes of expressions involve perspective in some way (e.g. attitudinal particles, optative mood, tense and aspect, evaluatives and participles), but authors such as Thucydides are also known for their subtle manipulation of narrative perspective. It is far from clear, however, how these shifts in narrative perspective are effected by the linguistic expressions used. State-of-the-art computational methods will be used to extract data from existing corpora. For a longer description of the project, including its sub-projects, please contact Corien Bary.

Work environment

The Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies aims to provide the best possible academic learning and working environment for its 700 students and 140 staff members. Your research will be embedded in the Research Institute for Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies and in the Cognitive Humanities research programme. Within the faculty you will be part of the Philosophy of Mind and Language Section. 

The research in philosophy of mind and language conducted in Nijmegen focuses on the context dependence of the interpretation of linguistic and non-linguistic behaviour. We concentrate, for instance, on the attribution of mental states, both linguistic (propositional attitudes) and non-linguistic (intentional attitudes). Although our approach is primarily analytical, we also concentrate on (neuro-)phenomenology. We collaborate closely with the linguistics department. You will also have the opportunity to participate in the Ancient World research programme of the Classicists at the Faculty of Arts and in OIKOS, the national Dutch research school in Classical Studies.

What we expect from you
- excellent knowledge of Ancient Greek (preferably a Master’s or equivalent degree in Classics); - a strong interest in philosophy of language and general linguistics and a willingness to learn basic techniques for conducting large-scale quantitative corpus research. Preference will be given to applicants who have research experience in the areas of philosophy of language and/or general/computational linguistics or have received training in these fields; 
- the ability to work both independently and as part of a team; 
- a good command of spoken and written English (Cambridge Certificate C2 level or achieved within two years); 
- experience presenting research papers in public; 
- strong organization skills and the ability to monitor and manage results.

What we have to offer

We offer you:
- employment: 1,0 fte;
- in addition to the salary: an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus;
- the starting salary is €2,083 per month on a full-time basis; the salary will increase to €2,664 per month in the fourth year; 
- you will be appointed for an initial period of 18 months, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by 2.5 years; 
- preferred starting date June 1, 2014; 
- you will be classified as a PhD candidate (promovendus) in the Dutch university job-ranking system (UFO).

Are you interested in our excellent employment conditions?

Other Information

Selected candidates will be invited for an interview in Nijmegen. They may also be asked to submit a short research proposal concerning the topic of one of the PhD positions. Interviews are scheduled for early January 2014.

Would you like to know more? 

Further information on: Faculteit der Theologie, Filosofie en Religiewetenschappen 

Dr. Corien Bary. 
Telephone: +31 24 36 11 453 
E-mail: c.bary@ftr.ru.nl

Applications
Are you interested? 
Please include with your application a motivation letter (attn. of Dr. Corien Bary (Associate Professor Philosophy of Mind and Language)), CV and any required attachments. You should upload these documents using 'Apply directly' before 8 December 2013. 
Please submit the following: 
- a covering letter explaining your motivation; please indicate whether you have a preference for one of the sub-projects and state your interest in this project and your competence in the research field; 
- a curriculum vitae, including academic grades, a Master thesis (if available) and a selection of other research papers; 
- the names and contact details of two referees. 
For more information on the application procedure: + 31 24 36 11 173 

No commercial propositions please.