Department: Linguistics
Web Address: https://www.ling.uni-konstanz.de/en/

Level: PhD

Institution/Organization: University of Konstanz

Duties: Research

Specialty Areas: Computational Linguistics; Linguistic Theories; Phonetics; Phonology; Syntax

Required Language(s): English (eng)

Description:

One PhD position (TVL-13, 65%) for work at the interface between prosodic structure and formal/computational LFG grammars at the University of Konstanz.

Application Deadline: 31.1.2022
Start of the project: April 2022

We are looking for a PhD student to work with us on the joint DFG/AHRC-project "Prosodic structure at the interface between language and speech" awarded to Tina Bögel (University of Konstanz) and Alice Turk (University of Edinburgh).

Both language redundancy and prosodic structure affect characteristics of speech related to acoustic salience and intelligibility. The idea that prosodic structure is the interface between grammar and speech led to proposals that speakers plan the prosodic structure of an utterance in order to make less predictable parts of speech more intelligible via its effects on acoustic saliency. The goals of this project are 1) to test the hypothesis that prosodic structure is the interface between language and speech, and 2) to implement this interface in a (computational) LFG-grammar in order to test and evaluate our architectural assumptions.

The PhD student's project will relate to the integration of language redundancy effects into the LFG modules (e.g., to determine an appropriate representation of bigram frequencies and their effects in the lexicon, syntactic structure, and prosodic structure, and to implement them accordingly into a computational LFG grammar). The PhD student will also assist in the design and execution of several speech production experiments in close collaboration with all members of the project.

Your profile:
- A very good MA-degree in a relevant field
- good English language skills
- basic knowledge in phonetics and statistics
- general knowledge of syntax

It is a plus if you have any of these skills:
- knowledge of Lexical Functional Grammar (or even its computational implementation)
- experience with speech production/perception experiments
- rule-based computational or programming skills

We do not expect you to be the perfect match, but we expect you to acquire the necessary skills within a year (with support from us and classes offered at the Department of Linguistics at the University of Konstanz) and to be open towards different subfields within linguistics.

We offer:
- a pleasant and supportive working environment
- support for contributions to conferences and general publications
- an integration into a very research-oriented department with colleagues from various subfields of linguistics
- the possibility of obtaining a PhD

Please send your application as one pdf to Tina.Boegel@uni-konstanz.de including
- your CV
- your BA/MA certificates
- a motivational letter
- and two referees who we could contact

The University of Konstanz is committed to ensuring an environment that provides equal opportunities and promotes diversity as well as a good balance between university and family life. As an equal opportunity employer, we strive to increase the number of women working in the field advertised (https://www.uni-konstanz.de/en/equalopportunities/equal-opportunity/). Persons with disabilities are explicitly encouraged to apply. They will be given preference if appropriately qualified (contact + 49 7531 88–4016).

Applications Deadline: 31-Jan-2022

Contact Information:
Tina Bögel
        Tina.Boegel@uni-konstanz.de