日内瓦大学（法文：Université de Genève），位于瑞士联邦日内瓦，是一所知名公立大学，国际公立大学论坛、欧洲研究型大学联盟、科英布拉集团成员。（软科世界大学学术2021排名第60名，泰晤士高等教育世界大学2022排名第197名，QS世界大学2022排名第105名，U.S. News世界大学2022排名第101名）

Duties: Research Project Work

Specialty Areas: Semantics; Syntax; Morphology, Pragmatics, Experimental Linguistics
Required Language(s): English (eng)
French (fra)
German (deu)
Italian (ita)
Germanic
Romance

Description:

The department of linguistics at the university of Geneva invites application for a three-year PhD position starting on Sept. 1, 2023. This full-time research position is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) on the project entitled “indexicals, binding and presupposition: towards a typology and a theory of bound indexicals” led by Isabelle Charnavel.

The goal of the project is to contribute to the analysis of indexicals by investigating the case of indexical binding (e.g. "Only I did my homework" meaning that nobody else did theirs). Bound indexicals have been mainly examined in English under morphosyntactic accounts relying on binding and feature transmission or under semantic accounts based on focus and presupposition weakening. But both approaches face empirical and theoretical issues. The specific aim of the project is to address these issues by first undertaking a systematic and large-scale investigation of the properties of indexical binding in a sample of languages (English, German, French, Italian) differing with respect to crucially relevant morphosyntactic properties.

The postholder will work under the supervision of the Principal Investigator (Isabelle Charnavel) with the rest of the research team (including a post-doctoral researcher and two research assistants) to:
- design large-scale questionnaires to test the relevant properties of indexical binding in one language family (preferably the Romance branch: French, Italian);
- develop an analysis of bound indexicals taking into account both the previous literature and the new experimental data. This work is expected to lead to completion of a dissertation as well as international publications by the end of the project.

The ideal candidate is expected to have a master degree in formal linguistics (ideally specializing in semantics and syntax), as well as:
- the motivation and qualifications for acquiring the competence to deal with the semantic-pragmatic and morphosyntactic literature on (bound) indexicals,
- experience or interest in experimental testing of crosslinguistic data;
- skill and interest in careful and detailed empirical investigation;
- willingness and ability to work both in collaboration and independently;
- some mastery of the languages of investigation (ideally, but not necessarily, a native competence of Italian or French).

This is a full-time, one-year renewable contract (up to 3 or potentially 4 years) with a compensation salary of around 48000 CHF/year. Employment should start on September 1, 2023 or as soon as possible thereafter as mutually agreed. The position remains open until filled. For full consideration please submit your application by March 10, 2023.

To apply, please send your application to project.indexicals@gmail.com including:
- your CV;
- a cover letter briefly explaining your motivation and your experience in relation to the project;
- the contact information for up to three referees (who may be contacted at a later stage);
- one or two writing samples (e.g. Master's thesis).
Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed shortly after the initial deadline.

Contact Information:
Isabelle Charnavel
isabelle.charnavel@unige.ch