The Visual Language Lab within the Department of Communication and Cognition of the School of Humanities and Digital Sciences, Tilburg University, invites applications for a postdoctoral position with expertise in linguistic typology and corpus analysis. The successful candidate will join a diverse and international research team with Dr. Neil Cohn on the TINTIN Project funded by the European Research Council. This postdoctoral researcher will help analyze a cross-cultural corpus of annotated comics for the linguistic structure of their visual and multimodal properties. Our aims are to examine the corpus for typological trends of the visual structures themselves, and/or in relation to the typology of spoken or signed languages. Additional information about this research topic and research team can be found at www.visuallanguagelab.com/tintin.

The department of Communication and Cognition (DCC) studies cognitive and social aspects of human communication through a multidisciplinary approach combining careful experimentation with survey methods, corpus analyses and computational modeling. Core research domains include communication and technology, cross-cultural communication, information visualisation, marketing and business communication, language production, and non-verbal communication.

New media and other digital technologies play an increasingly important role in the research and teaching of the department. These technologies shape how we live, learn and work, and strongly influence how we communicate with colleagues, family and friends. Our research and teaching contributes to developing better digital communication systems, with applications in eHealth, affective computing, media, journalism and education.

• PhD degree (completed or to be defended) in corpus linguistics, cognitive science, computational linguistics, psycholinguistics, communication science, or a related field.
• Experience with analysis methods of corpus linguistics and linguistic typology.
• Expertise in statistical analysis, data science, and/or data modeling.
• An accessible attitude, can function well in a team, and can establish and maintain interpersonal relations, with excellent communication skills in English.
• Ability to take initiative, be organized, be flexible, and work independently
• Strongly motivated to carry out internationally competitive and cutting-edge research.
• An interest in comics, language, cognition, and/or visual media.

Language policy
The university is an international university, firmly anchored in the region and therefore bilingual. The language in teaching, research and of the academic community is English, based on 'inclusion'. In this way, international staff and students can also participate fully in the communication on our campus. Our employees are expected to meet the job’s language level. 

Fixed-term contract: 1 year with possible extension.

This is a position for 1.0 FTE (40 hours per week). Working hours can be flexible for caring responsibilities. This is a vacancy for a temporary position for the duration of 1 year, with the possibility of extension of 1 year.

Tilburg University offers excellent employment conditions with attention to flexibility and (personal) development and attractive fringe benefits. The salary amounts to a minimum of €2.960 and a maximum of €3.703 gross per month for full-time employment, based on UFO profile Researcher 4 and salary scale 10 of the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities. Tilburg University uses a neutral remuneration system for salary scaling that is based on work experience. 

You are entitled to a vacation allowance of 8% and a year-end bonus of 8.3% of your gross annual income. If you work 40 hours per week, you will receive 41 paid days of leave per year. 

Researchers from outside the Netherlands may qualify for a tax-free allowance of 30% of their taxable salary if they meet the relevant conditions. The university applies for this allowance on their behalf. All employees of the university are covered by the so-called General Pension Fund for Public Employers (Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP).  

We make clear agreements about career paths and offer all kinds of facilities and arrangement to maintain an optimal balance between work and private life. You can also follow numerous training courses, for example, in the areas of leadership skills, personal effectiveness, and career development. 

Tilburg University values an open and inclusive culture. We embrace diversity and encourage the mutual integration of groups of employees and students. We focus on creating equal opportunities for all our employees and students so that everyone feels at home in our university community. 

Tilburg University has a lively campus in beautiful green surroundings that is easily accessible by public transport. We are committed to a sustainable society and challenge you to make an active contribution.

Please visit working at Tilburg University for more information on our terms of employment. 

Tilburg University's motto is Understanding Society. Based on this vision, our more than 2,800 employees conduct research, inspire more than 20,000 students of 110 nationalities, and bring people from different disciplines and organizations together to learn from each other. In this way, we want to contribute to solving complex social issues. In doing so, we work from the fields of economics, business and entrepreneurship, social and behavioral sciences, law and public administration, humanities and digital sciences, and theology. We seek the connection between the various disciplines to find solutions to the major issues we face as a society. Our students are educated to become responsible and entrepreneurial thinkers, driven by solidarity, a sense of responsibility, and empathy, who are able to influence and give direction to a rapidly changing society in an innovative way. Tilburg University has a culture of collaboration and co-creation, at local, regional, national, and international level.