Postdoc in Neurolinguistics (0.8 FTE)

Founded in 1614, the University of Groningen enjoys an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative institution of higher education offering high-quality teaching and research. Flexible study programmes and academic career opportunities in a wide variety of disciplines encourage the 37,000 students and researchers alike to develop their own individual talents. As one of the best research universities in Europe, the University of Groningen has joined forces with other top universities and networks worldwide to become a truly global centre of knowledge.

Faculty of Arts
The Faculty of Arts is built on a long-standing tradition of four centuries. Our mission is to be a top-ranking faculty with both an excellent education and world-quality research, with a strong international orientation, firmly rooted in the North of the Netherlands. We build and share knowledge benefits to society. We work at a modern, broad and international institution, educating over 5000 Dutch and international students to become forward-looking, articulate and independent academics. We form a hardworking and diverse team of 700 staff members.

In the context of the project Language assessment during Deep Brain Stimulation surgery (Awarded grant: NWO Open Competition Domain Social Sciences and Humanities XS, 406.XS.01.050) the Center for Language and Cognition Groningen has a vacant 0.8FTE (research) position for 7 months with a flexible starting date in September-November 2023.

What are you going to do?

You will study the language capacities of people with movement disorders (Parkinson’s disease, Essential Tremor). You will collect new data and/or analyze retrospective behavioral data (e.g., verbal fluency, semi-semi spontaneous speech) from a neurolinguistics perspective. The focus is on perioperative behavioral assessments, but opportunities for intraoperative assessment and use of neuroimaging methods (e.g., structural MRI, tractography) may be possible. Your research will be part of the Center for Language and Cognition Groningen. You will become a member of the Neurolinguistics team (https://www.rug.nl/staff/departments/11260). Your principal investigator will be Dr Adrià Rofes (https://www.adriarofes.com).

Tasks and responsibilities:

- conducting independent research on the assessment of language impairments in people with movement disorders
- collecting new data or working with retrospective data collected in Groningen or other Dutch/Belgian institutions
- participating in administrative work relevant to the grant (e.g., discussing reports with PI, applying for modifications to ethics approval and/or data management plan)
- participating in weekly Neurolinguistics meetings at the University of Groningen
- attending at least one national/international conference to present preliminary results of the project and/or related work to this project
- participating in the writing of at least one peer-reviewed publication relevant to the results of the project and/or a related work to this project
- participating in the writing of at least one popular science article relevant to the results of the project and/or a related work to this project.

What do you have to offer?

You are an ambitious researcher with a strong profile, peer-reviewed publications in the specific topic or related topics in linguistics/neuropsychology (e.g., clinical linguistics, psycholinguistics, computational linguistics). Your publications show broad knowledge of current developments in the field of language disorders in adults and/or children. You are familiar with administering language tests for language purposes; some analysis methods of total scores, psycholinguistic variables, and quantitative analyses of spontaneous speech; can perform parametric analyses at the group level, and are open to learn statistical methods to analyze data at the single level (e.g., modified t-tests). You are willing to travel to collect data and/or stay in another Dutch/Belgian institution for a maximum of 2-3 weeks.

- You hold a PhD in (Neuro)linguistics, Psychology, Cognitive Science, or similar discipline
- You have previous publications that demonstrate your research skills
- Your research output is equivalent to the level of the position
- You can navigate academic/hospital atmospheres (e.g., reporting results to other researchers, working with neuropsychologists or other clinicians)
- You demonstrate motivation and ability to seek further funding
- Your level of Dutch is sufficient to administer language tasks and analyze results
- Your level of English is sufficient to write academic articles and present your work.

We offer you in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities:

● a salary, depending on qualifications and work experience, between € 2,960 and € 3,974 gross per month
● a holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income
● an 8.3% end-of-the-year allowance
● a temporary 0.8 FTE appointment for a specified period of 7 months.
● excellent work-life balance
● a postdoctoral research position for 7 months. The time should be dedicated to work on the project, but we already encourage you to also use this time to find your next position. We will provide support (e.g., comment on drafts, brainstorming ideas), if you want to apply for a postdoctoral position in collaboration with our group.

For more detailed information about working conditions and working for the University of Groningen, please check: https://www.rug.nl/about-us/work-with-us/

For more detailed information about working conditions and working for the University of Groningen, please check: https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/work-with-us/new-staff/

Starting date: The starting date is anytime between September-November 2023