Student Assistant position in the Multimodal Language Department

Job description

We are seeking one student assistant to help with the Department’s research on multimodal language use in Zoom interactions and how interactants reach mutual understanding and alignment in different Zoom set ups. The assistant will assist with recruiting participants, helping with setting up the experiment in Zoom, and annotating the interactions in speech (Dutch) and gesture. The position would suit a bachelor or master student with an interest in a career in research in language, communication, cognitive science, and education.

 

Activities

• Recruiting participants (university students)

• Assist with creating and conducting lab-based studies with Zoom

• Coding, transcribing, and analyzing the multimodal interaction data

 

Requirements

• Native or near-native speaker of Dutch

• Fluency in spoken English

• A relevant Bachelor’s or Master’s study (e.g. Psychology, Linguistics, Cognitive Science, Cognitive Neuroscience, or a related discipline)

• Excellent attention to detail and organizational skills

• Experience with running experimental or observational studies with adults preferably on topics related to language is an advantage, so is experience with the use of PRAAT and/or ELAN (however, training will be provided for all tasks)

• Flexible availability

 

What we offer you

• Position for 1 year with a possibility of extension after a 6-month review

• Between 16 and 19 hours per week (set according to the student’s study schedule)

• An hourly rate of 13.95 Euro (12 Euro without a Bachelor’s degree)

 

Application procedure

To apply for the student assistant position, please use our application portal here.



Applications should include:

1. A cover letter outlining your motivation to apply and detailing how you fit the requirements above;

2. A current CV, listing relevant experience.

3. The names and contact details of one or two referees (referees will not be contacted unless you are invited to interview).



 

The employer

About our institute

The Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Psycholinguistics is a world-leading research institute devoted to interdisciplinary studies of the science of language and communication, including departments on genetics, psychology, development, neurobiology and multimodality of these fundamental human abilities.

We investigate how children and adults acquire their language(s), how speaking and listening happen in real time, how the brain processes language, how the human genome contributes to building a language-ready brain, how multiple modalities (as in speech, gesture and sign) shape language and its use in diverse languages and how language is related to cognition and culture, and shaped by evolution.

We are part of the Max Planck Society, an independent non-governmental association of German-funded research institutes dedicated to fundamental research in the natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities.

The Max Planck Society is an equal opportunities employer. We recognize the positive value of diversity and inclusion, promote equity and challenge discrimination. We aim to provide a working environment with room for differences, where everyone feels a sense of belonging. Therefore, we welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates.

Our institute is situated on the campus of the Radboud University and has close collaborative links with the  Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior and the Centre for Language Studies at the Radboud University.  We also work closely with other child development researchers as part of the Baby & Child Research Center.

Staff and students at the MPI have access to state-of-the-art research and training facilities.

About the Multimodal Language Department

The Multimodal Language Department in particular aims to understand the cognitive and social foundations of the human ability for language and its evolution by focusing on its multimodal aspect and crosslinguistic diversity. The research at the department combines multiple methods including corpus and computational linguistics, psycho- and neuro-linguistics, machine learning, AI and virtual reality, and is concerned with various populations ranging from speakers of signed and spoken languages, young and older subjects from typical and atypical populations. The department provides opportunities for training in a range of linguistic, conversational state of the art multimodal language analysis (such as motion capture and automatic speech recognition), as well as neuropsychological, psychological methods related to multimodal language and frequent research and public engagement meetings, and support from an excellent team of researchers in linguistics and psycholinguistics.