Native Dutch speaking Student Assistant

Job description

We are seeking a native Dutch speaking student assistant to help with the Department’s research on investigating multimodal behavior in different embodiments including Social Robots and Virtual Agents. The successful candidate will assist with lab-based studies with adult participants, and with annotating language and communicative behavior in human-human and human-agent interactions. The position would suit a student with an interest in research on multimodal language, human-robot interactions, or related fields in an interdisciplinary setup. 

Activities

• Assisting with experimental data collection for studies on human-robot interaction. 
• Annotating and transcribing observational and experimental data (speech and visual signals).
• Creating and pre-testing stimulus materials.
• Scheduling participants and running lab-based studies with adults.
• Assisting with everyday lab business (e.g. participant recruitment).

Requirements

Essential

• Native Dutch speaker.
• Good fluency in spoken and written English.
• A relevant Bachelor’s and/or Master’s degree (e.g. Psychology, Linguistics, Cognitive Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, Computer Science or related fields).
• Excellent attention to detail and organizational skills.
• Good time management skills.
• Flexible availability.

Desirable

• Experience with running experimental or observational studies with adults and/or artificial agents such as robots or virtual avatars, preferably on topics related to language and multimodal behavior.
• Experience with PRAAT and/or ELAN (however, training will be provided for all tasks).

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).
• The salary is € 13.95 gross per hour (with Bachelor's degree) and € 12.41 gross per hour (€ 13.27 gross per hour from 21 years and older) (without Bachelor's degree). 

Application procedure

Please submit your application directly via this link on our recruitment portal.

Applications should include:

• A cover letter outlining your motivation to apply and detailing how you fit the requirements above.
• A current CV listing relevant experience.
• The names and contact details of two referees (referees will not be contacted unless you are invited to interview).

The employer

About our institute

The Max Planck Institute 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 Behaviour and the Centre for Language Studies at 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 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 and research in a range of linguistic, conversational state of the art multimodal language research and analysis (such as VR, AI, motion capture and automatic kinematic and speech recognition), as well as neuropsychological, psychological methods related to multimodal language with support from an excellent team of international and diverse researchers (international, deaf and hearing) in linguistics and psycholinguistics.