Oferta de trabajo

The Institute of Romance Philology at the Department of Philosophy and Humanities of the Free University of Berlin is currently seeking to fill a Doctoral Researcher Position (m/f/d) in the ERC-funded research project "Experimental replication of historical reanalysis processes" (EXREAN), starting as soon as possible. This is a fixed-term position until March 31, 2029. Salary is determined following the salary scale E 13 according to German TVL (75%).

EXREAN investigates reanalysis, the process by which speakers assign a new meaning to a superficially unchanged element, in Romance languages (French, Italian, Spanish). Reanalysis presents several methodological difficulties for researchers in the field of historical linguistics. Evidence of language change is often determined by comparing language use over time across different historical texts. Reanalysis, however, is a cognitive process and its existence is thus very difficult to prove using written texts. Analyzing language usage in historical texts can only provide limited information about the conditions under which reanalysis takes place.

The EXREAN project is the first of its kind to systematically examine reanalysis in a laboratory setting. It brings together and integrates insights from historical linguistics, psycholinguistics, and social psychology. In particular, it investigates the linguistic and social factors necessary for reanalysis to occur.

For more information, please visit https://www.geisteswissenschaften.fu-berlin.de/en/v/exrean/index.html (de/en).

Your tasks:

• You will conduct research investigating grammaticalization in one or more Romance languages, with the aim of obtaining a PhD;
• You will collaborate with the researchers in the EXREAN project;
• You will help with administrative tasks in the EXREAN project (dissemination, experiment design, etc.).

Formal requirements:

You have earned a Master degree in Romance linguistics or a related field.

Your ideal profile:

• Excellent knowledge of modern linguistic theory with a focus on historical linguistics
• Excellent knowledge of grammatical and pragmatic theories
• Excellent knowledge of corpus linguistic methods and experience in this area
• Excellent knowledge of one or more Romance languages​​(linguistic description and practical language skills)
• Openness to conducting or learning about relevant experimental research
• Basic statistical analysis skills in R or openness to learning about appropriate statistical analyses

Further information is available from Prof. Dr. Malte Rosemeyer (malte.rosemeyer@fu-berlin.de/ +49 30 838 60570).

Additional information:

Applications must be sent electronically by email to Prof. Dr. Malte Rosemeyer: romphil@zedat.fu-berlin.de, using the identifier ERC-PhD-Ros. The application should minimally include

• a proposal (1 page) for your PhD project about grammaticalization in one or more Romance languages in the context of the EXREAN project
• a CV
• copies of all relevant degree certificates

Please send all documents as a single PDF.

By submitting an online application, you as the applicant agree that your data will be processed and stored electronically. We would like to point out that Freie Universität Berlin cannot guarantee the security of transmitted personal data if your application is sent electronically without protection.