Uni-Tübingen

Stellenangebote

02.07.2025

PhD Positions in Linguistics (m/f/d, E13 TV-L, 75%)

Collaborative Research Center 1718 “Common Ground: Cognition – Grammar – Communication”

Bewerbungsfrist: 20.07.2025

The DFG-funded project in the newly established Collaborative Research Center (SFB 1718) “Common ground”, hosted by the University of Tübingen, is inviting applications for 2 PhD positions in Linguistics (75%, TV-L 13 scale, approximately €3.400 per month before taxes and obligatory insurances). Principal investigators are Asya Achimova and Gerhard Jäger.

PhD Positions in Linguistics (m/f/d, E13 TV-L, 75%)

The project begins on 01 October 2025 and ends on 30 June 2029.

The project combines experimental, developmental, and computational approaches to the study of irony. We will investigate how children acquire the ability to understand ironic utterances and how this understanding can be modeled with the tools of probabilistic pragmatics (e.g. RSA).

Project description

The ability to interpret ironic utterances is a linguistic skill that develops relatively late in the process of language acquisition and appears brittle under cognitive deficit. This project aims to investigate how speakers understand ironic utterances and how this ability develops in ontogeny. The project’s theory part is specifically devoted to developing a probabilistic model of how irony production and comprehension depend on the state of common ground. We plan to compare the echoic and pre-tense theories of irony comprehension, as well as their more recent development as a computational countersignaling theory of irony. On the empirical side, the project will contribute developmental data from typically developing children and adults.

  • Ph.D. project 1 will focus on the acquisition of irony in German-speaking children.
  • Ph.D. project 2 is devoted to developing a computational model of irony

What we offer

The Ph.D. candidate will gain experience in:

  • Designing psycholinguistic experiments
  • Computational modeling
  • Data processing and analysis
  • Presenting the results of their work at national and international conferences
  • Preparing research manuscripts for publication

Requirement

  • An M.A. or equivalent degree in linguistics, cognitive science, or related disciplines
  • Solid background in formal linguistics (semantics and pragmatics)
  • Lab experience with psycholinguistic or psychology experiments (for Ph.D. project 1)
  • Fluency in English (writing and speaking)
  • Fluency in German (for Ph.D. project 1)
  • Interest in computational modeling of pragmatic reasoning

Not necessary but highly welcome

  • Familiarity with experimental design and analysis in R
  • Programming skills (JavaScript, CSS, HTML) or willingness to acquire them

Application package:

  • A maximally two-page cover letter stating your research interests and motivation for this specific project. Please indicate which of the Ph.D. positions you are applying for.
  • An academic CV containing the email addresses of two referees
  • An academic writing sample in English (e.g. M.A. thesis)

Please send your application as a single file to Dr. Asya Achimova asya.achimovaspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de 

Application deadline: July 20, 2025, at 23:59 (Berlin time). Short-listed candidates will be invited for a Zoom-interview in the first week of August.

The university seeks to raise the number of women in research and teaching and therefore urges qualified women academics to apply for these positions. Equally qualified applicants with disabilities will be given preference.

Contact information
Dr. Asya Achimova
asya.achimovaspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de 
https://asya-achimova.github.io/ 

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