PhD Position: Multimodal Signalling and Processing in Face-to-face Communication at the Donders Centre for Cognition

Employment 1.0 FTE

Gross monthly salary € 2,872 - € 3,670

Required background Research University Degree

Organizational unit Faculty of Social Sciences

Application deadline 12 January 2025

How do we communicate our intentions to one another in conversational face-to-face interaction? What role do visual bodily signals play in this process, and how do they interact with linguistic and prosodic structures? The Donders Centre for Cognition (PI group of Dr. J. Holler) is looking for a PhD candidate on a new collaborative project that seeks answers to these exciting questions.

You will work on a collaborative project using corpus analyses to investigate how participants in conversational interaction make their intentions clear through visual signals (using the face, head, gaze and/or hands) in conjunction with linguistic structures and prosody. The project also investigates how the contribution of visual signals, words and prosody are processed during comprehension (using experimental behavioural and EEG paradigms, including interactive settings). You will be involved in both the corpus and the experimental work.

You will be based in Nijmegen, where you will join the Communication in Social Interaction group headed by Dr Judith Holler (www.cosilab.nl), but you will form part of a larger team involving members with different expertise, partly located at different universities (Dr Kendrick, York University (UK); Prof. Grice, Cologne University (Germany); Prof. Swerts/Dr Peeters, Tilburg University (NL); Dr Linda Drijvers, Radboud University). You will be expected to travel to these locations for workshops, research visits and training. 

In addition to writing your thesis, you will disseminate the project findings through scientific journal articles, presentations at conferences, group and project meetings, as well as through public engagement events and writing for non-academic audiences. You will spend about 10% of your time (0.1 FTE) assisting with teaching at our department.

Profile

• You should have a Master's degree in a relevant discipline, such as linguistics, psycholinguistics or cognitive science.
• You have a keen interest in, and knowledge of, multimodal language, including visual and linguistic conversational behaviour, and/or prosody, ideally in connection with intention/social action communication. Direct research experience in these domains is an advantage, as is a combination of those skills and experiences.
• You have experimental experience and excellent statistical skills.
• You have strong communication skills in English.
• You enjoy communicating and collaborating in a team.
• You are able to work under guidance but also independently when needed.
• You have excellent time management and organisational skills.
• Proficiency in Dutch is a clear advantage.

We are

The Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour is a world-class interfaculty research centre that houses more than 700 researchers devoted to understanding the mechanistic underpinnings of the human mind. Research at the Donders Institute is focused around four themes: 1. Language and communication, 2. Perception, action and control, 3. Plasticity and memory, 4. Neural computation and neurotechnology. Excellent, state-of-the-art research facilities are available for the broad range of neuroscience research that is being conducted at the Donders Institute. The Donders Institute has been assessed by an international evaluation committee as ‘excellent’ and recognised as a ‘very stimulating environment for top researchers, as well as for young talent’. The Donders Institute fosters a collaborative, multidisciplinary and supportive research environment with a diverse international staff. English is the lingua franca at the Institute.

Radboud University

At Radboud University, we aim to make an impact through our work. We achieve this by conducting groundbreaking research, providing high-quality education, offering excellent support, and fostering collaborations within and outside the university. In doing so, we contribute indispensably to a healthy, free world with equal opportunities for all. To accomplish this, we need even more colleagues who, based on their expertise, are willing to search for answers. We advocate for an inclusive community and welcome employees with diverse backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives. Will you also contribute to making the world a little better? You have a part to play.

If you want to learn more about working at Radboud University, follow our Instagram account and read stories from our colleagues.

Faculty of Social Sciences
At the Faculty of Social Sciences, humanity and society are our focus; we study how people behave, think and feel. Within this context, we look at themes such as human behaviour and the human psyche, education and upbringing, communication, society and culture. The faculty provides education to 6,000 students and employs 700 staff. Education is organised into six programme clusters: Psychology; Artificial Intelligence; Pedagogical Sciences and Educational Sciences; Communication Science; Sociology; and Cultural Anthropology and Developmental Sociology, and the Radboud Centre Social Sciences as an institute for post-master education have been merged into the Social Sciences Education Institute. Our research is carried out within three research institutes: the Donders Centre for Cognition, the Behavioural Science Institute, and Radboud Social Cultural Research.

We offer

• We will give you a temporary employment contract (1.0 FTE) of 1,5 years, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, your contract will be extended by 2.5 years (4-year contract).     
• You will receive a starting salary of €2,872 gross per month based on a 38-hour working week, which will increase to €3,670 in the fourth year (salary scale P).
• You will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8,3% end-of-year bonus. 
• You will be able to use our Dual Career and Family Support Service. The Dual Career Programme assists your partner via support, tools, and resources to improve their chances of independently finding employment in the Netherlands. Our Family Support Service helps you and your partner feel welcome and at home by providing customised assistance in navigating local facilities, schools, and amenities. Also take a look at our support for international staff page to discover all our services for international employees.
• You will receive extra days off. With full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the statutory 20. 

Additional employment conditions

Work and science require good employment practices. Radboud University's primary and secondary employment conditions reflect this. You can make arrangements for the best possible work-life balance with flexible working hours, various leave arrangements and working from home. You are also able to compose part of your employment conditions yourself. For example, exchange income for extra leave days and receive a reimbursement for your sports membership. In addition, you receive a 34% discount on the sports and cultural activities at Radboud University as an employee. And, of course, we offer a good pension plan. We also give you plenty of room and responsibility to develop your talents and realise your ambitions. Therefore, we provide various training and development schemes.

Practical information and applying

You can apply only via the button below. Address your letter of application to Dr Judith Holler. In the application form, you will find which documents you need to include with your application.

The first interviews will take place on Monday 27 January. You will preferably start your employment on 1 September 2025.
We can imagine you're curious about our application procedure. It describes what you can expect during the application procedure and how we handle your personal data and internal and external candidates. 

Application deadline 12 January 2025

We would like to recruit our new colleague ourselves. Acquisition in response to this vacancy will not be appreciated.

Would you like more information?

Dr J.A.M. Holler (Judith)

judith.holler@ru.nl