[PLing] 5 Phd and Postdoc Research Positions in Theoretical Linguistics: SFB Graz, Salzburg, Vienna

[Daniel Büring]

Dear friends and colleagues,

with apologies for double postings.


The newly funded Spezialforschungsbereich (SFB) ‘Language Between 
Redundancy and Deficiency’ is seeking to hire a number of pre- and 
post-docs for up to four year positions, starting in March 2024, or as 
soon as possible thereafter. The SFB consists of nine subprojects in the 
areas of syntax, morphology and semantics, investigating the interface 
of the symbolic system of grammar and the stochastic cognitive system. 
The focus of the first four years will be on pronouns, their structure, 
feature content and interpretation. The SFB involves PIs from 
Departments of Linguistics, German Studies, Romance Studies and Slavic 
Studies.

List of subprojects:

     • Grammatical Gender in Discourse and Grammar, Edgar Onea, Graz
     • Mismatches in Binding and Coreference, Susanne Wurmbrand, Salzburg
     • The Role of self in Pronominal Coreference, Boban Arsenijević, Graz
     • The (Non-)Deficiency and (Non-)Redundancy of Clitic Pronouns, 
Dalina Kallulli, Vienna
     • Deficiency and Redundancy in Ibero-Romance Pronominal Systems, 
Albert Wall, Vienna
     • Fading Reference – The Pragmaticalization of Pronoun + Verb, 
Eva-Maria Remberger, Vienna
     • Animacy Features and the Flexibility of Pronouns, Steffen 
Heidinger, Graz
     • Deficiency and Redundancy in Expressing Temporal Relations, 
Daniel Büring, Vienna



The subprojects are connected under the SFB umbrella project, and there 
will be collaborations among the subprojects, but applications should be 
submitted for a specific subproject.

We seek excellent early-career researchers with a strong background in 
theoretical linguistics. Applicants should have MA/PhD degrees in  
linguistics with specializations as detailed below. The SFB will provide 
an active and lively research environment with inter-university 
collaborations as well as ties to the local research communities, and an 
intellectually open, inclusive and flexible work environment at three 
leading Austrian universities. International applicants are encouraged, 
knowledge of German is not a prerequisite. Payment and benefits are as 
specified in the Austrian Kollektivvertrag for public employees; in 
addition, the SFB provides funds for travel, conferences, workshops and 
networking activities.

We are looking forward to receiving your application (in English). 
Applications should include the following documents:
     • Cover letter/statement of interest
     • CV
     • Written academic paper (thesis, other qualifying paper, publication)
     • Copies of degree certificates
     • Addresses of potential recommenders or, optional: letters of 
recommendation

Unless indicated otherwise please submit the documents as a PDF-file,  
or several PDFs  merged in one zip-file.

Application Deadline: Unless noted otherwise below, reviewing of 
applications will begin immediately, but positions will remain open 
until filled.



Administrative Subproject:
PI: Edgar Onea
Location: Graz, Department of German Studies
1 Postdoc position

The administrative subproject combines scientific support for the SFB as 
a whole with administrative support. We are looking for a postdoc 
researcher who combines a strong scientific background, especially in 
the domain of experimental methods and statistics, with strong 
administrative skills and who potentially aspires for a career in 
research management. Tasks: Ensuring smooth administrative processes, 
such as finances, controlling, archiving, communication,
travel etc. Organizing events including workshops, retreats, internal 
meetings of the SFB, guest cooperation partner visits. Administrative 
support in employment processes, delegation of cross-subproject tasks, 
including administrative help for existing SFB staff. Ensuring open 
access availability for SFB publications and data. Coordinating and 
arranging consultations related to establishing and maintaining a gender 
equitable work environment. Facilitating the SFB’s public relations 
efforts by developing press releases, and by creating and supervising 
the SFB website and social media appearances.  Acting as a central 
anchor for data-management related issues including central data-storage 
and organization of access to data across subprojects. Conducting an 
internal review of planned experiments in order to maximize synergy, 
e.g., by merging several empirical studies into one larger study or 
including questions of one study as distractors for another. 
Coordinating IT and technical support for empirical studies within the 
SFB. Providing statistical support for empirical studies.  Contributing 
to the synthesis of an overall theory of redundancy and deficiency in 
language.
For the successful candidate excellent command of German and English and 
a good knowledge (or the ability to quickly acquire good knowledge) of 
the Austrian educational system and legal framework of the FWF is 
mandatory. A PhD is required for this position, a PhD in linguistics is 
preferable but not mandatory. More details for this position can be 
found on the website of the University of Graz. Application for this 
position needs to be submitted over the following website: 
https://jobs.uni-graz.at/de/jobs See application deadline there.


Subproject: Grammatical gender in discourse and grammar
PI: Edgar Onea
Location: Graz, Department of German Studies
1  PhD position  (predoc, 75%)

The subproject investigates the pragmatic meaning of grammatical gender 
on pronouns in German as a contribution to the structuring of discourse 
referents, from a cross-modal perspective, on par with referential loci 
in German Sign Language (DGS). The goal of the subproject is to provide 
a theory of gender, focusing on cases of redundant and deficient gender 
representation as revealed by the analysis of gender mismatches in 
anaphoric pronouns. The main tasks are: research on the syntax, 
semantics and pragmatics of discourse anaphora in German and DGS, gender 
assignment, including publication and planning and conducting 
psycholinguistic experiments, participation and regular presentations in 
weekly meetings, literature surveys and summaries, supervision of 
student assistants. Applicants should have interests in the topic, solid 
training in theoretical linguistics, especially in formal semantics 
(ideally expertise in dynamic semantics, DRT and situation semantics), 
experimental methods, programming and statistics (at least linear mixed 
models, ideally also Bayesian statistics), and show initiative and 
strong research skills.




Subproject: Mismatches in binding and coreference
PI: Susanne Wurmbrand
Location: Salzburg, Department of Linguistics
1 Post-doctoral position
1 (possibly 2) PhD positions (predoc, 75%)

This subproject investigates the syntax, morphology, and semantics of 
features in pronominal contexts, with special focus on fake indexicals 
and covariance without binding. The Post-doctoral and PhD students will 
be expected to work predominantly on the various phenomena of this 
subproject. But since the SFB subprojects are connected under the goals 
of the SFB umbrella, there will also be several collaborations with 
other subprojects. In particular, this subproject is part of the SFB’s 
theory task force, and therefore close interactions with the other 
subprojects will be established. The main tasks are: research, 
participation and regular presentations in weekly meetings, literature 
surveys and summaries, (supervision of) data collection, administrative 
duties, supervision of student assistants and, for the Post-doc, some 
supervision of the PhD students. Applicants should have interests in the 
topics, solid training in theoretical linguistics, and show initiative 
and strong research skills.

Please send full applications including at least one letter of 
recommendation and an indication of your earliest start time to Susanne 
Wurmbrand, susi at alum.mit.edu.



Subproject: The role of self in pronominal reference
PI: Boban Arsenijević
Location: Graz, Department of Slavic Studies
2 PhD positions  (predoc, 75%)


The topic of the subproject are the syntax and semantics of intensified 
pronouns, as in Even he himself was not sure, with a special regard to 
reflexivity, in a formal linguistic and typological perspective. The aim 
of the project is to contribute to a general theory of redundant and 
deficient operations in grammar. An ideal candidate would master at 
least one of domains in each A, B and C below. One of the candidates 
will be expected to do research on one or more Dravidian languages.
A. Language levels:
• Semantics and its interface with syntax
• Syntax and morphosyntax
B. Linguistic approaches:
• Formal linguistics
• Linguistic typology (acquaintance with Dravidian languages is a plus)
C. Methods:
• Experimental research in linguistics
• Work with informants
For more information please contact the PI at: boban.arsenijevic at uni-graz.at
Applications should be sent to boban.arsenijevic at uni-graz.at



Subproject: The (Non-)Deficiency and (Non-)Redundancy of Clitic Pronouns
PI: Dalina Kallulli
Location: Vienna, Department of Linguistics
2 PhD positions  (predoc, 75%), and 1 Postdoc

The successful candidates will do research in a project on the 
morphosyntax and semantics of clitic, null, and other (arguably 
deficient) pronoun-like elements, including subject-verb agreement, in a 
formal linguistic typological perspective. Applicants should have a 
solid background in theoretical linguistics, preferably with a 
specialisation in (morpho-)syntax and/or comparative linguistics. As one 
of the foci of the project will be on object agreement (alongside 
subject agreement), we especially encourage submissions from people who 
have previously worked on, and/or with speakers of, one or more such 
languages (e.g. Bantu, Basque, Georgian, Hungarian, etc.).
The successful candidates will be expected to contribute to the project 
work, including publications and conference participation, assist in 
organisational matters, and (for the PhD positions) complete a PhD 
dissertation at the University of Vienna under the supervision of the PI 
during the four years of the program.
For more information please contact the PI at: dalina.kallulli at univie.ac.at
Applications, including an indication of your earliest starting date, 
should also be sent to dalina.kallulli at univie.ac.at


Subproject: Deficiency and Redundancy in Ibero-Romance Pronominal Systems
PI: Albert Wall
Location: Vienna, Department of Romance Studies
2 PhD positions (predoc, 75%)

The successful candidates will work on clitic doubling and/or null 
objects in varieties of Spanish and/or Portuguese, studying the 
micro-variation within and between these varieties comparatively with 
experimental methods. The over-arching goal of the project is to develop 
explicit accounts which link stochastic/variational data to symbolic 
systems of grammar based on the SFB’s theory of deficiency and redundancy.
Applicants should have an interest in the topic(s), show initiative and 
have excellent command of Spanish and/or Portuguese (ideally both), as 
well as a solid background in empirical and/or theoretical comparative 
Ibero-romance linguistics, ideally with a specialization in experimental 
methods.
The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to the project 
work, including publications and conference participation, assist in 
organizational matters, and complete a PhD dissertation at the 
university of Vienna during the four years of the program.
For more information please contact the PI (albert.wall at univie.ac.at).
Applications should also be sent to albert.wall at univie.ac.at


Subproject: Fading reference – the pragmaticalization of pronoun + verb
PI: Eva-Maria Remberger
Location: Vienna, Department of Romance Studies
1 PhD position  (predoc, 75%)

The successful candidate will do research in a project on the 
development of highly frequent pronoun-verb-combinations in Italian in 
order to investigate their grammar at the interfaces to pragmatics. An 
excellent or near native language competence in Italian is expected. 
Applicants should have a solid background in theoretical linguistics, 
preferably with a specialization in Italian morphosyntax, including the 
interfaces to pragmatics. Experience in corpus and field research as 
well as a solid knowledge of formal semantics and pragmatics would be a 
plus.
The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to the project 
work, including publications and conference participation, assist in 
organizational matters, and complete a PhD dissertation at the 
university of Vienna during the four years of the program.
For more information please contact the PI 
(eva-maria.remberger at univie.ac.at).
Applications should also be sent to eva-maria.remberger at univie.ac.at




Subproject: Animacy features and the flexibility of pronouns
PI: Steffen Heidinger
Location: Graz, Department of Romance Studies
1 Post-doctoral position

This subproject investigates the animacy features of French personal 
pronouns against the background of the SFB's umbrella topic. Applicants 
have a doctorate degree in French, Romance, or General linguistics (with 
a focus on French), excellent knowledge of French, demonstrable 
experience in the field of experimental linguistics, interest in 
connecting empirical and theoretical research questions, excellent 
knowledge of English (allowing for presentation and publication 
activities). The main tasks of the successful candidate are: independent 
planning, implementation and analysis of experimental studies on animacy 
restrictions for French personal pronouns; contribution to a joint 
comparative analysis of French and Spanish with the PI; presentation and 
publication activities to disseminate the subproject's results; 
organization of thematic reading and discussion groups within the SFB, 
and collaboration in the organization of scientific events of the SFB.
For more information please contact the PI at: steffen.heidinger at uni-graz.at
Applications (with an indication of earliest start time) should be sent 
to steffen.heidinger at uni-graz.at



Subproject:  Deficiency and Redundancy in Expressing Temporal Relations
PI: Daniel Büring
Location: Vienna, Department of Linguistics
2 PhD positions  (predoc, 75%)

The subproject will do research on the formal semantics of tense and 
aspect, including temporal anaphora and temporal quantification. 
Applicants should have a solid background in theoretical linguistics, 
preferably with a specialization in formal semantics and/or comparative 
linguistics. As the project will have one focus on tense-less languages, 
we especially encourage submission by people who have previously done 
work on, and with speakers of, one or more tense-less languages (e.g. 
Guarani, Mandarin, Maya, Thai, Vietnamese etc.).
The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to the project 
work, including publications and conference participation, assist in 
organizational matters, and complete a PhD dissertation at the 
university of Vienna during the four years of the project.
Contact for further information: Daniel Büring (daniel.buring at univie.ac.at)
Applications should be sent to daniel.buring at univie.ac.at

-- 
-----------------------------------------
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Daniel Büring
Institut für Sprachwissenschaft/Department of Linguistics
Universität Wien
Sensengasse 3a, 1090 Wien/Vienna (Austria), Raum O6.05
+43 1    4277 41710
homepage.univie.ac.at/daniel.buring/
daniel.buring at univie.ac.at
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