Doctoral researcher position: FILLED
Applications are invited for a Research Assistant position in the ERC-funded project “Discourse reporting in African storytelling” (PI: Tatiana Nikitina). The assistant will be a full time member of the project, and should expect to divide their time between project-related tasks and work on their individual doctoral research project. Preference will be given to projects involving the study of aspects of discourse reporting in one or more under-described African languages; candidates planning to conduct their own fieldwork are especially encouraged to apply.
The position is for two years, renewable for another year upon budgetary approval. The salary is between 1600 and 1750 euros per month depending on experience and qualifications; standard social security benefits included.
The position is funded by a grant from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. The researcher will be affiliated with LLACAN, a vibrant community of experts in African languages and linguistics. LLACAN is located in the southern suburbs of Paris (reachable by metro and other public transport). More information about the project can be found here.
Requirements:
- an MA degree in Linguistics or a related field by the start date;
- not yet enrolled in a doctoral program but willing to do doctoral-level research;
- ready to relocate to France (or already living in France);
- ability and willingness to work in a team, and to spend some of their time on various project-related tasks;
- previous experience with ELAN and/or computational skills will be considered a strong advantage.
Applicants should submit a single .pdf file containing the following items:
- a letter of motivation;
- a curriculum vitae;
- a research proposal on a topic relevant to the project (up to 2 pages);
- up to two publication samples or recent drafts (including the MA thesis if available);
- the names and addresses of three referees willing to provide a confidential reference letter upon request;
- an MA transcript or a statement on courses taken.
The review of applications will begin on August 31, 2019. The position’s preferred starting date is January 5, 2020 (negotiable).
Email address for applications: tatiana.nikitina@cnrs.fr (please include “RA search 2019” in the subject line)
Further inquiries can be sent to: Tatiana Nikitina, tavnik@gmail.com
2
Doctoral researcher positions: FILLED
Applications are invited for a position of Research Assistant in the ERC-funded project “Discourse reporting in African storytelling” (PI: Tatiana Nikitina). The assistant is expected to collect and analyze data in one or more languages that are of interest to the project, develop an annotated corpus of narrative texts, and possibly conduct their own fieldwork to explore various aspects of discourse reporting in the language(s) in question. Candidates who have recently received an MA degree or are currently in their last year of an MA program are especially encouraged to apply, with the view of developing a project that will lead them to pursue a PhD degree. Preference will be given to candidates who are able to demonstrate serious interest in developing a proposal for a PhD thesis.
The position is funded by a grant from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 758232). It focuses on different aspects of the grammar of speech reporting constructions and their use in narrative discourse. We are especially interested in African languages as well as Turkic languages spoken in Russia. You can read more about the project here. The researcher will be affiliated with LLACAN, a vibrant community of experts in African languages and linguistics. LLACAN is conveniently located in the southern suburbs of Paris (reachable by metro and other public transport).
The position is for two years, renewable upon budgetary approval. The salary is between 1600 and 1750 euros per month depending on experience and qualifications; standard social benefits are included. We also provide funding for fieldwork and conference travel, shared office space and technical support.
Requirements:
- an MA degree in Linguistics or Anthropology (or expect to have successfully defended prior to joining the project);
- fluent English and at least minimal knowledge of French (or willingness to learn French);
- ability and willingness to work in a team;
- willingness to pursue a PhD degree with a project-related topic (strongly preferred);
- previous fieldwork experience and willingness to conduct own fieldwork (strongly preferred);
- previous experience with ELAN/Toolbox and Praat and/or computational skills (strongly preferred).
Applicants should submit a single .pdf file containing the following items:
- a cover letter;
- a curriculum vitae;
- a research proposal on any aspect of speech reporting related to the project (see the project description);
- up to two publication samples or recent drafts (including the MA thesis if already available);
- the names of three referees who are familiar with the applicant’s research and willing to provide a confidential reference letter upon request;
- an MA transcript or a statement on courses taken.
The review of applications will begin on December 9, 2018. The position’s starting date is negotiable.
Email address for applications: tatiana.nikitina@cnrs.fr (please include “RA search” in the subject line)
3
Postdoctoral researcher positions: FILLED
Applications are invited for positions of Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Languages and Cultures of Sub-Saharan Africa (LLACAN), CNRS. Successful applicants will work in a team on a project “Discourse reporting in African storytelling” (PI: Tatiana Nikitina). They will be expected to conduct fieldwork collecting traditional narratives, develop an annotated corpus of narrative texts, analyze selected aspects of these texts, and collaborate with other members of the team on theoretical issues related to the encoding of reported discourse. Each researcher will focus on data from one particular African language or a Turkic language spoken in Russia.
The positions are for two years, and the start date is negotiable. Applicants should hold a PhD in Linguistics or Anthropology (or expect to have successfully defended prior to the position start date). They should be willing to conduct extensive fieldwork and do collaborative research in a team setting. All theoretical backgrounds are welcome. Prior fieldwork experience and/or expertise in corpus building will be an advantage. Knowledge of French is not required (unless you are planning to work on a language spoken in francophone Africa).
The positions are funded by a grant from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 758232). The researchers will be affiliated with CNRS, a leading research institution in France. They will be integrated into LLACAN, a vibrant community of scholars committed to world class research. LLACAN is conveniently located in the southern suburbs of Paris (reachable by metro and other public transport).
Applicants should submit a single .pdf file containing the following items:
- a cover letter;
- a curriculum vitae;
- a brief statement of research plans (up to 2 pages);
- up to two publication samples or recent drafts;
- the names of three referees who are familiar with the applicant’s research and willing to provide a confidential reference letter upon request;
- for applicants without previous postdoctoral experience: a graduate transcript or a brief statement on courses taken during graduate studies.
The review of applications will begin on February 5, 2018.
Email address for applications: tatiana.nikitina@cnrs.fr (please include “postdoc search” in the subject line)
Contact information: Tatiana Nikitina (tatiana.nikitina@cnrs.fr)
4
Visiting positions:
A limited number of stipends is available to support visitors wishing to develop a collaboration with the ERC-funded project “Discourse reporting in African storytelling”. We are interested in project proposals exploring different aspects of reported speech, in different languages and genres, including but not limited to:
- person shifts and tense shifts in reported speech,
- the direct/indirect speech distinction,<:li>
- logophoricity,
- evidentiality in reported speech,
- special uses of TAM categories in reported speech,
- diachrony and extended uses of reported speech constructions,
- code-switching and special language use in reported speech,
- the prosody of reported speech,
- factors determining the choice between alternative speech reporting constructions in discourse.
All methodological approaches and theoretical frameworks are welcome. You can read more about the project here.
The visitors will be based at LLACAN, a research unit specialized in African linguistics and literatures located at a CNRS campus in Villejuif (a southern suburb of Paris).
The stipends will cover transportation costs (airfare or train) and accommodation on campus for short-term research stays (up to 3 weeks). We are currently considering proposals for research stays planned for January-June 2019 and September-December 2019. If you are interested, please send your cv, a motivation letter, and a project proposal (up to 5 pages) to tatiana.nikitina@cnrs.fr, with “visitor 2019” in the subject line. The review of applications will begin on August 15.
Preference will be given to early career researchers and to projects that have the potential to develop into a long-term collaboration with members of the team.
Please address all questions to: Tatiana Nikitina, tavnik@gmail.com
