23.2639, Support: Cognitive Science: PhD Student, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

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LINGUIST List: Vol-23-2639. Thu Jun 07 2012. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 23.2639, Support: Cognitive Science: PhD Student, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

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Date: Thu, 07 Jun 2012 12:07:31
From: Bart de Boer [bart at arti.vub.ac.be]
Subject: Cognitive Science: PhD Student, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

E-mail this message to a friend:
http://linguistlist.org/issues/emailmessage/verification.cfm?iss=23-2639.html&submissionid=4547822&topicid=12&msgnumber=1
 Institution/Organization: Vrije Universiteit Brussel 
Department: Artificial Intelligence Laboratory 
Web Address: https://ai.vub.ac.be/members/bart 

Level: PhD 

Duties: Research,Teaching
 
Specialty Areas: Cognitive Science 
Language Evolution 

Description:

PhD on iterated learning of combinatorial speech

We are looking for someone who has (or who is about to complete) a master's 
degree in psycholinguistics, cognitive science or equivalent. You will work on a 
PhD project that is part of Bart de Boer's ERC starting grant ABACUS project. 
https://ai.vub.ac.be/members/bart

The ABACUS project
ABACUS is a European Research Council funded project that attempts to advance 
our understanding of the evolution of (potentially language-specific) cognitive 
adaptations for speech. It focuses on combinatorial speech: the ability to combine 
a limited number of building blocks into an unlimited number of utterances 
according to learned rules. An important open question is how much of 
combinatorial speech is due to general cognitive abilities in combination with 
cultural evolution and how much is due to language-specific cognitive biases. The 
project combines individual and iterated learning experiments with computational 
modeling in order to address this question. 

The PhD project
Your work consists of designing, performing and describing iterated learning 
experiments based on learning and reproduction of continuous, speech-like 
signals. You will closely cooperate with computational modelers and (PhD) 
students investigating individual learning.

We are looking for candidates with a serious interest in a scientific career, with 
good writing skills and with experience in doing experiments with human 
participants. Experience with speech/language research as well as affinity with 
computational models are a plus.

Theme: Experiments on emergence of combinatorial structure in speech. 

Aim: To design and perform iterated learning experiments where participants 
develop repertoires of signals in different modalities and different communicative 
settings. 

Research questions: Does combinatorial structure emerge in iterated learning 
through transfer from one generation to the next, or through social coordination, or 
both? How does this process work? Does the modality of the signals play a role in 
this? Does the communicative setting play a role in this? 

Method: Experiments in the iterated learning and social coordination framework. 

Conditions
You apply for a four year PhD scholarship of approximately € 36 000 (before taxes) 
per year, with additional money to visit conferences and to hire research 
assistants. You will work in a recently formed international and interdisciplinary 
research group. The group is part of the computer science department, but it 
investigates questions about (the evolution of) cognition and language, using a 
combination of experiment and computer modeling. You will be asked to do a 
limited amount of teaching and supervision, but that will take up no more than 20% 
of your working time. As part of your PhD project, you will have the possibility to 
spend a few months at a different institute.

The envisaged starting date is September 1st, 2012

How to Apply
We need a letter of motivation, a CV, a copy of your master's thesis (or in case 
you have not completed this, another sample of your writing), a list of your grades 
and the contact information of two people who can provide references. Please 
send these in pdf format to Bart de Boer: bart at arti.vub.ac.be mentioning 
"ABACUS PhD1" in the subject. For inquiries you can send a message to this 
same address, or phone +32 2 629 3700. The deadline for application is July first, 
2012. 

Application Deadline: 10-Jul-2012 

Mailing Address for Applications:
	Attn: Prof Bart de Boer 
	Pleinlaan 2 
	Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Dienst ARTI 
	Brussels 1050 
	Belgium 
	
Contact Information: 
	Prof Bart de Boer 
	bart at arti.vub.ac.be  





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