[Lingtyp] 4-year PhD position - Universitat de Barcelona

Fri Oct 2 11:08:47 UTC 2026

Dear colleagues,

I am looking for a PhD candidate for a four-year PhD position at the University of Barcelona. The position is embedded in the project SymVoLiCs (“Symmetrical Voice Languages in Contexts: An investigation of North and Central Sulawesi languages in typological, interactional and acquisition contexts”) so applicants with an interest in typology, language description or language acquisition are especially encouraged to apply. The project also offers opportunities for fieldwork.

The position cannot yet be advertised officially and is therefore being circulated as an expression of interest. Further details can be found below or in the attached document.

Please feel free to forward this information to anyone who may be interested. I would very much appreciate any help in disseminating this call.

Many thanks in advance!

Best,

Maria Bardají
Assistant Professor
Department of Catalan Philology and General Linguistics
Universitat de Barcelona

Four-year doctoral position at the University of Barcelona (expression of interest)
As Principal Investigator of the project SymVoLiCs (“Symmetrical Voice Languages in Contexts: An investigation of North and Central Sulawesi Languages in Typological, Interactional and Acquisition Contexts”), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Spanish State Research Agency (subject to the publication of the official funding decision), I invite expressions of interest from prospective PhD students for a four-year doctoral position at the University of Barcelona.
A distinctive feature of this position is the opportunity to conduct linguistic fieldwork in Indonesia and contribute to the documentation and description of understudied Austronesian languages.
Research topic
The successful candidate will pursue a PhD on a topic of their interest related to one of the topics of the project; i.e.:

  *   Grammatical description of one or more languages of North and Central Sulawesi. The project adopts a usage-based approach, in which documentation corpora of spontaneous speech are collected and used as primary data for language description, complemented by elicitation. While the the project’s main focus is on morphosyntax, the specific area of grammar investigated in the PhD project may be determined by the candidate’s interest. A typological study of a particular grammatical phenomenon is also possible, provided that North and Central Sulawesi languages are included.
  *   Research on language acquisition and socialization of a western Austronesian language, from either a (psycho)linguistic or a sociolinguistic/anthropological perspective. The project has a special interest in the acquisition of symmetrical voice languages as well as in parental ethnotheories of language acquisition and socialization.

The precise dissertation topic will be determined in consultation with the supervisor (Dr. Maria Bardají). The candidate will contribute to building language documentation corpora and to a project-related study that aligns with their PhD research (resulting in a co-authored publication). Depending on the candidate's interests, the PhD position also offers opportunities for linguistic fieldwork in Indonesia.
The PhD will be carried out at the Department of Catalan Philology and General Linguistics<https://departament-filcat-linguistica.ub.edu/> of the University of Barcelona<https://web.ub.edu/en/home>. The successful candidate will enroll in the Doctoral Program in Cognitive Science and Language<https://web.ub.edu/en/web/estudis/w/phd-hdk08?presentation>.
Requirements

  *   A strong background in linguistics - preferably in the area of linguistic typology or language acquisition - or in anthropology (demonstrated by a BA and MA/MSc in Linguistics / Anthropology).
  *   A Master’s degree by the application deadline (most likely December). Applicants holding non-Spanish degrees may be required to obtain official recognition (equivalency) of their qualifications in accordance with Spanish regulations. Proficiency in spoken and written English.
  *   Knowledge of Indonesian is an asset.
  *   Candidates are required to prove knowledge of Catalan or Spanish, or a strong commitment to learning one of these languages during the first years of the PhD.

What the position offers

  *   Training in language documentation, corpus creation, and linguistic analysis.
  *   Opportunities for linguistic fieldwork in Indonesia.
  *   Collaboration with researchers working on typology and language acquisition and socialization.
  *   Funding for research stays and international conferences.

Funding and employment conditions
In accordance with the terms of the call (Article 14.3):

  *   Total funding allocated per predoctoral contract: €134,615.00
  *   Annual funding for the predoctoral contract: €31,100
  *   The gross salary will be determined in accordance with the conditions specified in the official call for applications.
  *   Funding for the end-of-contract compensation payment: €3,215
  *   Funding for research stays and doctoral tuition fees: €7,000

Application process
The official call for predoctoral contracts has not yet been published. For reference, last year's call is available here (in Spanish):
https://www.aei.gob.es/convocatorias/buscador-convocatorias/proyectos-generacion-conocimiento-actuaciones-formacion-4<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.aei.gob.es/convocatorias/buscador-convocatorias/proyectos-generacion-conocimiento-actuaciones-formacion-4__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!XooaVehCnc8m6zMhSFhPCK9wd5tYbk811nRnbX-tz-PIEVwS1Nl0nHphr8Fy017pYv9aMubWW91dFaEF$>
At this stage, we are inviting expressions of interest from prospective applicants. Candidates interested in the position are encouraged to send a CV and a brief motivation letter to Maria Bardají at mbardaji at ub.edu<mailto:mbardaji at ub.edu>. Those who express interest will be notified once the official call is published.
Please feel free to circulate this announcement to anyone who may be interested.
About the project
The PhD position is embedded in the project SymVoLiCs (“Symmetrical Voice Languages in Contexts”), which investigates symmetrical voice languages in North and Central Sulawesi from three complementary perspectives: typology, discourse and acquisition. Particular attention is given to the Totoli language, which serves as the primary case study for the discourse and acquisition components of the project. Depending on the candidate's interests, the PhD project may extend this focus to another language of the region.

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