[Lingtyp] Two fully funded PhD positions in Descriptive/Documentary Linguistics in Indonesia

[Klamer, M.A.F. (Marian)]

Dear colleagues,

The Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University Centre for Linguistics invites applications for

Two fully funded PhD positions  in Descriptive/Documentary Linguistics in Indonesia.

Starting date: Between February-July 2027; exact date to be determined by mutual agreement.

Application deadline: October 25, 2026

The two PhD positions will be part of the NWO project ‘Usku and Banda: Automated Documentation of Endangered Languages of Eastern Indonesia’ and they will each work on the documentation and description of one of these small, unwritten endangered languages in eastern Indonesia.

For both Usku and Banda, the aim is to develop, in close collaboration with the speaker community, a documentary record of linguistic practices in the form of a rich, naturalistic text collection and an extensive word list (lexicon). The transcribed and annotated lexicon and corpus will form the basis of the grammatical analysis of the language’s phonology, morphology and syntax.

In the course of their documentation activities, both PhDs will test and evaluate the various AI tools that are being developed by the senior team members to carry out automated tasks of transcription, translation, morphological segmentation and glossing of data from small and under-documented languages.

Tasks and responsibilities

  *   Collecting audio-visual linguistic and cultural data through fieldwork in Indonesia;
  *   Transcribing, annotating, analysing and archiving naturalistic language data;
  *   Testing and evaluating tools for automated linguistic data annotation and analysis;
  *   Presenting (joint) research results at workshops and conferences;
  *   Publishing (joint) research results and writing a PhD-thesis within the period of appointment;
  *   (Assisting in) teaching activities at bachelor level;
  *   (Assisting in) the organisation of knowledge dissemination activities
  *   Participating in meetings and training sessions of the project research group

Selection criteria

  *   A Master’s degree in linguistics, completed before the start date;
  *   Demonstrated interest in language documentation, field linguistics, descriptive linguistics or similar;
  *   Excellent research and academic English skills;
  *   Working knowledge of Indonesian, or willingness to acquire this within the first half year of the project;
  *   A strong cooperative attitude and interest to engage in collaborative research;
  *   Fieldwork experience in a non-western context is a plus;
  *   Preference will be given to candidates from Indonesia in cases of equal suitability.

For details on how to apply, see: https://www.academictransfer.com/nl/jobs/363844/two-phd-candidates-descriptivedocumentary-linguistics-in-indonesia/

Questions?
For further information on the research project and the PhD positions please contact the PI, Marian Klamer, m.a.f.klamer at hum.leidenuniv.nl.

The vacancy closes on 25 October 2026. Interviews will take place in the first half of November 2026.
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