36.3503, Support: Morphology, Phonology, Syntax: PhD Position in the Project "The Cyclic Integration Approach to Clitics and the Syntax-prosody Mapping", Leipzig University

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-36-3503. Tue Nov 18 2025. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 36.3503, Support: Morphology, Phonology, Syntax: PhD Position in the Project "The Cyclic Integration Approach to Clitics and the Syntax-prosody Mapping", Leipzig University

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Date: 17-Nov-2025
From: Philipp Weisser [philipp.weisser at uni-leipzig.de]
Subject: Morphology, Phonology, Syntax: PhD Position in the Project "The Cyclic Integration Approach to Clitics and the Syntax-prosody Mapping", Leipzig University


Institution/Organization: Leipzig University
Web Address:
https://www.philol.uni-leipzig.de/institut-fuer-linguistik/forschung/fg-zyklische-optimierung

Level: PhD

Duties: Research, Project Work

Specialty Areas: Morphology; Phonology; Syntax

Description:

One 4-year PhD position in the project ‘The Cyclic Integration
approach to clitics and the syntax-prosody mapping’ as part of the DFG
Research Unit ‘Cyclic Optimization’
Starting date: March 1, 2026
Salary: Fully Funded Position
Deadline: December 15, 2025
The DFG Research Unit ‘Cyclic Optimization’ starting its second phase
on March 1 2026 with 13 new research positions explores the
interaction of cyclicity and optimization in all areas of grammar:
phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. The position announced
here is part of the subproject ‘The Cyclic Integration approach to
clitics and the syntax-prosody mapping’ (PI: Philipp Weisser). The
subproject investigates the interaction of clitic placement with
syntactic structrure and its mapping to prosodic structure. As part of
the project, the PhD student will be in charge of a typological
investigation of non-canonical placement patterns of polar question
markers and an investigation to what extent these show the properties
of clitic placement effects.
The project work will happen in close cooperation with the other
subprojects of the Research Unit and also comprise a rotation project,
where project employees will investigate research questions at the
interfaces of the different subprojects in 2-month internships under
the supervision of other sub-projects. We actively encourage
dissertations of project employees related to the project topics. An
ideal background for dissertation projects is also provided by the
Leipzig linguistic graduate program and its structured course program,
which welcomes PhD students of the Research Unit. Check the website of
the Research Unit
(https://www.philol.uni-leipzig.de/institut-fuer-linguistik/forschung/fg-zyklische-optimierung)
for more information on the overall project, additional job
announcements and details on the project.
Tasks:
- Typological investigation of non-canonical placement patterns of
polar question markers.
- Evaluation of formal hypotheses and of the relevance of the data for
theoretical models of clitic placement
Qualification:
- Master degree in linguistics or related fields
- Experience in the description and analysis of non-European languages
(ideally including experience in data elicitation and/or the use of
corpora).
- Expertise in syntax, morphology and/or phonology
- Interest in theoretical analyses
Salary:
The position is fully funded, i.e., comfortably covers your living
expenses in Leipzig, including social security, health insurance, and
other benefits. The specific salary follows the pay scale of the
German public service system (Research Associate position, 65% of the
German TVL-13 pay scale).
Please send your application (German or English) including a CV, a
statement of motivation, and up to two work samples (e.g. MA thesis or
term paper) as one pdf to philipp.weisser at uni-leipzig.de until
December 15, 2025. Two names of potential referees should also be
included in your application. We also encourage multiple applications
to different positions of the Research Unit on Cyclic Optimization.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions.

Application Deadline: 15-Dec-2025

Mailing Address for Applications:
        Philipp Weisser
        Institut für Linguistik
        Beethovenstr. 15
        Leipzig 0410
        Germany
Web Address for Applications:
https://www.philol.uni-leipzig.de/institut-fuer-linguistik/forschung/fg-zyklische-optimierung
Email Address for Applications: philipp.weisser at uni-leipzig.de




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