PhD position Modeling modals: A computational study of modal verb acquisition

The Center for Language and Cognition Groningen is seeking a motivated PhD candidate in the fields of linguistics, computational linguistics, language acquisition, and/or cognitive science. This fully funded position offers the opportunity to conduct cutting-edge research, publish in top journals, and engage in teaching activities. You’ll join a dynamic, international academic community with excellent research facilities and professional development opportunities.



The PhD Project

Modal verbs like can or must have various meanings: In a sentence “You must close the door”, must expresses an obligation, while in “I must have left my notebook upstairs”, must expresses an inference. This ambiguity occurs in half of the world’s languages. How confusing is this ambiguity, and how do children resolve it? While previous studies approached these questions by annotating large amounts of language produced by adults or children, we approach the question by employing computational models that learn by finding patterns in language data. Can they learn the different modal meanings simply by paying attention to what they “hear”? Or do they need to come prepared with certain expectations? By using computational models (including probabilistic models and neural language models), we will be able to answer these types of questions. In addition, our project will benefit computational research on language modeling, as our findings will aid the understanding of modal verbs learning in modern neural language models, ultimately contributing to the design of better models.



You will be asked to



- Carry out academic research in linguistics / computational linguistics / language acquisition, as specified in the project description.

- Prepare conference and research papers, conference presentations, and dissertation chapters.

- Present research findings at national and international conferences, workshops, internal seminars.

- Contribute to the activities of an interdisciplinary research group (e.g., explain your research during research group seminars, help co-organize reading groups in the department, etc.).

- Complete the PhD in the specified timeframe (4 years).

- Participate in teaching activities in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th year.



Affiliation

The PhD candidate will be enrolled in the Graduate School for the Humanities at the University of Groningen. They will be involved in either the Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics (LOT) or the Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Research School (BCN), depending on the candidate’s profile. The PhD candidate will be embedded in the Center for Language and Cognition Groningen (CLCG) and will have links with both the Computational Linguistics group and the Semantics and Cognition group. This project will be carried out under the supervision of Dr. Annemarie van Dooren, Dr. Yevgen Matusevych, and Dr. Arianna Bisazza.



Organisation

Since its foundation in 1614, the University of Groningen has established an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative university offering high-quality teaching and research. Its 34,000 students are encouraged to develop their own individual talents through challenging study- and career paths. The University of Groningen is an international centre of knowledge: It belongs to the best research universities in Europe and is allied with prestigious partner universities and networks worldwide.



The Faculty of Arts is a large, dynamic faculty in the heart of the city of Groningen. It has more than 5000 students and 700 staff members, who are working at the frontiers of knowledge every day. The Faculty offers a wide range of degree programmes: 15 Bachelor's programmes and over 35 Master's specialisations. Our research, which is internationally widely acclaimed, covers Archaeology, Cultural Studies, History, International Relations, Language and Literary Studies, Linguistics and Media and Journalism Studies.

Requirements:

- A Research Master’s or Master’s degree in any area related to the project.

- Excellent academic writing skills in English.

- Demonstrable knowledge of (and interest in) linguistics, language acquisition, cognitive science, or related fields.

- Demonstrable skills in at least some of the following: computational linguistics, natural language processing, computational cognitive modelling, neural language models, etc.

- Ability to code in Python and/or other programming languages.

- Knowledge of languages other than English would be advantageous but is not a requirement.

- Interest in interdisciplinary research, motivation to work as part of a team of researchers from different fields.

Salary Benefits:

In accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, the University of Groningen offers you the following conditions



- A salary of € 2,901 gross per month in the first year, up to a maximum of € 3,707 gross per month in the final year, based on a full-time position.

- A holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income.

- An 8.3% end-of-the-year allowance.

- A temporary 1.0 FTE appointment for a specified period of four years. The candidate will first be appointed for twelve months. After six months, an assessment will take place of the candidate’s results and the progress of the PhD project, in order to decide whether employment will be continued.

- The PhD candidate is expected to conduct a total of 0.4 fte teaching spread over the second, third and fourth year of their appointment.

- Excellent work-life balance.

- Willingness to move and reside in the Netherlands.



The appointment will commence on 1 September or 1 October 2025 (by agreement between the candidate and the supervisors). We allow 3 months from selection in case of visa applications.

38 hours per week

Broerstraat 5