6 September: fyi -- phd funding, Australia

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Applications are invited, from suitably qualified students, to work within the
Australian Laureate Fellowship Project 'How gender shapes the world: a
linguistic perspective', under the leadership of Professor Alexandra Y.
Aikhenvald (Australian Laureate Fellow). The project offers one or two PhD
scholarships, to produce a comprehensive grammar of a language from the
Sepik or an adjacent area of Papua New Guinea (with a special attention to
linguistic and social conceptualization of gender), based on extensive
immersion fieldwork. Students will have to enter the PhD program of the
Language and Culture Research Centre in James Cook University Australia.
Supervision will be provided by Professors Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald, and R.
M. W. Dixon, and other members of the Centre.

PhDs in Australian universities generally involve no coursework, just a
substantial dissertation. Candidates must thus have had a thorough
coursework training before embarking on this PhD program. This should
have included courses on morphology, syntax, semantics, and
phonology/phonetics, taught from a non-formalist perspective. We place
emphasis on work that has a sound empirical basis but also shows a firm
theoretical orientation (in terms of general typological theory, or what has
recently come to be called basic linguistic theory). The Cairns Institute is a
world centre for advanced study relating to the tropics. Distinguished
Professor Alexandra Aikhenvald is Research Leader for People and
Societies of the Tropics, and Australian Laureate Fellow. Together with
Professor R. M. W. Dixon, she heads the Language and Culture Research
Centre, which includes Research Fellows and a growing number of doctoral
students. In addition, senior scholars from across the world opt to spend
their sabbatical in the LCRC.

The scholarship will be paid at a higher level than the standard James Cook
University rate (AUD $27,652 pa). Students coming from overseas are liable
for a tuition fee; but this may be waived in the case of a student of high
merit. An appropriate allowance will be made to cover fieldwork expenses.
The scholarship is for four years (with no possibility for a further extension).

The deadline for application is 10 November 2012. The academic year in
Australia commences about 1st March. Successful applicants would take up
their PhD scholarships between January and June 2013.

It is absolutely essential that interested applicants should first get in touch
with Professor Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald
(Alexandra.Aikhenvald@jcu.edu.au), providing details of their background,
qualifications and interests (including a curriculum vitae). Applicants are
advised to send samples of their written work in linguistics (at least some of
this should be in English). Competitive applicants will then be provided with
details concerning the Project.

Application Deadline: 10-Nov-2012

Mailing Address for Applications:
Attn: Prof Alexandra Aikhenvald
JCU Cairns, McGregor Road
Smithfield 4870
Cairns Qld 4870
Australia

Contact Information:
Prof Alexandra Aikhenvald
Alexandra.Aikhenvald@jcu.edu.au
Phone: 61 7 4042 1117
Fax: 61 7 4042 1880

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