9 November: FYI -- PhD funding (linguistics), DE
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The University of Leipzig, Germany, offers full funding for 4 PhD
candidates who wish to obtain a PhD in any area of Syntax, Morphology
and/or Phonology and their interfaces. These 4 PhD positions will be
part of the graduate program ''Interaction of Grammatical Building
Blocks'' (IGRA), funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).
Each PhD position is funded for 3 years, with social benefits
(payscale: 0.5 TVL-E13), and will consist of a combination of
course-work (with courses taught by Leipzig faculty and by
internationally renowned guest scholars from elsewhere) and
independent research. Students will also have the opportunity to
conduct extended research stays at leading linguistic institutions
abroad, and will have access to travel money for conferences and
summer schools.
The central research focus of IGRA is on the phonology, morphology,
and syntax of natural languages. Recent developments in grammatical
theory have accumulated an impressive body of knowledge about the
representations of linguistic expressions of varying complexity, and
about the grammatical building blocks (rules, operations, constraints,
schemata, extralinguistic factors) that restrict their
distributions. In addition, there are some plausible hypotheses as to
how these building blocks interact with one another. However, what is
so far lacking is a comprehensive and systematic investigation of the
possible interactions of grammatical building blocks from different
theoretical perspectives, on the basis of detailed empirical studies
of phonological, morphological, and syntactic phenomena from an array
of typologically diverse languages. It is the primary goal of the
graduate programme to address this gap.
The dissertations carried out under this programme will pursue
empirical research based on different grammatical models (and
potentially also on combinations thereof), among them Minimalism,
Optimality Theory, Rule-Based Phonology, Distributed Morphology,
Lexical Decomposition Grammar, Construction Grammar, Framework-Free
Grammatical Theory, Minimalist Morphology, Paradigm-Function
Morphology. The programme thus offers PhD candidates the unique
opportunity of conducting linguistic research in an academically
rigorous environment that is not pre-biased toward one or other
theoretical framework but offers exposure to a diverse range of
theoretical perspectives. Detailed information about the research
programme, including a list of the programme's faculty and a list of
potential dissertation topics, can be found on website:
http://igra.philol.uni-leipzig.de
Requirements:
Students from international backgrounds are particularly encouraged to
apply. The language of instruction is English. Applicants should have
an M.A. in Linguistics or related fields, with degree in hand latest
by April 1, 2016.
Starting date: April 1, 2016.
How to Apply:
Applications should contain the following supporting documents:
- Statement of purpose (1-2 pages) that clarifies the research interests of the applicant, in particular detailing how these would fit in with the broader research goals of the PhD programme; this can be in English or German;
- Representative sample of research work (e.g. an advanced seminar paper or M.A. thesis): in English or German;
- Two letters of recommendation;
- Curriculum Vitae (CV);
- Copy of M.A. degree (to be handed in latest by April 1, 2016, if not already available by Jan. 3, 2016).
All supporting documents for the application should be emailed
electronically as pdf files (the M.A. degree to be scanned in) to
Prof. Gereon Mueller at: gereon.mueller@uni-leipzig.de (subject line:
igra).
The recommendation letters should be emailed directly to this address
by the referees.
Application Deadline: 03-Jan-2016
Mailing Address for Applications:
Attn: Gereon Mueller
Institut fuer Linguistik, Universitaet Leipzig
Beethovenstr. 15,
Leipzig 04107
Germany
Contact Information:
Gereon Mueller
gereon.mueller@uni-leipzig.de
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