Doctoral Research Fellowship in Russian Linguistics, UiT The Arctic University of Norway

Publish Date: Aug 07, 2015

Deadline: Aug 17, 2015

Doctoral Research Fellowship in Russian Linguistics at the Department of Language and Linguistics

Ref.: 2015/2872

One Doctoral Research Fellowship (PhD) in Russian Linguistics is available in the Department of Language and Linguistics at the University of Tromsø - The Arctic University of Norway (UiT). The position is affiliated with the CLEAR (Cognitive Linguistics: Empirical Approaches to Russian) research group.

The appointment is a fixed term position for a period of four years.

The purpose of the PhD Research Fellowship is research training leading to the successful completion of a doctoral dissertation. The candidate will be affiliated with the Faculty’s organized research training, and the academic work must result in a doctoral thesis aiming to obtain the degree of PhD within the period of employment. Admission to a PhD program is a prerequisite for employment, and the program period starts on the commencement of the position.

The successful candidate must meet the requirements for admission to the Faculty’s PhD program, cf. § 6 of UiT PhD regulations. Moreover, the applicant must prove English language proficiency equivalent to the standards of Norwegian Higher Education Entrance Qualification. Information about the application process for admission to the PhD programme, application form and regulations for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) is available at PhD Regulations UiT - http://uit.no/om/enhet/artikkel?p_document_id=200477&p_dimension_id=88199&men=42429. See also uit.no/hsl/PhD.

For further information about the position (and the project), please contact Professor Laura A. Janda, tlf. +47 77645680, e-post: laura.janda@uit.no.

Affiliation

The Department of Language and Linguistics (IS; http://uit.no/om/enhet/forsiden?p_dimension_id=88149) is one the strongest and most diverse departments of its type in Norway. IS has approximately 40 permanent faculty members and 20 PhD students, in addition to administrative personnel and part-time instructors and researchers. The faculty of the Department are actively engaged in a broad range of research topics and have research groups representing cognitive linguistics (CLEAR - http://uit.no/forskning/forskningsgrupper/medlemmer?p_document_id=344365), Saami language technology (Giellatekno - http://giellatekno.uit.no/index.nno.html and Divvun - http://uit.no/ansatte/organisasjon/artikkel?p_document_id=277711&p_dimension_id=88147&p_menu=42374), sociolinguistics (LAIDUA - http://uit.no/forskning/forskningsgrupper/gruppe?p_document_id=390338), language acquisition (LAVA - https://castl.uit.no/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14&Itemid=72) and theoretical linguistics (CASTL-FISH - https://castl.uit.no/). Courses are taught in general linguistics, English, French, Kven, Finnish, Scandinavian languages, Russian, Saami, Spanish at both the BA and MA levels, and Ph.D. study is available in linguistics.

The position’s field of research/research project and other duties

The position is entitled “Russian Rivalry” and involves two lines of research on: 1) “Rival forms” and 2) “Rival meanings”. Rival forms are observed when two or more competing forms have the same or very similar meanings; the CLEAR group has conducted significant research on this phenomenon. The main purpose of this position is to corrodinate with the Giellatekno research group to extend and accommodate our study of the converse phenomenon, namely rival meanings, which are found when a single form has two or more competing interpretations. Disambiguation, which is the resolution of competing meanings, is a serious challenge for language technology (for example in machine translation), and the focus on rival meanings will therefore make the research of the CLEAR group more relevant for the work of the Giellatekno research group.

The person who is hired in this position will work with one or more projects that belong to the portfolio of the CLEAR group, such as for example:

  • “Syncretism – a case for ambiguity: case syncretism in Russian”
  • “Prefixed rivalry – the development of the ambiguous prefix po-
  • “Modality: what to do when one language has many and another has virtually none?”
  • “Getting stressed – how to deal with stress-related ambiguity”
  • “Gender ambiguity – hybrid nouns in Russian”
  • “Aspect across languages”
  • “Homonymy and polysemy: коса, поле”
  • “Paradigmatic gaps: У меня много ?мечт, когда я ?пылесосю”

Qualification requirements

The successful applicant will work with topics in the field of Russian linguistics that will interface with existing research in the CLEAR group at UiT. The successful applicant must have a Norwegian MA degree in Russian linguistics, or a corresponding foreign MA degree recognized as equivalent to a Norwegian MA degree. The successful applicant will have conducted research on Russian linguistics and have excellent knowledge of both Russian and English. The ideal candidate will also have excellent knowledge of cognitive linguistics and a strong track-record indicating publication potential.

The applicant must provide a project proposal with a progress plan encompassing the project’s main activities (approximately 3 pages total). It is a prerequisite that the applicant will be able to complete the project within the period of employment.

Personal suitability will be emphasized.

Working conditions

The normal period of employment is four years. The nominal length of the PhD program is three years. The fourth year, distributed as 25 % of each year, is reserved for teaching or other academic duties within the university. Please consult PhD Regulations UiT - http://uit.no/om/enhet/artikkel?p_document_id=200477&p_dimension_id=88199&men=42429 for further information. The position will especially be assigned teaching duties in Russian.

A shorter period of appointment may be decided upon if the applicant has already completed parts of his/her research training programme or if the appointment is based on a previous qualifying position (PhD Candidate, research assistant, or the like) in such a way that the research training amounts to a total of three years.

Application

The application must be submitted electronically via the application form available on this page(www.jobbnorge.no).

Applications by e-mail are not accepted.

The application must include the following attachments:

  • letter of application
  • project description. Please see further information concerning the template for project project description PhD - http://uit.no/ansatte/organisasjon/artikkel?p_document_id=348735&p_dim%20%20ension_id=88147&p_menu=42374
  • CV (containing a complete overview of education, supervised professional training and professional work)
  • diploma and transcript of records from Bachelor’s degree or equivalent
  • diploma and transcript of records from Master’s degree or equivalent
  • diploma supplement for other completed degrees
  • documentation of English language proficiency
  • list of 2-3 academic referees, including contact details (name, relation to applicant, e-mail address and phone number)
  • Master’s Thesis
  • other works (published or unpublished) which the applicant wishes to be taken into consideration during the assessment process and a description of these.

The list of works should contain the following information:

  • author(s), title of work
  • for articles: the name of the journal and volume, first and last page of the article, year of publication
  • for book or other independent publications: publisher, place of print, year of publication, number of pages

All documentation must be certified and translated into English or a Scandinavian language in order to be assessed.

Information and material to be considered during the assessment must be submitted within the stipulated deadline.

Assessment

The applicants will be assessed by an expert committee. During this assessment process, emphasis will be attached to the applicant’s potential for research as shown by:

  • Master’s thesis or equivalent
  • other academic works, and
  • project description                                    

In addition, consideration may be given to work experience or other activities of significance for the implementation of the PhD research. This includes teaching education, teaching experience, experience with publishing scholarly works, and experience/education from other types of dissemination.

The best qualified applicants will be selected for interviews. The interview shall among other things aim to clarify the applicant’s personal suitability for the position.

Other information

Applicants shall also refer to the supplementary regulations for appointment to postdoktor (postdoctoal Research Fellow), stipendiat (PhD) and vitenskapelige assistent (Research Assistant) positions at the UiT - http://uit.no/om/enhet/artikkel?p_document_id=380717&p_dimension_id=88214 and to the http://www.uhr.no/documents/Regulations_Post_doctoral_and_research_fellow.pdf 

Questions concerning the organization of the working environment, such as the physical state of the place of employment, health service, possibility for flexible working hours, part time, etc. as well as questions about the PhD programme may be directed to the telephone reference in this announcement.

UiT’s HR policy objectives emphasises diversity, and encourages all qualified applicants to apply regardless of gender, functional ability and national or ethnic background.

UiT is an IW (Inclusive Workplace) enterprise, and will make the necessary adaptations in order to facilitate for employees with reduced functional ability.

Personal data given in an application or CV will be processed in accordance with the Act relating to the processing of personal data (the Personal Data Act). In accordance with Section 25 subsection 2 of the Freedom of Information Act, the applicant may request not to be registered on the public list of applicants. However, the University may nevertheless decide to publish the applicant’s name. The applicant will receive advance notification in the event of such publication.

In case of discrepancies between the Norwegian and the English version of this description, the Norwegian version takes precedence.

This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:

http://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/115803/doctoral-research-fellowship-in-russian-linguistics-at-the-department-of-language-and-linguistics

Similar Opportunities


Disciplines

Linguistics

Study Levels

Doctoral

Research

Opportunity Types

Fellowships

Host Countries

Norway