Postdoctoral Research Associate in Phonetics

The Phonetics Laboratory is seeking to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Associate to carry out research on the effects of long-term language contact on prosody and other phonetic phenomena, with particular reference to Italo-Romance varieties in contact with Croatian, as part of Prof. Elinor Payne’s project ‘Mapping Prosodic Convergence in the Eastern Mediterranean’.

What We Offer

As an employer, we genuinely care about our employees’ wellbeing and this is reflected in the range of benefits that we offer including:

•               An excellent contributory pension scheme

•               38 days annual leave

•               A comprehensive range of childcare services

•               Family leave schemes

•               Cycle loan scheme

•               Discounted bus travel and Season Ticket travel loans

•               Membership to a variety of social and sports clubs

About the Role

Bringing together an exciting new international research team, the project seeks to explore how a range of factors (e.g. phonetic, typological, geo-historical, topographical, and sociolinguistic) variably promote or inhibit prosodic convergence between languages in contact, and map findings on a digital multi-modal atlas. The focus of the project is on two main areas of the Eastern Mediterranean: Cyprus and the northern Adriatic. Under direction of the project’s Principal Investigator, Prof. Elinor Payne, the researcher’s role will centre predominantly on the Adriatic area, carrying out a phonetic exploration of variation and contact between Italo-Romance varieties and Croatian. They will also liaise with other members of the research group to contribute to cross-project research goals.

The post is full-time and is funded by an ESRC grant awarded to Professor Payne, and will be held for a fixed term of two years (in the first instance). The successful candidate will ideally start by early November 2025.

About You

The postholder will be an organised and self-motivated Postdoctoral Researcher, with native-level knowledge of English and Italian. A good working knowledge of a Venetian dialect will be essential for this role, as well as a doctorate in Experimental Phonetics. The postholder will be experienced in planning and conducting speech experiments and data collection, and highly skilled in linguistic, acoustic and quantitative data analysis. With a strong research record, they will have the ability to manage their own research and administrative duties, possess excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, and be able to represent the project within and outside of the University. Please see the attached Job Description for a full specification of the selection criteria.

Application Process

You will be required to upload a covering letter/supporting statement, CV and the details of two referees as part of your online application. The supporting statement must explain how you meet the selection criteria for the post.

The closing date for applications is 12.00pm (BST), Friday 25th July.

Interviews are likely to take place a week later, on Friday 1st August, and will be online.