Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany

Announcement of Vacancy

The Department of Linguistics at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig has a vacancy for a postdoctoral fellow in the area of phonetics.

In order to understand the abstract structure underlying the movements of articulators involved in speech sound production, the department’s phonetics lab is developing methods aimed at detecting the coupling relations between the dynamical systems involved. This work is based on a variant of joint recurrence analysis which is compatible with the uncontrolled manifold theory of synergies in intentional dynamics. The methods will be applied to explore the abstract coupling links underlying the coordination between the behavior of the larynx and the behavior of oral articulators.

The successful candidate will be involved in the conceptual design and in the development of analytical tools. This includes the areas of joint recurrence analysis, recurrence network approaches, and procedures for building surrogate databases for testing the significance of the observed relations.

The one-year non-renewable position ends no later than May 31, 2015.

Prerequisites for an application are a PhD and knowledge of dynamical systems theory as well as of information theory (as shown by relevant publications or by his/her academic curriculum), with an interest in their application to real datasets. Programming skills (preferably Matlab or C++) are required. Knowledge of recurrence analysis methods and of Bayesian statistics is welcome.

The salary is according to the German public service pay scale (TVöD). The Max Planck Society is concerned to employ more disabled people; applications from disabled people are explicitly sought. The Max Planck Society wishes to increase the proportion of women in areas in which they are underrepresented; women are therefore explicitly encouraged to apply.

Applicants are requested to send their complete dossier (including curriculum vitae, description of research interests, names and contact details of two referees, and a piece of written work on one of the relevant topics) to:

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Personnel Department

Prof. Dr. Bernard Comrie

Code word: Postdoc Phonetics

Deutscher Platz 6

D-04103 Leipzig, Germany

Application will be received until the position is filled.

Please address questions to Dr. Sven Grawunder <grawunder@eva.mpg.de>.

Information on the institute is available at http://www.eva.mpg.de/.