Doctoral Position in Linguistics
Doctoral Position in Linguistics
Reference No.: 2026/139
Position: Part-time 65%, E 13 TV-L
Start Date: 1st August 2026 or soon thereafter
Duration: Until the end of 2029
About the Position
The doctoral position is part of the newly granted SFB 1760 "Silence, Noise and Signal in Language" which investigates the role of silence and noise in our capacity for perceiving, learning and producing linguistic signals. The first phase runs from April 2026 to December 2029 and encompasses a wide variety of theoretical, experimental, computational and empirical research within linguistics, in collaboration with projects from computer science, computational social science, media studies and sociology.
The PhD student will work on project C02 "Intonation and Sociolinguistic Factors in Regionally Accented Speech" and will be located in Konstanz. The goal is to examine regional patterns in intonation categories among German and Swiss bivarietal speakers of Alemannic. The project team (in Konstanz and Trier) will use production, perception, and processing experiments to investigate whether these patterns can be systematically predicted by sociolinguistic factors, e.g., language attitudes.
Your Responsibilities
- Work towards a PhD
- Prepare, conduct, and analyze production and perception experiments (ratings, reaction times) and production studies (with regards to intonation, e.g., using GToBI)
- Recruit, communicate with, and test participants in Germany and Switzerland
- Contribute to the dissemination of research results (e.g., conference presentations, joint journal publications, and outreach events)
- Contribute to the SFB by attending regular meetings and conducting research on SFB topics
Your Competencies
- A very good MA degree in linguistics, phonetics or equivalent
- Strong written and oral English and German skills
- Strong background in prosody and experience with acoustic analysis (incl. relevant software, e.g., Praat)
- Excellent interpersonal and organizational skills and motivation to constructively engage in teamwork
- Experience with experimental research paradigms and practices (incl. relevant software), statistical data analysis (R, RStudio) and regional variation is a strong plus
We Offer
- The opportunity to do a PhD within the Collaborative Research Centre 'Silence, Noise and Signal in Language'
- An open, motivated research team and interdisciplinary research environment
- Career development opportunities
- Collaborating researchers at doctoral, postdoctoral and professorial levels
- Research support by student assistants
- Excellent career and equal opportunity coaching
Application Information
Application Deadline: July 15th 2026
Please submit your application via the Online Application Portal.
Application Materials Required:
- A short motivation letter (max 1 page)
- An academic CV
- Copies of all previous degrees, including detailed transcripts of records
- The names and email addresses of two academic referees (one from the supervisor of the BA/MA/MSc thesis or equivalent)
Incomplete applications will not be considered.
Contact: Questions can be directed to Dr. Marieke Einfeldt via e-mail: marieke.einfeldt@uni-konstanz.de
Equal Opportunities
The University of Konstanz is committed to ensuring an environment that provides equal opportunities and promotes diversity, as well as a good balance between university and family life. As an equal opportunity employer, we strive to increase the number of women working in research and teaching. We also support working couples through our dual career programme. Persons with disabilities are explicitly encouraged to apply. They will be given preference if appropriately qualified (contact sbv@uni-konstanz.de, +49 7531 88-4016).