Applications are invited from postdoctoral researchers with a background in language acquisition and neurosciences for a Postdoc position within the project Eyes and Brain – Early Markers of Language Development. This project will investigate early markers of language development in European Portuguese, following a multi-methodology approach to a set of potential early markers, using both eye-tracking (ET) and ERP measures. Research on early markers requires a major focus on language-specific properties, as commitment to the native language is a critical feature in language development. We wil focus on infants and toddlers with no known risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and/or Specific Language Impairment (SLI), and infants/toddlers with high risk for ASD and SLI. This is a multidisciplinary project that joins a team of researchers in the fields of phonology, phonetics, language acquisition, language impairment, psychology and neurophysiology.
The Postdoctoral fellow will work on early markers of language development in the four linguistic domains under study (phonetic discrimination, word stress, intonation, word learning), especially on ERP measures of early language acquisition in normally developing infants and infants at risk for ASD and SLI. The focus will be on neurophysiological markers previously identified in the literature for the four domains under study (i.e., MMN, P150-250, N250-550 for speech discrimination; CPS for perception of prosodic boundaries; N400 for word learning) although the possibility of finding other effects should not be excluded beforehand. Both the presence/absence and the amplitude of the effects will be examined, as well as developmental changes in processing, by comparing infant and adult data. Applicants must have previous experience in speech perception research with ERP, and good knowledge of at least some of the experimental paradigms and their implementation, as well as of data extraction routines and analysis. Previous experience with infants’ language development is desirable. It is expected that the successful candidate will strongly contribute to: (i) new fundamental research on ERP measures of early language acquisition in normally developing infants and infants at risk for ASD and SLI; (ii) definition of early neurophysiological markers of language development, and early markers of risk for ASD and SLI; (iii) assessment of developmental changes in processing, by comparing infant and adult data.
The successful candidate will be expected to start September 15, 2013 and the post is initially available for one year. The grant can be renewed until the end of the EBELa Project (the expected maximum duration of the fellowship being 27 months), with renewal subject to performance. The grant is regulated by Artº. 5º do Estatuto do Bolseiro de Investigação – available at http://www.bolseiros.org/pdfs/ L_40_2004.pdf.
The successful applicant will have a Ph.D. in a relevant field, such as neurolinguistics, language acquisition, psychology, or cognitive neuroscience, and a strong background in ERP research. Experience in speech perception research with ERP (data collection, processing and analysis) is essential, and previous experience in infant speech perception research is desirable. A background in statistics, applied mathematics, or informatics will be a plus. Knowledge of Portuguese is not required (but some knowledge of Portuguese or of another Romance language - e.g., Spanish, Italian, French - is an advantage). Proficiency in English is required.
Salary will be in accordance with the Portuguese Science Foundation salary scale, specifically 1.495€ per month, paid by bank transfer.
Please email your CV, a motivation letter, a copy of your personal identity document and of your PhD certificate to labfon@fl.ul.pt and to sonia.frota@mail.telepac.pt