Support Announcement:

Level:	PhD
Duty:	Research
Linguistic Field(s):	Language Documentation Anthropological Linguistics Language Analysis
Application Deadline:	31-Aug-2012
Supporting Institution:	James Cook University Cairns Institute
LL Issue:	23.2692
Posted:	11-Jun-2012
Support Description:	PhD Scholarships at the Cairns Institute, JCU, Australia Applications are invited, from suitably qualified students, to enter the PhD program of the Language and Culture Research Centre within the Cairns Institute of James Cook University Australia. Supervision will be provided by Professors Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald, R. M. W. Dixon, and Dr Elena Mihas. Our PhD candidates generally undertake extensive fieldwork on a previously undescribed (or scarcely described) language and write a comprehensive grammar of it for their dissertation. They are expected to work on a language which is still actively spoken, and to establish a field situation within a community in which it is the first language. Fieldwork methodology centres on the collection, transcription and analysis of texts, together with participant observation, and at a later stage judicious grammatical elicitation in the language under description (not through the lingua franca of the country). Our main priority areas are the languages of tropical Amazonia, and the Papuan and Austronesian languages of New Guinea. However, we do not exclude applicants who have an established interest in languages from other areas. PhDs in Australian universities generally involve no coursework, just a substantial dissertation. Candidates must thus have had a thorough coursework training before embarking on this PhD program. We place emphasis on work that has a sound empirical basis but also shows a firm theoretical orientation (in terms of general typological theory, or what has recently come to be called basic linguistic theory). The Cairns Institute is a world class centre for advanced study relating to the tropics. Distinguished Professor Alexandra Aikhenvald is Research Leader for People and Societies of the Tropics. Together with Professor R. M. W. Dixon, she heads the Language and Culture Research Centre within the Cairns Institute, which includes Research Fellows and a growing number of doctoral students. In addition, senior scholars from across the world opt to spend their sabbatical in the Cairns Institute. The information on LCRC is available at: https://eresearch.jcu.edu.au/spaces/TLA The basic scholarship will be at the standard James Cook University rate, Australian $23.728 pa. Students coming from overseas are liable for a tuition fee; but this may be waived, In addition, an appropriate allowance will be made to cover fieldwork expenses. The scholarship is for three years (with the possibility of a six month extension). The deadline for application by international students (starting in 2011) is 31 August 2012; the deadline for students with Australian and New Zealand passports is 31 October 2012. The academic year in Australia commences about 1st March. Successful applicants would take up their PhD scholarships between January and June 2013. The application procedures for students and the application forms can be found at: http://www.jcu.edu.au/grs/scholarships/index.htm Prospective applicants are invited, in the first place, to get in touch with Professor Aikhenvald at Alexandra.Aikhenvald jcu.edu.au, providing details of their background, qualifications and interests (including a curriculum vitae). Applicants are advised to send samples of their written work in linguistics (at least some of this should be in English).
Application Mailing Address:	Prof Alexandra Aikhenvald Cairns Institute JCU NcGregor Road Cairns Qld 4870 Australia
Contact Information:	Prof Alexandra Aikhenvald Alexandra.Aikhenvald@jcu.edu.au Phone:61 7 4042 1117