Job Location: Paris, France
Job Title: PostDoc Semantic Typologie ERC SHAPE (M/F)
Job Rank: Post Doc

Specialty Areas: Anthropological Linguistics; Cognitive Science; Morphology; Semantics; Typology

Description:

PostDoc semantic typologie ERC SHAPE (M/F)

The interdisciplinary ERC-Synergy project SHAPE (https://www.ntnu.edu/shape/) investigates how shape is represented in cognition, language development, and across languages (spoken and signed). The Paris team, lead by Frank Seifart, investigates the variability of shape expression across a diverse, worldwide sample of spoken languages. The Postdoctoral Researcher will carry out cross-linguistic research on shape encoding, in collaboration with team members and independently steer selected research sub-projects, analyzing data collected on 40 languages, and collaborate with SHAPE’s international and interdisciplinary network of field linguists and project partners.

Activities:
- Conduct research on the cross-linguistic encoding of shape (semantic/morphosyntactic typology) across a global sample of languages.
- Contribute to designing and implementing standardized tasks for data collection in 40 languages.
- Perform typological analyses integrating SHAPE’s experimental data, literature reviews, and expert consultations.
- Collaborate with SHAPE’s sub-projects in Cologne, Trondheim, and Indiana
- Contribute to studies and publications across the project team, assuming a leading role in some of them

Expected skills:
- PhD in Linguistics, Cognitive Science, or a related field.
- Prior research experience in functional-typological frameworks and semantic/morphosyntactic typology.
- Fluency in English
- Ability to lead research in a collaborative research context and communicate effectively across teams.

Preferred skills:
- Fieldwork experience and an established fieldwork site on a non-European language for collecting data using the project's set of experiments
- Prior research on nominal classification, positional verbs, noun semantics, or related topics
- Experience with quantitative methods for data processing and analysis (R, Python, etc.)
- Working knowledge of French or commitment to learning it.

Working conditions:
- 38.5 hours per week
- presence at 4-6 in-person project workshops per year in Paris
- presence at weekly online meetings

Offer:
- Three years full time employment with the possibility of one year extension
- Monthly gross salary starting at 4 292 € depending on experience, in addition to benefits
- A central role in a prestigious ERC-Synergy project with an international, interdisciplinary team.
- Access to Paris’s unparalleled linguistic research community and resources.
- Partial remote work can be negotiated
- Opportunities for fieldwork, conference travel, and career advancement.
- Opportunity for independent research design, as well as mentorship from senior scholars

Application:
in one pdf file (max. 10MB), in English, including:
- CV, including names of two referees who have agreed to be contacted regarding this application
- motivation letter (max 2 pages)
- if applicable, pdf(s) of up to two relevant publication(s). For book-length publications, please provide a URL instead of a pdf.
- deadline: 25 July 2025 23:59:00 Paris time
- exclusively through https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/UMR8202-FRASEI-002/Default.aspx?lang=EN

Additional information:
- the selection process will include a first round of remote interviews in September, and a second round of in-person interviews in Paris in October
- for questions, contact Frank Seifart
- start date as soon as possible in or after February 2026, depending on availability, and (for non-EU candidate) on visa processing times

Application Deadline: 25-Jul-2025
Web Address for Applications: https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/UMR8202-FRASEI-002/Default.aspx?lang=EN
Contact Information:
Frank Seifart
Email: [email protected]