Postdoc Position: Computational Modelling of Speech Recognition at the Donders Centre for Cognition

1. Introduction

Are you fascinated by the human ability to recognise speech and do you enjoy advanced programming? If so, this postdoctoral position in computational modelling is for you. You will have the exciting opportunity to build and test a new Bayesian model of human speech recognition. 

2. Job description

You will work together with Prof. James McQueen and a PhD candidate on an NWO-funded project (’Plugging talkers in: A new solution to the variability problem in human speech recognition’). The project seeks to understand how listeners cope with the fact that spoken words are acoustically hugely variable. Words vary across talkers (e.g. the same word is pronounced in a physically dramatically different manner by a two-year-old girl versus an 80-year-old man) and words vary not only segmentally but also prosodically. The project explores the hypothesis that listeners store knowledge about how individual talkers speak and ’plug in’ that knowledge as they recognise those individuals’ words. The project has two aims: (1) to use computational modelling to build a new Bayesian model with ’plug-ins’, and (2) to run word-learning experiments to test the model. You will be responsible for the computational modelling and also co-supervise the PhD candidate who will be running the experiments.

3. Profile

• You hold a PhD in psycholinguistics, cognitive science, psychology, linguistics, or a related field.
• You enjoy reading and writing code and have demonstrable programming experience in, for example, Python, C++, or Matlab.
• You are a creative, critical and independent researcher and motivated to pursue an academic career.
• You are a team-player who not only provides constructive feedback to colleagues but is also happy to receive it from them, who supports others, and who is keen to engage in scientific discussions. You enjoy supervising students.
• You are able to contribute to a collaborative work environment based on transparent communication and a positive and respectful attitude towards supervisors, colleagues and students.
• You have an excellent command of English (both spoken and written); preferably, you also already have a good publication record.
• You possess excellent time management and organisational skills.
• Ideally, but not required, you also have expertise and hands-on research experience in human speech recognition, good skills in preparing and analysing speech experiments, and demonstrable experience with R and Praat.
  
  

4. We are

You will be part of the Sound Learning group (PI: Prof. James McQueen). The group is part of the Donders Centre for Cognition (DCC) within the Faculty of Social Sciences of Radboud University and part of the Donders Institute. There are strong links to other research groups at the DCC, including Speech Perception in Audiovisual Communication (PI: Hans Rutger Bosker) and Cognition of Multilingualism (PI: Kristin Lemhöfer), and to other research groups elsewhere on the Nijmegen campus, including the Centre for Language Studies and the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. You will be part of an exceptionally rich environment for research on language and speech.

The Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour is a world-class interfaculty research centre, that houses more than 700 researchers devoted to understanding the mechanistic underpinnings of the human mind. Research at the Donders Institute is focused around four themes: 1. Language and communication, 2. Perception, action and decision-making, 3. Development and lifelong plasticity, 4. Natural computing & neurotechnology. Excellent, state-of-the-art research facilities are available for the broad range of neuroscience research that is being conducted at the Donders Institute. The Donders Institute has been assessed by an international evaluation committee as ‘excellent’ and recognised as a ‘very stimulating environment for top researchers, as well as for young talent’. The Donders Institute fosters a collaborative, multidisciplinary, supportive research environment with a diverse international staff. English is the lingua franca at the Institute. 

5. We offer

• We will give you a temporary employment contract of 4 years.
• Your salary within salary scale 11 depends on your previous education and number of years of (relevant) work experience. The amounts in the scale are based on a 38-hour working week.
• You will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8,3% end-of-year bonus. 
• You will be able to use our Dual Career and Family Support Service. The Dual Career Programme assists your partner via support, tools, and resources to improve their chances of independently finding employment in the Netherlands. Our Family Support Service helps you and your partner feel welcome and at home by providing customised assistance in navigating local facilities, schools, and amenities. Also take a look at our support for international staff page to discover all our services for international employees.
• You will receive extra days off. With full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the statutory 20. 

6. Practical information and applying

You can apply only via the button below. Address your letter of application to prof James McQueen. In the application form, you will find which documents you need to include with your application.

The first interviews will take place on Friday 7 February. Any second interview will take place on Monday 17 February. You will preferably start your employment on 1 May 2025.  

We can imagine you're curious about our application procedure. It describes what you can expect during the application procedure and how we handle your personal data and internal and external candidates. If you wish to apply for a non-scientific position with a non-EU nationality, please take notice of the following information.