Postdoctoral researcher in Evolutionary Language Sciences

The Faculty of Humanities at the University of Turku invites applications for fixed term postdoctoral researcher position at the School of Languages and Translation Studies. Employment begins in March  2025 at the earliest or upon agreement, and lasts until the end of December 2026.

This is one of three postdoctoral researcher positions in Human Diversity, which are being recruited as part of the Human Diversity research consortium, funded by the Profi7 program of the Research Council of Finland (www.humandiversity.fi). 

The central questions of the consortium are about how human contacts, past environments and communication networks influence material and immaterial culture, languages, genes, disease burden and evolutionary fitness of people. Human Diversity brings together research teams across faculties who study human diversity from complementary perspectives, construct diverse digital datasets and develop technologies for documenting and analyzing such data. Such unique collaboration and data infrastructure enable a holistic understanding of how past human and cultural diversity have evolved, transformed, and created the diversity we see now, and how ongoing migrations and communication networks are likely to affect them both in the physical and digital world.

Job description

The current postdoctoral position is intended for a researcher who will approach the themes of Human Diversity consortium from an evolutionary linguistic perspective studying e.g. the interplay between vertical and horizontal transmission and how this affects linguistic evolution, or what are the drivers of language diversity and/or linguistic/typological contacts. The position is located at the department of Finnish, Finno-Ugric and Scandinavian languages, and thus the spatial scope should include the North Eurasian linguistic landscape.

We are looking for a researcher who will study language evolution within a historical and computational framework. The aim of the position is to strengthen the computational typological aspect of evolutionary linguistics at the Human Diversity consortium. We offer both established methodological framework (based on adaptations from population genetic, phylogenetics, ecology and geography) and an already collected datasets, that are compiled into a Uralic Trove data infrastructure (please see  www.bedlan.net).

Associate professor Outi Vesakoski is the PI leader of the BEDLAN research program  (Biological Evolution and Diversification of Languages), which supports the evolutionary linguistic research in the Human Diversity consortium, and the postdoctoral researcher is expected to collaborate closely with these research programs. For the interdisciplinary study of the human past there is also genetic and cultural expertise available within the Human Diversity consortium. The postdoc's work tasks also include some teaching (at maximum 5% of working time).

More information about the consortium: www.humandiversity.fi and about the research program Biological Evolution and Diversification of Languages (BEDLAN): www.bedlan.net

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Who we are looking for

The candidate should hold a completed doctorate degree in general linguistics, Finno-Ugristics, Fennistics or other linguistic field relevant to the research, or have computational background with specialisation to linguistics. Their scientific and professional background should align with the following specific qualifications:

  • Expertise in linguistic typology
  • Experience in management of big(gish) data and combining data sources
  • Expertise in computational linguistics (e.g. fluency in R, Julia, SAS and/or Python, experience in Bayesian and/or frequentative statistics)
  • Experience in publishing research articles in international peer-reviewed scientific journals,
  • Fluent oral and written communication skills in English.

The following skills are an advantageous but not requirements: Experience in contact linguistics, areal linguistics, Uralic languages and/or North-Eurasian languages, previous successful experience in multidisciplinary working environment and writing multi-authored papers.

We seek a highly motivated, enthusiastic and hard-working candidate. The applicant must show good interpersonal skills and be willing to work in close collaboration with the project PI and other members of the international and multidisciplinary Human Diversity team, as well as have the ability to work independently.

We value equality and diversity in our work community and encourage qualified applicants, regardless of background, to apply for our open positions.

Benefits

We offer you responsible and interesting tasks and the opportunity to develop your professional skills in a versatile operating environment. You get a professional and inspiring team to support your work. We take care of your well-being at work and the functionality of your everyday life, e.g. with the help of flexible working hours and our well-being services.

Please read more about University of Turku as an employee from our Come work with us! pages.

The European Commission has awarded the University of Turku the right to use the HR Excellence in Research logo. The logo is a token of the University's commitment to continuous development of the position and working conditions of researchers according to the guidelines set forth in the European Charter for Researchers. 

The university offers good support and orientation for international hires. Please learn more about the Finnish culture and relocation to Finland:

Salary and trial period

The salary for the position is determined in accordance with the candidate’s qualifications and experience based on the University salary system. For a postdoctoral researcher salary follows the levels 5-6 for teaching and research personnel. In addition, a personal work performance component will be paid, which is 6-50% of the task-specific salary component. In the beginning of the employment the salary will be approximately 3400 - 4300 €/month. All standard pension benefits and occupational health care are provided for university employees.

The position has a trial period of six months.

How to apply

Please submit your application through our  online recruitment system. A link to the application form can be found at the beginning of this page (“Apply for the job”). The closing date for applications is 31.1.2025 at 16.00 (Europe/Helsinki).

Please write your application and accompanying documents in English. 

Applicants should enclose with their application:

  • motivation letter, including statement of motivation, summarizing scientific work and research interest
  • CV, including education, positions, professional experience, names and contact details of two academic referees
  • list of publications
  • degree certificate(s) 
  • other documents that may influence the filling of the position (Attach as “Other attachment” in the portal)

Further information

For further information about the position, please contact: Associate professor Outi Vesakoski, Outi.Vesakoski(at)utu.fi

With questions about the application process, please contact: HR-specialist, Maija Österlund, maija.osterlund(at)utu.fi

School of Languages and Translation Studies

The School of Languages and Translation Studies (SLT) is an international teaching and research centre that trains various types of experts in languages, cultures and communication. Our research focuses on different phenomena in languages and cultures, such as multilingualism and language contacts during different times and eras, interaction and variation, language and cognition, translation, as well as literary studies.

The Faculty of Humanities at the University of Turku aims to develop its surrounding society by training experienced, open-minded and critical experts for the societal needs of both Finland and the world. Our task is to act as the maintainers and promoters of civilisation. The Faculty operates in two locations, in Turku and Pori.

The University of Turku is an inspiring and international academic community of 25,000 students and staff in Southwest Finland. We build a sustainable future with multidisciplinary research, education, and collaboration. With us, your work will have a significant impact and relevance in the changing world.

See our open vacancies

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You have 6 hours to complete your application before the timeout.

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Postdoctoral researcher in Evolutionary Language Sciences

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