Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia) invites applications for 2 full-time Ph.D. positions. These positions are fully funded (Tuition waiver A$45,322 per year + Stipend A$ 28,092 per year + Research support A$20,000 over 3 years), associated with a project funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC): “Beyond segments: towards a lexical model for tonal bilinguals” led by Dr. Xin Wang (Department of Linguistics/Centre for Language Sciences/Macquarie University Centre for Reading), in collaboration with Prof. Bob McMurray (Psychology and Linguistics, University of Iowa, USA). The supervisory team, in addition to the project investigators, includes world-leading scholars from Linguistics and Cognitive Science at MQ, with easy access to technologies like Eye-trackers, EEG, and MEGs. The positions are available till filled.

General requirements for the Ph.D. posts:

• MA/MSc degree in Psychology (Cognitive Science), Linguistics (esp. in Phonetics), Neuroscience, or other Science-related fields

• Strong experimental (e.g., programming) and data analysis skills

• Substantial experiences with Eye-trackers are desirable

• Excellent communication skills in English

• Highly motivated, with the ability to conduct independent research

Project summary: Lexical tones are a prevalent phonetic cue in human languages, but understanding how bilinguals use this suprasegmental information in each of their two languages is far from clear in the spoken domain. This project focuses on the basic cognitive/linguistic mechanisms that drive bilingual lexical processing in both comprehension and production. In a series of behavioral and eye-tracking studies, we will test whether and how tonal information in one language is co-activated when processing the target language under different conditions and how this process is affected by individual differences such as L2 proficiency.

Macquarie University hosts leading groups in Cognitive Sciences and Linguistics providing a vibrant interdisciplinary scientific environment. Sydney is a multicultural city with beautiful beaches and high quality of life.

Initially, interested applicants please send your CV and a short letter of motivation to Xin Wang (x.wang1@mq.edu.au )