Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Foreign Languages and Translation

University of Agder
The University of Agder has more than 1400 employees and 13 000 students. This makes us one of the largest workplaces in Southern Norway. Our staff research, teach and disseminate knowledge from a variety of academic fields. Co-creation of knowledge is our common vision. We offer a broad range of study programmes in many fields. We are situated at two modern campuses in Kristiansand and Grimstad respectively.

We are an open and inclusive university marked by a culture of cooperation. The aim of the university is to further develop education and research at a high international level.

A fixed-term 100 % position is available at the University of Agder, Faculty of Humanities and Education, as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow affiliated to the Department of Foreign Languages and Translation, for a period of three years. The position is located at the University of Agder's Kristiansand campus. The starting date is the 1st of October 2020. About the Faculty: https://www.uia.no/en/about-uia/faculties/faculty-of-humanities-and-education

The application and any necessary information about education and experience (including diplomas and certificates) are to be sent electronically. Use the link "Apply for this job". https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/183694/postdoctoral-research-fellow-at-the-department-of-foreign-languages-and-translation

For questions about the position: Professor Linda Wheeldon linda.r.wheeldon@uia.no
For questions about the application process: Head of Department Tale M. Guldal tale.guldal@uia.no

The position is linked to a research project funded by the Norwegian Research Council entitled Fitness, Ageing and Bilingualism (FAB) 2020-2023: The benefits of regular physical activity and bilingualism for language abilities in healthy ageing. This international project is a collaboration between the Universities of Agder in Norway and Birmingham in the U.K. The project is also interdisciplinary, involving a collaboration between the fields of psycholinguistics and health sciences.

Responsibilities
The successful candidate will be based at UiA in Kristiansand and work with Professors Linda Wheeldon and Allison Wetterlin. The postdoctoral researcher will have responsibility for running the experiments on bilinguals in Norway and will work primarily within the Experimental Linguistics Laboratory (ELL https://ell.uia.no and https://www.uia.no/en/research/humaniora-og-pedagogikk/experimental-linguistics).

The aim of the project is to investigate language function in normal, healthy ageing. The project will investigate two factors that might ameliorate cognitive decline in older adults: speaking a second language and regular physical exercise. The project will compare the cognitive function of young and older English monolinguals and Norwegian-English bilinguals and relate it to key aspects of language use and language proficiency. The project will also run a physical activity intervention with older adults to determine the benefits associated with increased cardiovascular fitness for mono- and bilinguals.

Required qualifications
A PhD degree in psycholinguistics or experimental psychology
(Candidates must have obtained their doctorate or have submitted their doctoral thesis before the appointment decision is made and must have defended their thesis by the starting date)
Interest in psycholinguistics and/or cognitive changes due to healthy ageing, bilingualism, ageing research and physical exercise research
Excellent spoken and written English
Strong data analysis skills, including mixed effects modelling in R
Extensive experience with experimental design and statistical analysis
Strong academic writing skills (academic paper(s) published or submitted)
Strong academic presentations skills (posters or oral presentations)

The position is remunerated according to the State Salary Scale, salary plan 17.510, code 1352, NOK 552 800 - 573 100 gross salary per year. Higher salary grades may be considered for particularly well-qualified applicants. A compulsory pension contribution to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund is deducted from the pay according to current statutory provisions.