Researcher, english studies

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Work duties and areas of responsibility
The researcher will conduct a survey of research and prepare for funding applications for the project Pre-attentive neural measures of categorisation in aphasia led by Professor Panos Athanasopoulos.

Any external funds awarded as a result of applications written within this position are expected be allocated to the Centre for Languages and Literature at Lund University. Duties include doing a survey of research on the application of pre-attentive ERP components to clinical populations, identifying methodological considerations in implementing such protocols to populations with aphasia, designing the experimental protocol, taking into account specific cross-linguistic categorical differences between Swedish and other languages, establishing and maintaining contact with partners at the Humanities Lab and the Neurology Department, and writing up the funding application for submission to the appropriate funder

Project description
The ability to categorize is the cornerstone of human thinking. Language influences categorical perception, i.e., our ability to better discriminate objects from two categories than objects from the same category. In other words, having labels for things makes us notice them more. The current project extends this line of investigation to a population that may not be able to readily rely on lexical categories for the purposes of categorisation, namely people with aphasia. The aim is to study early, unconscious stages of categorization, as indexed by Event Related Brain Potentials (ERPs), to assess underlying comprehension of semantic categories and to identify neural markers of risk and recovery.

Having established neural signatures of unconscious categorisation in aphasia, a second phase of the project aims to focus on bilingual aphasia. While we know that degree of impairment and recovery of languages may vary in the bilingual individual depending on a number of factors, virtually nothing is known about the degree to which each of the bilingual’s languages may underpin early unconscious stages of categorical perception. Uncovering these neural markers may ultimately help inform therapy protocols to determine which language to focus on in rehabilitation.


Applicants must have

a PhD with a specialization in bilingualism and/or aphasia from a neurocognitive perspective, or an international degree equivalent to a PhD, completed no more than five years before the application deadline. Parental leave, illness, etc. is taken into account but must be documented; documented capacity to independently design, develop, and execute ERP experimental protocols, and analyze and interpret EEG data; experience with experiment generating software, advanced programming (e.g. Python, MATLAB), and advanced statistical packages (e.g. R); native level of Swedish and excellent English language skills.


Additional qualifications

documented expertise in ERP components of pre-attentive processing (e.g. Mismatch Negativity); additional experience in implementing ERP protocols in patients and/or bilinguals; documented ability to develop and carry out research of high international quality in relevant research fields, and to obtain external research funding, commensurate to career stage.


About the position
The position is full-time for two months, with the first day of employment on 1 November 2022 at the latest. Last day of employment is 31 December 2022.

Applications
Applications are to be written in English and must include the following:

- CV (max. 2 pages).
2. Certified copy of the applicant’s PhD degree certificate.
3. Cover letter (max. 1 page).
4. Complete list of publications with five of the most important scholarly publications marked with asterisks (including the PhD thesis).
No publications are to be attached to the application. The applicant may be asked to submit the five most significant publications later.

Om Humanistiska och teologiska fakulteterna

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