This PhD position at Utrecht University focuses on early bilingual language development, specifically how bilingual infants learn and distinguish the sound properties of two languages in their speech environment. The project adopts an interdisciplinary approach, combining linguistics, psychology, and artificial intelligence to collect and analyse bilingual infant-directed speech, test infants’ reliance on sound cues, and use computational models to simulate language learning. The successful candidate will work with Dutch-English bilingual families to build a corpus of infant-directed speech and conduct headturn-preference experiments to study language discrimination skills in infants. The research is embedded within the Institute for Language Sciences (ILS), offering collaboration with a diverse team of researchers and support from student assistants. The position includes completion and defence of an article-based PhD thesis within four years, regular presentation of research results, publication in peer-reviewed journals, participation in training programmes, and co-organisation of project workshops and conferences. Applicants should have an (R)MA degree in a relevant discipline, high proficiency in English and Dutch, and knowledge in areas such as phonetics, phonology, language development, early speech perception, or bilingualism. Experience with infant research and quantitative linguistic methods is advantageous. The position offers a competitive salary, holiday and year-end bonuses, pension scheme, and flexible employment terms. Candidates must reside in the Netherlands during the appointment. The application process requires submission of a CV, motivation letter, academic transcripts, thesis, publications, and referee contact details. The project is funded by NWO and led by Dr. Frans Adriaans. The application deadline is 1 December 2025, with interviews scheduled for January 2026 and a starting date of 1 April 2026.