PhD Position: Cognitive Aspects of Language Contact in the Balkan Language Area Université Côte d'Azur in France

This fully funded PhD position at Université Côte d'Azur (hosted by CNRS, BCL UMR7320) in Nice, France, is part of the MindContact project, funded by the French National Agency (ANR). The project investigates the cognitive aspects of contact-induced language change in the Balkan peninsula, blending psycholinguistic and contact linguistics perspectives. The Balkans, known for their linguistic diversity and intense language contact, provide a unique environment to study how different morphosyntactic features blend across languages.

The research will focus on minoritized language varieties (such as Romani, Pomak, Judeo-Espagnol/Ladino) and regional variants (such as Asia Minor Greek, Rumelian Turkish) under the influence of dominant societal languages like South Slavic languages, Modern Standard Greek, and Turkish. The PhD candidate will concentrate on grammatical phenomena including tense/aspect, evidentiality, indefinite articles, phrase structure, and word order in one or two of these minoritized languages. The project aims to uncover the cognitive mechanisms of language change by investigating cross-linguistic structural priming, codeswitching, and chunking.

The successful candidate will design and conduct psycholinguistic experiments using behavioral, eye-movement monitoring, and electrophysiological methods, often in fieldwork settings, and will analyze data and prepare publications. Applicants must have a master’s degree with top grades in linguistics, cognitive science, psychology, or related fields, and a strong background in experimental psycholinguistic methods. Proficiency in at least one, and working knowledge of another, Balkan language is required, with preference for speakers of the minoritized languages under study. Excellent academic English is essential; French is desirable but not mandatory.

The position offers a net monthly salary of approximately 1700€, with a 36-month contract. Applications are open internationally and should be submitted by email, including a CV, motivation letter, research proposal, academic transcripts, and referee contacts. The application window is open until filled, with preference for applications before March 2026.