Activez les alertes d’offres d’emploi par e-mail !
A prestigious research institution in France is seeking a postdoctoral researcher to work on the ERC-funded InfantSimulator Project, focusing on the intersections of linguistics and AI. Candidates should have a PhD in Linguistics and experience with data science. The position is funded for 2 years with a salary ranging from 2,400 to 3,000 euros/month net before taxes. Interested candidates should apply via email with specified documents.
Would you like to help us make EURAXESS even better? Take this very quick user satisfaction survey - it won’t take more than 5 minutes!
Psychological sciences » Cognitive science
Organisation/Company Ecole Normale Supérieure Research Field Language sciences » Linguistics Psychological sciences » Cognitive science Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) Positions Postdoc Positions Country France Application Deadline 31 Oct 2025 - 23:59 (Europe/Paris) Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 35 Offer Starting Date 1 Nov 2025 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe - ERC Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No
The Cognitive Machine Learning team of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales and Ecole Normale Supérieure (PSL University) seeks to recruit one postdoctoral researcher at the intersection between linguistics and AI to work within the ERC-funded InfantSimulator Project.
InfantSimulator investigates the mechanisms enabling young children to learn their native language(s), and do so apparently much more efficiently and robustly than current AI systems. The successful candidate will be integrated into a multidisciplinary team comprising language scientists, developmental psychologists, and machine learning experts.
They will develop quantitative methods to compare humans and current AI models (speech language models) in their ability to acquire a language based on the limited quantity and noisy data available to young children in real life. They will in particular examine the extreme case of language emergence in which the learner receives such a limited input that they develop a new (proto)language. The task will be to develop metrics or criteria to compare the properties of the emerging language to those found across the typology of human languages. If interested, candidates may participate in the teams’ activities in (co)advising master and PhD students and/or teaching.
We expect candidates with a strong background in theoretical/typological/experimental linguistics (PhD level required), and at least basic skills in data science or machine learning (good command of high-level languages like Python or R). Familiarity with the language acquisition area would be a strong advantage. Excellent communication skills, team spirit, and an ability to work in autonomy are essential; open science experience is highly valued, as well as an appetite for multidisciplinarity and the ability to think outside of the box. Fluent English, both spoken and written, is required.
The salary will be adjusted to the candidate’s post-doctoral experience (salary range 2,400-3,000 euros/month net before income taxes).
The position would start in the fall of 2025 or early 2026, is funded for 2 years, and includes a relocation package.
Applications and requests for information:
E-mail syntheticlearner@gmail.com
Research Field Language sciences » Linguistics Education Level PhD or equivalent
Research Field Psychological sciences » Cognitive science Education Level PhD or equivalent
Research Field Computer science » Programming Education Level Master Degree or equivalent
Languages ENGLISH Level Excellent
Research Field Language sciences » LinguisticsPsychological sciences » Cognitive scienceMathematics » AlgorithmsComputer science » Programming