Missions

The candidate will be joining an interdisciplinary laboratory. It is made up of several research teams comprising senior researchers, post-docs and PhD students working together on several projects, exploring scientific literature and experimental methodologies.
The role of the research assistant is to contribute to the team and the laboratory, in particular as part of the Heliceo Project, 'Linguistic Heritage, Oral Cultures, Education in Oceania'. He/she will help the team to develop and implement projects on early language acquisition in under-represented languages and cultures from a quantitative perspective, by preparing interventions and monitoring collaborations. The assistant contributes to pre-existing projects, creating many opportunities to broaden his/her skills (e.g. conducting behavioral studies, management, statistical analysis, writing and publishing, etc.). He/she may be required to work autonomously once objectives have been set, respecting the team's methodology and objectives. In addition, he/she participates in the life of the laboratory, in meetings and on various other occasions. Finally, he/she contributes to the development of the Heliceo project within the set deadlines.
Regular mentoring is used to help team members understand their career goals and take steps to achieve them.

Activities

-Read current literature on language acquisition, under-represented languages, and large-scale data (collection and analysis).
-Learn about hardware options (recorders, bodycams, headcams, etc.).
-Conduct research activities (select hardware, make pilot recordings, analyze recordings, revise code).
-Follow the Heliceo project according to the timeline.
-Organize documents related to data sharing and ethical regulation, including agreements with collaborators.
-Monitor collaborators who commit to data collection, providing them with support.
-Create internal reports (e.g., usage instructions), incorporating feedback from all stakeholders.
-Collaborate with other team members on other research outputs (e.g., scientific papers).
-Assist the team (conferences, interventions, and other project preparations).

Skills

-Bachelor's or Master's degree in Psychology, Speech Therapy, Linguistics, Cognitive Science, or a related field.
-Technical/experimental and scientific knowledge for collecting behavioral data.
-Experience with vocal data and annotation is desirable.
-Interest in open science.
-Autonomous, rigorous, and well-organized individual.
-Strong interpersonal and communication skills (ability to understand and follow instructions, explain completed work, etc.).
-Fluent communication skills in French and English are essential (however, an exceptional level of written French/English is NOT required).

Work Context

The aim of our LAAC (Language Acquisition Across Cultures, see website: https://lscp.dec.ens.fr/fr/recherche/equipes-du-lscp/lacquisition-du-langage-travers-differentes-cultures) team is to shed light on the mechanisms and processes involved in early language acquisition in a variety of cultures and language communities. To this end, we use an interdisciplinary approach (ranging from computational modelling to laboratory experiments and advanced data analysis) in the context of open, collaborative and publicly engaged science. We have a supportive culture, that is accepting of cultural and individual diversity. The team “Language and its acquisition”, which works on adjacent topics, is also involved in this project.
The successful candidate will benefit from a collegial and positive work environment, with a small team (less than 10 people) that is well integrated in a larger interdisciplinary lab (about 70 people). The Cognitive Sciences and Psycholinguistics Lab (LSCP, see website: https://lscp.dec.ens.fr/) is a joint research unit of the School of Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales), the Ecole Normale Supérieure, and the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique). Within the LSCP, our team works closely with Cognitive Machine Learning (CoML) (see website: https://cognitive-ml.fr/).
If you have any questions, please contact us at laac.lscp@gmail.com.

Constraints and risks

There are no particular constraints or risks.

Additional Information

No possibility of renewal