Doctoral student in African languages within the project "Expressing time without verbs: non-verbal

Om jobbet

The University of Gothenburg tackles society's challenges with diverse knowledge. 58 000 students and 6800 employees make the university a large and inspiring place to work and study. Strong research and attractive study programmes attract researchers and students from around the world. With new knowledge and new perspectives, the University contributes to a better future.

We welcome applicants with diverse backgrounds and experiences. The University works actively to achieve a working environment with equal conditions and values the qualities that diversity brings to its operations.

We offer

The University of Gothenburg is a state authority, which means excellent employment benefits such as wellness time during working hours, compensation for medical visits, a base vacation of 28 days, and an occupational pension. You can read more about our employment benefits here.

The Department of Languages and Literatures is the largest department within the Faculty of Humanities, with approximately 100 employees (including 11 doctoral students) and about 1,200 full-time equivalent students. For more information about the department, please visit our website: https://www.gu.se/en/languages

The Department of Languages and Literatures offers doctoral education in 11 subjects. The advertised doctoral position is part of a broad and dynamic research environment, where research is conducted in languages and literatures based on a broad cultural contextualisation and a broad spectrum of theoretical foundations and applications. The department has four overarching research areas that encompass parts of our research: Literary and cultural studies, Language in society, Linguistic structures, and Language learning and language teaching. You can read more about research at the department here.

Project description

The aim of this project is to describe and analyse the system of non-verbal copula constructions in Xhosa and Southern Bantu. It will explore what kind of inflection can be expressed on a noun or other part-of-speech, by means of a copula that is different per noun class and hence not a verb. The project will answer questions about the use of the noun as a predicate in interaction and its underlying motivations and mechanisms in relation to other languages of the world. In doing so, it will contribute to the overarching question of what is possible in human language. Furthermore, the project will account for the grammaticalization and historical development of the non-verbal copula forms in Southern Bantu, some of which are merely tonal in nature. The doctoral candidate will achieve this through fieldwork on site, supported by the PI and collaborating researchers. Moreover, the project will rely on - and make additional contributions to - the Corpus of spoken isiXhosa as hosted by Språkbanken text.

The project is funded by the Swedish Research Council (VR 2025-01646).

Duties

Work tasks will include participating in the research group's collaborative efforts to develop the project, conducting fieldwork and data collection in South Africa, processing and analyzing data, performing linguistic analyses of the collected material, disseminating research findings both orally and in writing, as well as engaging in national and international collaboration within the research area.

A doctoral student is expected to pursue studies at the research level in accordance with the general syllabus for the subject to which they are admitted. The intended outcome of the education is the completion of a PhD. The doctoral student should develop the knowledge and skills required to independently conduct research within the subject by producing a scholarly dissertation.

The doctoral student is expected to carry out their work in Gothenburg and to regularly and consistently take part in the department's on-site activities at the department. This includes active participation in subject-specific and other research seminars. The working language of the department is Swedish, and, if needed, the university offers introductory courses in the Swedish language.

Doctoral studies comprise four years of full-time study. As part of your employment as a doctoral student, you may have departmental duties amounting to up to 20% of full-time employment, distributed throughout your study period. These duties will result in a corresponding extension of your studies. Departmental duties usually consist of teaching at first- and second-cycle levels, but may also include research and administration.

Eligibility

Doctoral education requires general eligibility as well as the specific eligibility set out in the general syllabus for the subject. The general eligibility requirements for doctoral studies are:

1. having completed a degree at second-cycle level, or
2. the fulfilment of course requirements totalling at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits must be at second-cycle level, or
3. the acquisition of equivalent knowledge in some other way, either in Sweden or abroad.

To be admitted to doctoral education in African Languages, in addition to general entry requirements, the following is required:

1. 30 higher education credits in a linguistics-oriented subject area in the second cycle, at least 15 of which must be from a degree project, or equivalent knowledge, and
2. the type of English skills needed to be able to benefit from compulsory coursework, actively participate in seminars etc.

For more information about the general and specific requirements, please refer to the general syllabus.

Assessment criteria

The selection of applicants who meet the basic and specific eligibility requirements will be based on the ability to assimilate the doctoral studies. As a basis for the selection process, the applicant is required to attach:

1. Theses, independent projects (degree projects), and any publications. These will be used to assess the applicant's ability to formulate and delimit research tasks, as well as to analyze and present research results.
2. A preliminary research plan of no more than 1,500 words (including references) that (a) outlines a possible timeline for fieldwork/desk-based research over the 4-5 years, (b) briefly describes the proposed methodology, and (c) contextualizes the expected results in relation to the current state of research. The research plan should also demonstrate that the applicant possesses the language skills relevant to the project (see project description above) required for conducting fieldwork, as well as language proficiency enabling active participation in seminars and similar activities. The actual dissertation project plan for the admitted candidate will be developed in collaboration with the supervisor and be adaptable to changing circumstances.

The applicant's academic results and qualifications, documented in the CV, diploma, and transcripts, are also taken into account in the assessment. The assessment criteria applied are described in the subject's general syllabus.

Admission and selection are also conditional on the Department's supervisory resources within the doctoral student's research focus. Admission may also involve an interview and reference checks, in addition to a review of the submitted qualifications. Admission decisions are made by the Head of Department following preparatory work within the Department.

Admission and employment

Once you have been admitted to doctoral studies, you will be employed as a doctoral student at the University of Gothenburg.

The provisions for employment as a doctoral student can be found in ordinance SFS 1993:100. Initial employment as a doctoral student may apply for a maximum of one year and may be renewed by a maximum of two years at a time. A doctoral student may be employed as a doctoral student for a maximum of eight years, but the total period of employment may not be longer than the equivalent of full-time education at doctoral level for four years.

Please note, doctoral studies at the Department of Languages and Literatures require physical presence to conduct the studies. If the admitted applicant needs a residence permit for higher education to pursue studies in Sweden, the department has the right to revoke the admission decision if the applicant cannot present a valid residence permit no later than at the start of the studies.

Type of employment: Fixed-term employment, HF 5 kap 7§
Extent: 100 %
Location: Department of Languages and Literatures, Gothenburg University, Gothenburg
First day of employment: April 1 or by agreement.

The University applies a local agreement on salaries for doctoral students. The agreement is only available in Swedish, please contact us if you would like to know more.

Selection process

Selection, interviews, and assessments are conducted by the recruitment group at the department. The decision on admission is made by the head of department.

More information regarding the University's recruitment process you will find here.

Contact information

For questions about our third-cycle studies please contact associate head of third cycle studies, Linda K. Hammarfelt, Linda.Karlsson.Hammarfelt@sprak.gu.se.

For questions about the project and the subject please contact the project leader, Eva-Marie Bloom Ström, eva-marie.strom@gu.se.

For questions regarding the application, recruitment process, or employment conditions, please contact HR officer Karin Sjöstrand, Karin.Sjostrand@sprak.gu.se.

Unions

Union representatives at the University of Gothenburg can be found here.

Application

You can apply to be admitted to doctoral education via the University of Gothenburg's recruitment portal. It is your responsibility to ensure that the application is complete as per this notice, and that the University receives it by the final application deadline. For any scientific publications, writings, or similar materials that cannot be attached to the application in electronic form, please contact personalhandlaggare@sprak.gu.se well in advance of the application deadline.

The application must be written in Swedish or English.

For the application to be considered complete it must include:

1. A motivation letter (maximum 500 words) outlining the candidate's interest in and suitability for the position. The letter should include the following four points in order: (a) a brief presentation of yourself and your qualifications, (b) a short description of how you, with your qualifications and knowledge of languages relevant to the project (i.e., Xhosa or another Nguni language), can contribute to the research project, and (c) a brief explanation of why the Department of Languages and Literatures and the research project are of interest to you.
2. A CV, including a statement of language skills and any previous fieldwork experience, a list of qualifications, and, if applicable, a list of publications.
3. Bachelor's thesis, Master's thesis, independent projects, and (if applicable) up to three other research publications that the applicant wishes to cite.
4. A preliminary research plan of no more than 1,500 words that (a) outlines a possible timeline for fieldwork/desk-based research over the 4-5 years, (b) briefly describes the proposed methodology, and (c) contextualizes the expected results in relation to the current state of research. The research plan should also demonstrate that the applicant possesses the language skills relevant to the project (see project description above) required to carry out fieldwork, as well as language proficiency enabling active participation in seminars and similar activities.
5. Degree certificates and official transcripts from Ladok, or equivalent, showing completed courses. The documents must demonstrate that you meet the requirements for general eligibility as well as the requirements for specific eligibility or equivalent in accordance with the general syllabus for African languages. Foreign degree certificates must be submitted both in the original language and in an authorized English translation.

Applications must be received by: 2025-12-17

The University works actively to achieve a working environment with equal conditions, and values the qualities that diversity brings to its operations.

Salaries are set individually at the University.

In accordance with the National Archives of Sweden's regulations, the University must archive application documents for two years after the appointment is filled. If you request that your documents are returned, they will be returned to you once the two years have passed. Otherwise, they will be destroyed.

In connection to this recruitment, we have already decided which recruitment channels we should use. We therefore decline further contact with vendors, recruitment and staffing companies.