PhD CANDIDATE POSITION – ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANT - BIBALANCE

at the BCBL- Basque Center on Cognition Brain and Language (San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain) www.bcbl.eu

INFORMATION ABOUT THE POSITION

Position: PhD student
Researcher Profile: First Stage Researcher (R1- up to the point of PhD)
Number of vacancies: 1
Project: ERC Consolidator Grant - BIBALANCE: Early bilingualism boosts the brain's resilience to dyslexia.
Location: Spain > Donostia-San Sebastián
Research Field: Biomedical Engineering
Type of contract/Duration of Contract: Temporary: 4 years.
Job Status: Full-time
Hours per week: 35
Starting date: September 2025 (flexible)
Ending date: 30^th of June 2025

Information about the project: The Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL) is offering a PhD position within the BIBALANCE project, recently funded by the European Research Council (ERC). The project aims to investigate the impact of early bilingualism on the brain’s resilience to dyslexia. Specifically, we will examine whether bilingualism can help mitigate early genetic susceptibility to dyslexia by following bilingual children with and without a family history of dyslexia, from before the start of formal reading instruction (the final year of kindergarten) through to two years after (end of Grade 2), when dyslexia can be reliably diagnosed. To achieve this objective, we will use both behavioural and neuroimaging techniques, including MEG and MRI.

Job description:

Designing and implementing a longitudinal study in young bilingual children with and without familiar risk of dyslexia
Analysing functional and structural brain recordings
Writing research papers under the supervision of the PI, aiming to publish at top-tier journals
Dissemination of results at international scientific conferences

PI and research group:

Marie Lallier, Ikerbasque Research Professor and leader of the Educational Neuroscience and Developmental Disorders group, will supervise the PhD student’s work and tasks. The successful candidate will join a dynamic and vibrant research team composed of predoctoral, postdoctoral, and senior researchers collaborating on the BIBALANCE project. The group has extensive experience in clinical and educational neurocognitive science research and employs a wide range of behavioural and neuroimaging techniques (e.g., EEG, MEG), as well as diverse experimental designs (e.g., longitudinal, training-based, and single-case studies) involving young populations with or without developmental language disorders. The team is also strongly committed to the societal impact of science, actively engaging in the transfer of scientific knowledge to society by working closely with clinicians and educators and fostering dialogue between scientists and the broader community.

The project will be carried out in close collaboration with researchers from the Infant Language and Cognition Research Group and the Neurobiology of Language Research Group at the BCBL.

CANDIDATE PROFILE AND SELECTION CRITERIA

Requirements:

Good knowledge of the field of cognitive neuroscience and/or linguistics, experimental psychology
Master’s (or equivalent) degree in Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Linguistics, and/or other relevant areas
Experience with brain signal analyses
Strong background in experiment programming and statistical analyses
Excellent written and oral communication skills in English

Desirable skills:

Previous experience in participating in research projects (e.g., data collection, analysis) is desired
Experience with research projects in children
Knowledge of Basque and Spanish (or willingness to learn) is a plus

WORKING CONDITIONS

Salary: 21,000€/year gross on average across the four years of the contract

Entitlements and other benefits: https://www.bcbl.eu/en/join-us/what-is-like-to-work-bcbl

Training opportunities and Career development plan:

Researchers at any stage of their career, regardless of their contractual situation, are given an opportunity for professional development and for improving their employability through access to a Personal Career Development Plan which includes

(1) Training through individually personalized research projects under senior supervision

(2) Exchanging knowledge with the scientific community and the general public

(3) Network-wide training in theory and methods

(4) Complementary training courses

(5) Involvement in proposal writing, task coordination

(6) Development of skills for the organization of training and scientific events

BCBL seeks to foster an environment where all talents can flourish, regardless of gender, age, cultural background, nationality or impairments. If you have any questions relating to accessibility or support contact us.

OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION

Language policy

The corporative language at the Center is English
The center provides initial level Spanish and Basque lessons to all the international staff members
The interview will be conducted entirely in English

APPLICATION PROCESS

Submission of the application and documentation:

To submit your application, please follow this link: applying for “PhD Candidate Position - ERC Consolidator Grant - BIBALANCE” and attach the following documentation:

A curriculum vitae
A statement outlining research interests and motivation to apply for the position
Transcript of records for the master and bachelor degrees
Two letters of recommendation

Learn more about the BCBL’s OTM-R policy

Timeline: