RESEARCH ASSISTANT 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: Research Assistant
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: Cognitive Neuroscience
Type of contract/Duration of Contract: Temporary - 4 years
Job Status: Full-time
Hours per week: 35
Starting date: 1^st of September 2025
Ending date: 30^th of June 2025

Information about the project:

The Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL) is offering a Research Assistant 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. The research involves acquiring behavioural, MEG, and MRI data from young Basque-Spanish bilingual children (aged 5–12) with or without a familial risk of dyslexia.

Job description:

Coordinate participant recruitment through outreach activities in relevant educational and clinical institutions
Collaborate on the finalization and implementation of experimental designs
Collect behavioural and neuroimaging data from bilingual children
Preprocess both neuroimaging and behavioural data
Participate in regular scientific meetings of the research group
Contribute to the dissemination of research findings to the general public

PI and research group:

Marie Lallier, Ikerbasque Research Professor and leader of the Educational Neuroscience and Developmental Disorders group, will supervise the research assistant’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.

CANDIDATE PROFILE AND SELECTION CRITERIA

Required skills:

Previous experience working with children and communicating with their families
Excellent written and oral communication skills in Basque and Spanish
Strong organizational and interpersonal skills
Proficiency in organizing and visualizing data (e.g., using Excel)

Desirable skills:

Master’s degree in Psychology, Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, or a related field
Experience with state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques and data analysis
Previous involvement in research projects (e.g., data collection, analysis)
Good written and oral communication skills in English
Familiarity with statistical software such as RStudio

WORKING CONDITIONS

Salary: 19,200€/year gross

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 opportunities 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 corporate language at the Center is English
The center offers initial level Spanish, Basque and Spanish Sign Language lessons to all 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 “Research Assistant Position - ERC Consolidator Grant - BIBALANCE” and attach the following documentation: