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: Bridging the Gap: Bilingualism and Dyslexia (BRIDGE) /FPI-Plan Nacional
- Location: Spain > Donostia-San Sebastián
- Research Field: Neuroscience > Cognition and Language
- Type of contract/Duration of Contract: Temporary: 4 years
- Job Status: Full-time
- Hours per week: 35
- Starting date: Subject to the call’s allowance, the contract shall start on the 1st of December 2025; if not, it shall start on the 1st of January 2026.
- Application deadline: 1st of November 2025
Information about the project:
The Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL) is offering a PhD position within the “BRIDGE”project. This project undertakes a comprehensive interdisciplinary investigation of the psycholinguistic, neurocognitive, and neuroanatomical bases of reading and reading disabilities (dyslexia) that will elucidate: (1) how information is routed through brain circuits to support reading; (2) how information flows in the reading circuitry of individuals with dyslexia; (3) how reading circuitry accommodates diverse orthographies (grapheme-to-phoneme mappings); (4) how breakdowns in the reading circuitry leads to reading disabilities, in particular to dyslexia, impeding the acquisition of fluent reading skills. The general goal is to investigate the neurobiological correlates of reading and of failures in learning to read by contrasting brain activations for languages with different orthographies in typical readers and comparing them to people with reading disabilities, with special focus on the time course of information and the effects of different orthographies.
Job description:
- Designing and implementing a longitudinal study in adult bilingual learners of a second language (spoken or signed), to investigate changes in Cortical Tracking of Speech (CTS) across time and modality
- Analysing functional and structural brain recordings
- Writing research papers under the supervision of the PIs, aiming to publish at top-tier journals
- Dissemination of results at international scientific conferences
PI and research group:
Prof. Manuel Carreiras - Neurobiology of Language group.
- CANDIDATE PROFILE AND SELECTION CRITERIA
Required skills:
- 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:
- Experience in participating in research projects (e.g., data collection, analysis)
- Experience with MEG or EEG data analysis.
- Knowledge of Basque, Spanish or LSE (or willingness to learn) is a plus
- WORKING CONDITIONS
Salary: 24.348,77€ annual gross + A €7,000 grant to cover expenses arising from research stays at R&D centers and from tuition fees for doctoral studies
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 but the national language will be an asset for this particular position
- 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 position BRIDGE 2025” 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 (submitted by the referees no later than the application deadline)
Learn more about the BCBL’s OTM-R policy
Application process timeline:
- Deadline for application: 1st of November 2025
- Evaluation by committee: 12th of November 2025
- Interviews: from 13th of November to 21st of November 2025
- Final decision: 24th of November 2025
- Feedback to all applicants: 25th of November 2025
- Work contract start date: subject to the call’s allowance, the contract shall start on the 1st of December 2025; if not, it shall start on the 1st of January 2026.
Contact details for enquiries:
For technical problems with the calls platform please contact: hr@bcbl.eu
For inquiries or questions related to the content of the position and/or information about the project and the research group please contact: m.carreiras@bcbl.eu
