Researcher – Irony Re-examined in Interactive Settings (IRIS)

About the role

A three-year research position is offered within the Cognitive Science Unit (LUCS) of the Department of Philosophy at Lund University, embedded in the ERC-funded project Irony Re-examined in Interactive Settings (IRIS). The project aims to shift the experimental study of pragmatics by comparing how addressees and overhearers derive inferences from irony, using a new paradigm combining accuracy and rating-scale measures with pupillometry. The work takes place at the Humanities Lab.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the design of experiments on how conversational roles affect pragmatic inference in adult participants, using pupillometry and other behavioural measures
• Collect data from Swedish-speaking adults and analyse the results
• Train research assistants and write up results for publication
• Contribute to project workshops and a special issue
• Mentor students and take part in project meetings and reading circles

Required profile

• Doctoral degree or equivalent in psychology, cognitive science, linguistics, philosophy or a closely related field
• Proven experience designing and running interactive behavioural and/or neurocognitive experiments
• Proven experience analysing experimental data, including mixed-effects regression modelling in R
• Excellent spoken and written English; ability to work independently and in a team

Required skills

• Mixed-effects regression modelling in R
• Merits: knowledge of experimental pragmatics, eye-tracking and/or pupillometry, and supervision of students or research assistants

What we offer

• Government-agency status with special benefits, generous holidays and a favourable occupational pension

Applications go through the university's recruitment system and must include a cover letter, CV, a one-page plan for the research, two writing samples and details of two referees.