New application deadline: May 11th 2020

The Comm4CHILD Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network (MSC ITN, grant agreement 860766) is hiring 15 PhD candidates / Early-Stage Researchers (ESRs) in different domains united around the effort to optimizing the communication with, and social inclusion of children with hearing impairment. The training network includes partners in medical and technological research as well as neuropsychology and speech therapy. The individual research projects are conceptualized within three main topics: (1) Biological diversity in plasticity and adaptation, (2) Multimodality and optimization of cognitive resources, and (3) Environment and enhancement of language skills.

The Comm4CHILD ITN is a consortium of 9 beneficiaries (host organizations) and 9 partner organizations, in the academic and non-academic field, working together to provide an optimal learning environment for the 36-month doctoral training. Each candidate will complete at least one secondment with another beneficiary or partner organization, for a duration of up to 6 months.

All ESRs will be provided with salaries, mobility allowance, social security benefits and, if applicable at the time of hiring, additional family allowance.

Starting date of each ESR project would be in September or October 2020.

We are committed to inclusive recruitment and strive for a gender-balanced team of ESRs. People with disabilities, particularly hearing impairment, are encouraged to apply.

The 15 available ESR positions are:

1 – Binaural restoration in children with SSD – located at the KU Leuven, Belgium
2 – Individual anatomic factors in underperforming patients  – hosted at HörSys, Hannover, Germany, PhD enrolment at the Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Germany
3 – Neural mechanisms of cross-modal plasticity in Hearing Impairment (animal model) – hosted at the Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Germany
4 – Auditory-somatosensory cross-modal plasticity – Hosted at OTIC Medical, Denmark, PhD enrolment at the Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Germany
5 – Temporal course of auditory, labial, and manual signals in Cued Speech (CS) perception – hosted at the Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
6 – The somatosensory function and perceptuo-motor loop in speech communication – hosted at CNRS – GIPSA, Grenoble, France
7 – Improving integration of audio-visual speech cues in children with hearing impairment – hosted at the KU Leuven, Belgium
8 – Effortful listening, cognitive energy, and learning in children fitted with cochlear implant – Hosted at OTIC Medical, Denmark, PhD enrolment at the University of Oslo, Norway
9 – Cognitive intervention – hosted at the University of Oslo, Norway
10 – Development of communication systems and tools related to Sign Language (SL), Cued Speech (CS), and audio-visual speech synthesis – hosted at CNRS-GIPSA, Grenoble, France
11 – Multilingual language development – hosted at the University of Leeds, UK
12 – Multimodal communication – hosted at the University of Leeds, UK
13 – Spelling ability and associated skills – hosted at the Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
14 – Sustaining oral communicative skills in children with cochlear implant – hosted at CNRS-LPNC, Grenoble, France
15 – The phonological body – hosted at the Centre Comprendre et Parler, Brussels, PhD enrolment at Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.

Please find detailed information about each project, and the specifics of each position on our website comm4child.ulb.be

BENEFITS:

Successful applicants are paid a gross monthly salary of 3.270 €, adjusted to the host country correction coefficient. ESRs receive in addition a mobility allowance of 600€ per month and, if applicable at the beginning of the contract, a family allowance of 500€ per month. All amounts are subject to employer and employee deductions and taxes

Family is defined as a person linked to the ESR by marriage or a relationship with equivalent status to a marriage recognized by the country where this relationship was formalized, or dependent children being maintained by the researcher.

In addition, funds are provided to cover the cost of research, networking and training.

The funding covers the 36 months during which the ESR is enrolled for PhD studies at the host institution.

Host-specific details can be found in the individual application calls on our website comm4child.ulb.be

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:

Candidates must have obtained a degree which formally entitles them to embark on a doctorate, either in the country in which the degree was obtained or in the country in which the researcher is recruited.

Candidates must not have resided or carried out their main activity (e.g. work, studies) in the country where they are recruited for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the recruitment date. This excludes short stays such as holidays

Candidates cannot have been awarded a doctoral degree and/or completed more than four years of full-time equivalent research experience.

Please find detailed information about each project, and the specifics of each position on our website comm4child.ulb.be or on our LinkedIn Page (please log in): http://www.linkedin.com/company/comm4CHILD