Institute for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution

PhD Position in the Statistical Modeling of Linguistic Evolution 80 %

Start of employment 1 September 2025 or by agreement, temporary

The Institute for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE) at the University of Zurich (UZH) offers a PhD training and research position in the statistical modeling of linguistic evolution under varied conditions. The work will be tightly integrated with the Diversification project of the NCCR Evolving Language (https://evolvinglanguage.ch/diversification-project/).

You will join Professor Balthasar Bickel's Distributional Linguistics Lab and will be integrated into the NCCR Evolving Language, a Swiss network of scientists from the natural, social, cognitive, and computational sciences working together on the evolution of language. Your dissertation will be supervised by Balthasar Bickel, Chundra Cathcart, and Anna Graff.

Employment is at 80% FTE and includes within this about 10% teaching assistant tasks. The position is a training opportunity and you are expected to use the remaining unpaid 20% for your own further training and skill development. The salary is internationally competitive and follows standards set by the Swiss National Science Foundation Salary ranges, guidelines for employees in SNSF-funded projects (PDF).

The position is offered as a one-year contract, renewable for up to four years based on performance. We are committed to fostering gender balance and diversity in hiring decisions.

Your responsibilities

You will acquire and/or deepen knowledge in the theory and methods of linguistic evolution (in particular using probabilistic programming languages such as Stan to develop explicit quantitative models), lead the development of at least three publishable papers jointly with supervisors and other collaborators, and submit a dissertation integrating these papers with a review of the state of the art. You will actively participate in lab meetings, NCCR events, and journal clubs.

Your profile

You are trained in historical and typological linguistics and are familiar with the basics of statistics and data wrangling. Familiarity with Bayesian approaches and/or phylogenetic comparative methods are additional assets. You furthermore have a vivid interest in adjacent fields, in particular neurolinguistics and human population genetics. You have excellent communication skills in English.

Information on your application

Review of applications will begin on 1 June 2025, and continue until the position is filled.

To apply, please prepare the following documents as a single PDF:
  • Cover letter (ca. 1 page) describing your previous experience and research interests, with a motivation to apply for the present position
  • CV with a list of course work and grades
  • One or two short writing samples/publications that demonstrate your qualifications for the position

Please be prepared to provide the contact information (name, position, and e-mail addresses) of two references.

For further information about the project, please contact Balthasar Bickel. For administrative questions please contact Lena Zipp.

What we offer

Our employees benefit from a wide range of attractive offers. More

What we offer

Work-Life Balance
  • Flexible working models (such as part-time positions, mobile working, job-sharing)
  • Childcare at the kihz foundation of UZH and ETH


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Learning and Development
  • Wide range of continuing education courses of UZH and the Canton of Zurich
  • Language Center run jointly with ETH Zurich

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Food
  • Food and drinks at reduced prices in the UZH cafeterias
  • Lunch-Check-card with UZH contribution

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Healthcare
  • Special conditions on the Academic Sports Association ASVZ
  • Free seasonal flu vaccinations
  • Rest and relaxation at the quiet room in the university tower

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Discounts
  • Private traffic: Carsharing, rent a vehicle, parking space
  • Digitalization: Hardware, software, mobile phone subscriptions
  • Special conditions on hotel reservations

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Conditions of Employment
  • Policies of the UZH
  • Most UZH staff are employed according to public law


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International Services
  • Support for people from outside Switzerland

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Campuses
  • Campuses Zurich City, Zurich Irchel, Oerlikon and Schlieren
  • Sites Zurich West, Old Botanical Garden, Botanical Garden and Lengg

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Location

Institute for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution

Affolternstrasse 56, 8050 Zürich, Switzerland

Further information

Questions about the job

Prof. Dr. Balthasar Bickel Project Leader
Contact Form

Contact question to: Prof. Dr. Balthasar Bickel

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Questions about the application procedure

Lena Zipp Program Coordinator
Contact Form

Contact question to: Lena Zipp

Thank you for your message. We will get back to you shortly.
Working at UZH
The University of Zurich, Switzerland's largest university, offers a range of attractive positions in various subject areas and professional fields. With around 10,000 employees and currently 12 professional apprenticeship streams the University offers an inspiring working environment on cutting-edge research and top-class education. Put your talent and skills to work with us. Find out more about UZH as an employer!
More → https://www.uzh.ch/cmsssl/en/explore/work.html

Please apply via our job portal www.jobs.uzh.ch.

Working at UZH

The University of Zurich, Switzerland's largest university, offers a range of attractive positions in various subject areas and professional fields. With around 10,000 employees and currently 12 professional apprenticeship streams the University offers an inspiring working environment on cutting-edge research and top-class education. Put your talent and skills to work with us. Find out more about UZH as an employer! More
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