PhD candidate, Dutch morphology and constructicography

The PhD in this project will work in a small team to build a morphological constructicon for Dutch and use it to investigate the division of labour between grammatical regularity and lexical idiosyncrasy.

Constructicons are digital networks of grammatical constructions in a language. Such resources are being built for a variety of major languages, but not yet for Dutch. Moreover, existing constructicons all focus on syntactic constructions, neglecting morphology. The aim of this project is to develop the first morphological constructicon or “Morphicon” with Dutch as the target language. The resource will be developed by a team of three researchers—the PI, a Postdoc and the PhD—in collaboration with the Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal.

The PhD will participate in the team effort, but will also have their own research project.

The team will work together on transforming existing lexicographic and grammatical resources into a digital network. The network will consist of lexical constructions (simple and complex words) and grammatical constructions (word-formation patterns), linked to one another by the properties they share. An important part of the work will be to find, test and develop digital tools to assist in classification, annotation and network building.

The specific research project of the PhD will target the interplay between grammatical regularity and lexical idiosyncrasy in morphological constructions. To this aim, the PhD will investigate a set of selected constructional families in greater depth to assess the proportion and nature of idiosyncrasy within each family.

This PhD position is part of an NWO-funded Open Competition Large project involving PI dr. Jenny Audring (Leiden University) and external partner prof. dr. Sjef Barbiers (Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal).

Tasks and responsibilities

• Extracting word-formation patterns from the existing descriptive literature and encoding them in systematic constructional schemas;
• Matching complex words to the appropriate schemas and subschemas and annotating them in such a way that the inventory of constructions can be transformed into a network;
• Assisting in finding, testing and evaluating digital tools, including LLMs, to aid classification, annotation and network building;
• Investigating Dutch morphological constructions quantitatively and qualitatively;
• Presenting (joint) research results at workshops and conferences;
• Publishing (joint) research results and writing a PhD-thesis within the period of appointment;
• (Assisting in) teaching activities at bachelor level;
• Participating in (the organisation of) knowledge dissemination activities;
• Participating in meetings and training sessions of the project research group.

Selection criteria

• A Master’s degree in linguistics, completed before the start date;
• Demonstrable interest in grammar, especially morphology, from a descriptive and/or theoretical perspective;
• Native or near-native proficiency of Dutch and a good command of academic English;
• Excellent research and analytical skills;
• Experience in computational linguistics and/or affinity with the framework of Construction Grammar is a plus.

Terms and conditions

Appointment will be according to the terms of the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (CAO Nederlandse Universiteiten). The employment will be for a period of four years. The first contract will be for 12 months with an extension for the following 36 months contingent on performance and compatibility. You are expected to work in Leiden and the appointment must lead to the completion of a PhD thesis.

Salary range from € 3.204.- gross per month in the first year for a fulltime appointment to € 4,051.- in the fourth year (pay scale for PhDs, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities), plus substantial additional holiday and year-end allowances. Candidates from outside the Netherlands may be eligible for a substantial tax break.

Starting date: January 2027; a later starting date can be negotiated.

Research at our faculty/institute

Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL) is one of seven Institutes that falls under the Faculty of Humanities. With over 120 linguists working at the Institute, it is a rich research environment that prides itself on fostering scientific excellence. At LUCL we offer extensive research support to our researchers.

LUCL has a longstanding tradition in the study of the world’s languages and features unique linguistic expertise. Current theoretical insights are combined with modern experimental methods in its research profile area ‘Language Diversity in the World’. Researchers from our six umbrella research groups are experts in their respective fields while finding innovative ways of collaborating with colleagues in other fields and disciplines.

The Faculty of Humanities at Leiden University is a unique international centre for the advanced study of languages, cultures, arts, and societies worldwide, in their historical contexts from prehistory to the present. Our faculty is home to more than 6,000 students and 800 staff members. For more information see: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/humanities.

Diversity

Fostering an inclusive community is a central element of the values and vision of Leiden University. Leiden University is committed to becoming an inclusive community which enables all students and staff to feel valued and respected and to develop their full potential. Diversity in experiences and perspectives enriches our teaching and strengthens our research. High quality teaching and research is inclusive.

Questions?

For further information on the research project and the PhD position please contact the PI, dr. Jenny Audring, j.audring@hum.leidenuniv.nl

For practical questions, please contact the Institute Manager, Maarit van Gammeren: m.s.k.van.gammeren@hum.leidenuniv.nl.

Applications

Applications should be submitted no later than 1 November, 2026. Your application should include the following information:

• A cover letter, in which you explain your motivation;
• A full academic CV;
• A list of all Bachelor and Master-level modules you have taken, with an official transcript of grades;
• A writing sample, preferably your MA thesis and an article or term paper that you wrote that pertains to the topic of the position;
• The names and email addresses of two referees, including your MA thesis supervisor(s), who may be approached by the selection committee (no reference letters).

The vacancy closes on 1 November, 2026. Interviews will take place in the second half of November 2026.

Enquiries from agencies are not appreciated.

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