Research Internship: mapping processes of early language development
The Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands, is offering a 5-to-10-month MSc internship position in the population genetics of human communication group (https://www.mpi.nl/department/population-genetics-human-communication/11). The host research group, led by Dr. Beate St Pourcain, is embedded within the Language & Genetics Department at the MPI. Research within the group focuses on (i) studying the genetic basis of social communication, language and interaction in population-based and clinical cohorts and (ii) developing statistical modelling approaches. The internship duration is flexible but lies between 5 to 10 months.
Job description
Language development in early childhood is highly diverse(1) and often measured with different psychological instruments assessed in different samples capturing different developmental stages. The contribution of genetic factors to language learning has been shown by twin and genome-wide analyses(1,2). However, to enhance the power of analyses aiming to study the role of genetic factors language measure need to be aligned to similar underlying constructs. This biostatistics research internship will focus on mapping early language measures observed in children from the general population to an international classification standard, the International Classification of Functioning(3), and validate this approach using structural equation modelling techniques and genetic correlation analyses (if feasible). Prospective MSc students will gain experience with statistical modelling, learn how to code in R and bash, and investigate the genetic basis contributing to language development. In addition, students will explore genetic characteristics of the data with genomic tools, including heritability and genetic correlations.
Requirements
- MSc student enrolled on a Master's programme such as Cognitive Neuroscience, Medical Biology, Biomedical Sciences, Computing Science, Statistics or similar
- Bachelor-level knowledge of Statistics and/or Genetics
- Bachelor-level programming expertise (e.g. R or Linux) is an advantage
- Good knowledge of English
What we offer you
- Experience in structural equation modelling techniques
- Experience in modelling phenotypic and genomic data
- A nice team
Application procedure
- The internship will last at least five months; the starting date is negotiable. Note that the MPI cannot remunerate any work during this internship. Applications will be reviewed until the position has been filled.
- To apply, please submit your motivation letter (max. 1 page) and a CV and contact details via this link on our application portal. For further information, please get in touch with Dr Beate St Pourcain (beate.stpourcain [at] mpi.nl (beate[dot]stpourcain[at]mpi[dot]nl)) or Dr. Ellen Verhoef (ellen.verhoef [at] mpi.nl (ellen[dot]verhoef[at]mpi[dot]nl)).
References
1. Verhoef, E. et al. Genome-wide Analyses of Vocabulary Size in Infancy and Toddlerhood: Associations With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Literacy, and Cognition-Related Traits. Biological Psychiatry (2023) doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.11.025.
2. St Pourcain, B. et al. Common variation near ROBO2 is associated with expressive vocabulary in infancy. Nature Communications 5, 4831 (2014).
3. International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). https://www.who.int/standards/classifications/international-classificat….
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