Swarm Robotics Postdoctoral position in the Group ‘Language Evolution and Adaptation in Diverse Situations’

Job description

The position will involve building a new, state-of-the-art swarm robotics lab at the MPI and to conduct in-house experiments and simulations on the evolution of communication, sociality, and foraging behaviors in different environments. The project will focus on the social, environmental, and cognitive pressures that shape the evolution of language and its ongoing diversification and change. 

Requirements

• Candidates should have, or shortly expect to obtain, a PhD in a relevant field (e.g. computer science, artificial intelligence, computational biology).
• Proven experience with designing and using swarm robotics models, including knowledge in relevant robotics software (e.g., C++, ARGoS, Gazebo, ODE, Webots, USARSim) and hardware (e.g., sensors/actuators, Arduino, Raspberry Pi).
• Established background and keen interest in language evolution, language learning and/or communication.
• Experience in empirical research (e.g., experimental design, data analysis, report writing).
• Experience with statistical models (e.g., mixed-effects regressions, Bayesian analyses).
• Experience in supervising and/or teaching students – an advantage.
• Knowledge of VR environments and software (e.g., Unity) – an advantage.
• Knowledge of deep learning artificial neural networks (e.g., CNN, RNN/LSTM/transformer, and/or reinforcement learning) – an advantage.

What we offer you

• Intended starting date is September 2025. An earlier or later start date is negotiable.
• Full time postdoctoral position (39 hours per week), fully funded for at least 2 years (with option of extension).
• Salary will be determined according to the German TVöD (Tarifvertrag für den öffentlichen Dienst) and is classified in salary group E13, between EUR 4,628.76 and EUR 6,635.44 gross per month based on full-time employment. This is excluding a yearly 8% holiday bonus and based on the salary table from 1 March 2025 onwards, depending on the experience of the applicant.
• 30 holidays per year, based on full-time employment; in addition, we honour both Dutch and German public holidays.
• Enrolment in a personal pension scheme to which both employer and employee pay a monthly contribution.
• Access to state-of-the art research and training facilities and a generous conference and travel budget. 

Application procedure

The deadline for applications is Monday, May 7th, 2025.
Please submit your application directly via this link on our application portal.
For questions and informal enquiries, contact Dr. Limor Raviv (limor.raviv [at] mpi.nl (limor[dot]raviv[at]mpi[dot]nl)).

Applications should be in .pdf format and include

1. One-page statement of why you are interested in this position, why you consider yourself a good match for it, your qualifications, and what your research interests are.
2. One-page summary of your PhD thesis.
3. A current CV including publication list, education, and relevant work.
4. Names and email addresses of at least two referees who would be willing to provide letters of recommendation (upon request: referees will not be contacted unless you are invited to interview).
5. Your availability for an online interview between Monday 19th of May and Friday 30th of May.

The employer

About our institute

The Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics is a world-leading research institute devoted to interdisciplinary studies of the science of language and communication, including departments on genetics, psychology, development, neurobiology and multimodality of these fundamental human abilities.
We investigate how children and adults acquire their language(s), how speaking and listening happen in real time, how the brain processes language, how the human genome contributes to building a language-ready brain, how multiple modalities (as in speech, gesture and sign) shape language and its use in diverse languages and how language is related to cognition and culture, and shaped by evolution.
We are part of the Max Planck Society, an independent non-governmental association of German-funded research institutes dedicated to fundamental research in the natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities.

The Max Planck Society is an equal opportunities employer. We recognise the positive value of diversity and inclusion, promote equity and challenge discrimination. We aim to provide a working environment with room for differences, where everyone feels a sense of belonging. Therefore, we welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates.

Our institute is situated on the campus of the Radboud University and has close collaborative links with the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour and the Centre for Language Studies at Radboud University. We also work closely with other child development researchers as part of the Baby & Child Research Center.
Staff and students at the MPI have access to state-of-the art research and training facilities.

About the "Language Evolution and Adaptation in Diverse Situations" (LEADS) group

Why are there so many different languages in the world? How and why did languages emerge? And what are the social, environmental, and cognitive pressures that shape the evolution of language in our species? In the independent Research group “Language Evolution & Adaptation in Diverse Situations” (LEADS) led by Dr. Limor Raviv, we are looking into these fascinating questions by simulating the cultural evolution and social origin of human languages de novo and in silico. We do this by combining novel experimental paradigms and computational models, including group communication games, agent-based simulations with deep learning neural networks and swarm robots, virtual reality experiments, animal communication research, and more.  In a range of projects, we show that languages can effectively be seen as a mirror for communities’ socio-demographic properties, and that pressures associated with language usage and social dynamics influence the emergence, distribution, and acquisition of different grammatical structures.