28 October 2025
~ Postdoctoral position: Pacific oral literature ~
LaTTiCe-CNRS, Paris
⚓ Link to this section
Deadline for applications: 23 Nov 2025
Within HéLiCéO’s strand #3 “Oral traditions and mythological heritage”, the main objective is to document the oral literature of Pacific cultures, and develop tools for their comparison.
In this perspective, HéLiCéO is recruiting a postdoctoral researcher for a one-year contract. If the project's funding is confirmed beyond the first year, the contract may be renewed for a second year.
Main mission
The researcher will compile a firsthand corpus of oral literature narratives in a selected area of Melanesia, and set up a database to compare such narratives across different areas of the Pacific.
Activities
The postdoctoral researcher will carry out the following activities:
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Field trips (1–3 months) to one of the territories of Melanesia, aimed at collecting literary data in the original language (Austronesian or Papuan), from storytellers from at least one linguistic area, in cooperation with local communities.
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The target language(s) must be acquired enough to understand the stories in the original text, and to give them an accurate translation into French or English, both word-for-word translation and running text
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Archiving of field data (audio, video) on an online archive, accompanied by annotations for at least 120 minutes of speech.
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Creation of pedagogical materials on oral literature for local communities, in collaboration with them.
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Preparation, at least partial, of a published collection of oral literature narratives from Melanesia, intended for a general audience.
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Design and creation of a bibliographic database on Pacific oral literature.
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Design and creation of a comparative database on Pacific oral mythologies and literatures, in cooperation with the HéLiCéO branch of French Polynesia.
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Theory and formalisation of the protocol of motif recognition.
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Cataloguing of narrative structures and motifs shared between various territories, based on first and second-hand data.
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Writing of scientific articles (at least 1 per year), participation in scientific events (at least 1 per year).
Due to the short duration of this contract (1 year, potentially 2), the candidate must have already acquired fieldwork experience in Melanesia (here defined as Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, or Papua New Guinea). This field experience must include the collection of oral literature in one or more vernacular languages (Austronesian or Papuan), as well as the archiving, transcription and translation of the recordings into French or English. The present contract may focus either on the same language or (preferably) on a different language from those previously studied. The target area to study will be chosen by the candidate, in accordance with the rest of the HéLiCéO team.
Preference will be given to candidates whose doctoral thesis focused on oral literature. The candidate must have solid knowledge in linguistics and linguistic anthropology, and have published in the field of oral literature. They must be familiar with the lingua franca of the target region (Tok Pisin, Pijin, Bislama, or French, depending on the area) and, if possible, have contacts in at least one community.
Required qualifications
Degree: PhD, awarded within the last 3 years at the time of hiring.
Knowledge
- Understanding of the objectives and methods of research in oral literature.
- Solid foundation in linguistics and narratology; essential knowledge of anthropology.
- Familiarity with FAIR and CARE principles in data management.
- Proven ability to transcribe a vernacular language (Austronesian or Papuan) and translate it into French or English.
- Languages: English ≥B2 level; French ≥A2 level.
- Optional knowledge: Ability to speak at least one Pacific vernacular language (≥B1 level).
Technical skills
- Experience conducting fieldwork in the domain of traditional oral literature.
- Knowledge of linguistic data management tools (e.g., Toolbox or FLEx; Transcriber or ELAN).
- Experience in archiving fieldwork data.
- Experience in writing scientific articles.
Behavioral skills
- Interest in the preservation of intangible cultural heritage.
- Ability to work effectively in a team.
- Ability to cooperate with local communities.
- Capacity to work autonomously and take initiative.
- Ability to meet deadlines.
Dates
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Application deadline: 23 November 2025
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Job starting date: 1st February 2026
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Duration: 12 months (potentially renewable)
How to apply
Send your CV and a letter of motivation (in French or in English), to alexandre.francois -at- ens.psl.eu.
For more information on this postdoctoral position, you can consult the official announcements: on the homepage of ENS, or on the Euraxess platform.
12 April 2025
~ Engineer position: managing linguistic and cultural databases ~
LaTTiCe-CNRS, Paris
⚓ Link to this section
Update (11/6/2025):
the job is now filled ~ le poste est désormais pourvu.
HéLiCéO plans to create several scientific databases and online resources intended for different audiences.
In this context, HéLiCéO is recruiting a Computer engineer for a one-year contract. If the project's funding is confirmed beyond the first year, the contract may be renewed for a second year.
Main mission
The engineer’s mission will be to develop and maintain digital resources dedicated to language and cultural comparison, within the HéLiCéO project. These resources include existing databases (EvoSem and EvoLex, on semantic change), databases yet to be created (e.g., on grammatical structures, comparative mythology), as well as public sites for a broader audience.
Additionally, the engineer will assist researchers, postdoctoral fellows, and PhD students of the HéLiCéO project in managing their digital data: text corpora, lexical data, grammatical data.
Finally, the recruited Engineer will be responsible for developing the Data Management Plan (Plan de gestion des données, PGD) for the entire HéLiCéO project, aiming to secure digital data over the long term, and ensure their sustainability.
Activities
The engineer will carry out the following activities:
- Assist in the design, creation, and maintenance of databases on linguistic (phonetics, grammar, semantics) and cultural topics (Pacific narratives), in collaboration with scientific supervisors.
- Maintain and expand existing databases (e.g., EvoSem, EvoLex).
- Prepare data for integration into databases and digital tools; create and maintain scripts for converting datasets into tables and graphs.
- Carry out Continuous integration and version management; monitor the sustainability of content and formats.
- Create and maintain user-friendly interfaces: tools for data entry, search engines, creation of public websites.
- Assist HéLiCéO members in managing, archiving, and sustaining their digital data.
- Develop (in cooperation with scientific supervisors) and provide technical follow-up for the Data Management Plan (PGD) of the entire HéLiCéO project, aiming to secure and sustain digital research data.
Required skills
Knowledge
Technical skills
- Programming in Python; Git; JavaScript; HTML/CSS
- XML tools: XSLT, XQuery, XPath
- Optional: R; Graph theory & community detection.
Character skills
- Ability to work in a team
- Ability to work independently, take initiative
- Ability to meet deadlines
- Scientific curiosity, particularly in the field of linguistic and cultural diversity.
Dates
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Application deadline: 31 May 2025
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Job starting date: 1st September 2025
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Duration: 12 months (potentially renewable)
How to apply
For more information on this engineer position, and instructions on how to apply, consult this detailed description.
11 April 2025
~ Postdoctoral position: description of a Papuan language of Indonesia ~
LaTTiCe-CNRS, Paris
⚓ Link to this section
Update (9/5/2025):
the job is now filled ~ le poste est désormais pourvu.
HéLiCéO’s strand #2 “Historical and comparative linguistics”, among its objectives, plans to study the linguistic contact between Austronesian and non-Austronesian (so-called "Papuan") languages, in order to reconstruct the historical processes that led to the formation of the Oceanic family.
In this perspective, HéLiCéO is recruiting a postdoctoral researcher for a one-year contract. If the project's funding is confirmed beyond the first year, the contract may be renewed for a second year.
Main mission
The researcher will carry out the grammatical description of a non-Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia.
Activities
The postdoctoral researcher will carry out the following activities:
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Field trip(s) in Indonesia to collect linguistic data (grammar, lexicon) on a non-Austronesian language
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Data elicitation on lexicon and grammar on the target language.
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Collection of oral literature: narratives and (if possible) songs.
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Archiving of field data (audio, video) on an online archive, accompanied by annotations for at least 60 minutes of speech.
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Contribution to the HéLiCéO project databases, if the collected data is suitable: typological databases on grammar structures, sound change, semantic change, comparative mythology.
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Writing of scientific articles (at least 1 per year), participation in scientific events (at least 1 per year).
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Drafting, at least partially, of a reference grammar.
Due to the short duration of this contract (1 year, potentially 2), the candidate must have already acquired fieldwork experience in Indonesia and collected linguistic data on one or more languages of the country, preferably non-Austronesian. The present contract may focus on the same language as the one already studied, or a different one. Preference will be given to the choice of a previously undescribed language, and an underdocumented linguistic family.
The candidate must have solid knowledge in grammatical description and typology, and have published in this field. They must know a lingua franca of eastern Indonesia (Standard Indonesian and/or Papuan Malay), and if possible, have contacts in the country.
Dates
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Application deadline: 1st May 2025
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Job starting date: 1st June 2025 (negotiable)
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Duration: 12 months (potentially renewable)
How to apply
For more information on this postdoctoral position, and instructions on how to apply, consult this detailed description.
February 2025
~ Launch of the HéLiCéO project ~
The project HéLiCéO should start in April 2025.
