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

• Knowledge of databases (especially relational databases), search engines
• Familiarity with issues of multilingual data (issues of translation, encoding, etc.)
• English: reading, writing, speaking (at least B1 level); knowledge of French (at least B1 level);

• Optional: Basic knowledge of linguistics; knowledge of a language other than French and English.

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

• Application deadline: 31 May 2025
• Job starting date: 1st September 2025
• 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:

• Field trip(s) in Indonesia to collect linguistic data (grammar, lexicon) on a non-Austronesian language
  • Data elicitation on lexicon and grammar on the target language.
  • Collection of oral literature: narratives and (if possible) songs.
• Archiving of field data (audio, video) on an online archive, accompanied by annotations for at least 60 minutes of speech.
• Contribution to the HéLiCéO project databases, if the collected data is suitable: typological databases on grammar structures, sound change, semantic change, comparative mythology.
• Writing of scientific articles (at least 1 per year), participation in scientific events (at least 1 per year).
• 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

• Application deadline: 1st May 2025
• Job starting date: 1st June 2025 (negotiable)
• 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.