Postdoc Position at the Institute of Psychology, University of Tartu, Estonia

Organisation/Company

University of Tartu

Research Field

Language sciences » Linguistics
Psychological sciences » Cognitive science

Researcher Profile

Recognised Researcher (R2)

Positions

Postdoc Positions

Application Deadline

22 Feb 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Tallinn)

Country

Estonia

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Offer Starting Date

1 May 2026

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by a EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Applicants are invited to apply for the postdoctoral research fellow position at the Institute of Psychology, University of Tartu, Estonia. The position is funded by the Estonian Research Council project Native Language Background and the Brain’s Perception and Learning of a Foreign Language,” led by Dr. Siqi Lyu .

The research project adopts both the behavioral and EEG methods to investigate how three groups of native speakers, i.e., Mandarin Chinese speakers, Estonian speakers, and English speakers, perceive and learn a foreign language. The post-doc researcher will be expected to work on the ongoing project, focusing on learning Mandarin Chinese tones. The project does not approach language learning from a pedagogical perspective.

Start date

May 1, 2026 (a later starting date is negotiable)

Duration

12–24 months. The initial contract is one year. It’s renewable for up to two years, contingent on performance and funding availability.

Salary

The remuneration is based on UT salary rules at the level of Research Fellow.

Duties and responsibilities

• Designing and conducting one behavioral and one EEG experiment on tonal language perception and learning under the research project. More specifically, we will examine how Estonian native speakers and English native speakers learn Chinese lexical tones.
• Participating in managing and implementing the research project under the supervision of the project’s principal investigator.
• Participating in teaching and/or supervising MA or BA students. Teaching and teaching-related activities account for up to 20% of working time.
• Publishing the research results in international journals.

Required qualifications
PhD or an equivalent qualification.

Required experience

• Prior experience with tonal language perception experiments is required.
• Previous international research experience is considered an advantage.
• Previous publishing on relevant topics is considered an advantage.
• Experience in teaching and student supervision is recommended.

Required language skills
Proficiency in English. Knowledge of a tonal language is considered an advantage.

Personal qualities

• Good communication skills.
• Good stress tolerance.
• Good English writing skills.
• Ability to work both independently and be part of a team.

How to apply

Please send the following documents as a single PDF to Dr. Siqi Lyu at siqi.lyu@ut.ee . Document review starts immediately on a rolling basis. The selected candidate will be invited to submit the application through the University of Tartu’s system to complete the final process.

E-mail

siqi.lyu@ut.ee

Research Field

Language sciences » Linguistics

Education Level

PhD or equivalent

Research Field

Psychological sciences » Psychology

Education Level

PhD or equivalent

Languages

ENGLISH

Level

Good

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

University of Tartu

Country

Estonia

Geofield

City

Tartu 51009

Website

http://www.ut.ee/en

Street

Ülikooli 18

E-Mail

kairi.herik@ut.ee

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