PhD position The Analysis of Multimodal Argumentation

Department

Faculty of Philosophy

Organisation

Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, University of Groningen, V25.0173

Job description

The Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, offers a four year, employed position to complete a PhD within a project led by dr. Jan Albert van Laar (University of Groningen), dr. Emar Maier (University of Groningen) and prof. dr. Jean Wagemans (University of Amsterdam). Other members of the project team are: prof. dr. Lilian Bermejo-Luque (University of Granada), dr. Lotte van Poppel (University of Groningen) and dr. Janina Wildfeuer (University of Groningen).

The position is part of the project The Normativity of Multimodal Arguments, which is funded by the Dutch Science Foundation (NWO). The project aims to integrate description- and explanation-oriented insights into argumentation, as developed in multimodal semiotics and superlinguistics, with evaluation-oriented theories of argumentation, as developed in formal dialectics, pragma-dialectics and normative pragmatics. The motivation is to shed light on how participants in argumentative practices do, can and should deal with the vagaries of multimodal meaning.

The PhD project “The Analysis of Multimodal Argumentation” is concerned with the identification, reconstruction and characterization of argumentation, both in face-to-face conversations and in political and non-commercial advertisements. The focus will be on argumentation as communicated through multimodal means, i.e. by the interplay of different expressive forms such as spoken or written language, (moving) images, animations, sound, gestures, or others. How do these expressive forms or semiotic modes interact to construct meaning? Which patterns of meaning-making reveal argumentative speech acts and argumentative reasoning? Addressing these questions aims at developing a way of identifying the particularly multimodal structures of argumentation, with a specific focus on (audio-)visually implicit meanings. The PhD student will be given space to develop their own detailed PhD project plan.

Organisation
Since its foundation in 1614, the University of Groningen has enjoyed an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative center of higher education offering high-quality teaching and research. Balanced study and career paths in a wide variety of disciplines encourage the 34,000 students and researchers to develop their own individual talents. Belonging to the best research universities in Europe and joining forces with prestigious partner universities and networks, the University of Groningen is truly an international place of knowledge.

Requirements

The PhD candidate is expected to

- Have an MA degree and an excellent academic record. If an MA degree has not yet been completed, a statement from the supervisor as to their assessment of the time of completion and the quality of the work in progress is required.
- Be fluent in English, both written and spoken.
- Have familiarity and affinity with argumentation studies/theory, for example: dialectics, pragma-dialectics, rhetoric, informal logic, (critical) discourse analysis, or relevant areas of social epistemology, pragmatics, or philosophy of language.
- Have familiarity and affinity with multimodal communication.
- Have familiarity and affinity with formal semantics and/or semiotics.
- Have a background in philosophy with a clear interest in linguistics and argumentation, or a background in linguistics with a clear interest in philosophy and argumentation.
- Be willing to engage in interdisciplinary research.
- Enjoy planning, and taking initiative.
- Write academic articles and present at workshops and conferences.
- Have the ambition to develop into an independent researcher.

Conditions of employment

Contract length: 48 months.

We offer you in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities

- A salary of € 2,901 gross per month in the first year, up to a maximum of € 3,707 gross per month in the fourth and final year for a full-time working week (salary scale PhD).
- A holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income, an 8.3% end-of-the-year allowance and participation in a pension scheme for employees.
- A full-time position (1.0 FTE). The successful candidate will first be offered a temporary position of twelve months with the option of renewal for the remainder of the four years. Prolongation of the contract is contingent on sufficient progress in the first nine months to indicate that a successful completion of the PhD thesis within four years is to be expected. It will be a position for four years; first, you will get a temporary position of one year with the option of renewal for another three years; extension of the contract is contingent on sufficient progress in the first year so that successful completion of the PhD thesis within the contract period is to be expected.
- A PhD training programme is part of the agreement and the successful candidate will be enrolled in the Graduate School of Philosophy.

It is required to be a resident in Groningen.

General information about the University of Groningen’s PhD programme can be found here https://www.rug.nl/education/phd-programmes/

The preferred starting date is at, or close to 1 September 2025.

Job Application

Your application, uploaded in one pdf, should include - A letter of motivation. - A CV, including contact details of two academic referees. - A research statement of up to 1200 words, where initial ideas are presented for developing a research plan that fits the above description of the project. - A writing sample of no more than 5.000 words, such as an essay or part of a Master’s thesis. - Certified official transcripts of your academic degrees. Official documents must be in the English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese or Dutch language. Any translation of originals not in these languages must be authenticated. You may apply for this position until 30 April 11:59pm / before 1 May 2025 Dutch local time (CEST) by means of the application form (click on "Apply" below on the advertisement on the university website). The procedure will include two rounds of interviews. In the first round, selected candidates will be invited for an online interview. In the second round, candidates may be invited for an interview in Groningen. The two rounds are scheduled to take place in May and the start of June 2025. The University of Groningen strives to be a university in which students and staff are respected and feel at home, regardless of differences in background, experiences, perspectives, and identities. We believe that working on our core values of inclusion and equality are a joint responsibility and we are constructively working on creating a socially safe environment. Diversity among students and staff members enriches academic debate and contributes to the quality of our teaching and research. We therefore invite applicants from underrepresented groups in particular to apply. For more information, see also our diversity policy webpage: https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/policy-and-strategy/diversity-and-inclusion/ Our selection procedure follows the guidelines of the Recruitment code (NVP): https://www.nvp-hrnetwerk.nl/sollicitatiecode/ and European Commission's European Code of Conduct for recruitment of researchers: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/charter/code We provide career services for partners of new faculty members moving to Groningen. Unsolicited marketing is not appreciated.

Additional information

For additional information, please contact:

Jan Albert van Laar
[email protected]

In your application, please always include the job opening ID V25.0173

Extra informatie kan worden verkregen via een van de volgende links:

The project description can be found here

Digital application form