PhD fellow in Second Language Acquisition and Conversational AI
On-site · Louvain-la-Neuve, Wallonia, Belgium
Job Summary
PhD fellow position at UCLouvain focusing on the longitudinal effects of interacting with Generative AI chatbots on L2 French development, combining learner corpus research and computer-assisted language learning within an interdisciplinary project. The role includes conducting quasi-experimental studies on pragmatics and vocabulary learning, longitudinal corpus analysis of conversation logs, and collaborating within a consortium of researchers. Supervisors are Prof. Serge Bibauw and Prof. Magali Paquot. Starting 1 October 2026 for two years, renewable up to four years, with a doctoral fellowship grant and requirement to reside in Belgium. Applicants should have a Master’s degree in a related field, strong command of French and English, analytical skills, autonomy, teamwork skills, and an interest in GenAI and its educational applications; willingness to travel for conferences and data collection; familiarity with R or Python for data analysis is an asset.
Required Qualifications
- Master degree in (Applied) Linguistics, Language Sciences, Romance Studies, Educational Sciences, NLP, or a closely related field
- Excellent record of BA and MA level study
- Excellent command of French (B2 minimum, C1 ideal)
- Excellent command of English (B2 minimum, C1 desired)
- Strong analytical skills, scientific rigor, and intellectual curiosity
- Autonomy, sense of teamwork, ability to listen and engage with colleagues across disciplines
- Willingness to travel (to academic conferences and possibly to Hanoi for data collection)
Desired Qualifications
- Knowledge of R or Python for data analysis
- Background or strong interest in second language acquisition and/or computer-assisted language learning
- Familiarity with learner corpus research, quantitative methods, or experimental designs
- Interest in generative AI and its educational applications
- Willingness to travel to academic conferences and possibly to Hanoi for data collection
- Excellent command of French (B2 minimum, C1 ideal)
- Excellent command of English (B2 minimum, C1 desired)
- Autonomy, teamwork, and ability to engage across disciplines
Additional Requirements
- Applicants from outside the EU are responsible for obtaining the necessary visa or permits
Apply with one swipe on Sorce. We auto-fill applications and apply on your behalf — no cover letters, no 40-minute forms.
Hiring someone like this?
Get your role in front of qualified candidates on Sorce.