Applications are currently being accepted for the Leiden University PhD Scholarship 2027 in Netherlands. Interested applicants are encouraged to click here to learn more about this opportunity and apply for it.
About Leiden University PhD Scholarship
Leiden PhD Scholarship 2027 offers two fully funded PhD positions in descriptive/documentary linguistics working on Usku and Banda as part of an NWO-funded project; the positions involve fieldwork in Indonesia, corpus and lexicon building, and evaluation of AI tools for automated annotation and analysis.
The positions are offered by the Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL). LUCL is part of the Faculty of Humanities and provides research support within its ‘Language Diversity in the World’ profile; the appointments follow Dutch university terms and aim to lead to a PhD thesis.
Benefits of Leiden University PhD Scholarship
- Two fully funded PhD positions within the NWO project ‘Usku and Banda: Automated Documentation of Endangered Languages of Eastern Indonesia’.
- The employment will be for a period of four years.
- Salary range from € 3,204.- gross per month in the first year to € 4,051.- in the fourth year (pay scale for PhDs).
- Substantial additional holiday and year-end allowances.
- Candidates from outside the Netherlands may be eligible for a substantial tax break.
Leiden University PhD Scholarship Requirements
- A Master’s degree in linguistics, completed before the start date.
- Demonstrated interest in language documentation, field linguistics, descriptive linguistics or similar.
- Excellent research and academic English skills.
- Working knowledge of Indonesian, or willingness to acquire this within the first half year of the project.
- A strong cooperative attitude and interest to engage in collaborative research.
- Fieldwork experience in a non-western context is a plus.
- Preference will be given to candidates from Indonesia in cases of equal suitability.
Application Date and Process
- Applications should be submitted no later than 25 October, 2026 via the blue button in our application system.
- A cover letter, indicating which of the two positions you are applying for and explaining your motivation;
- A full academic CV;
- A list of all Bachelor and Master-level modules you have taken, with an official transcript of grades;
- A writing sample, preferably your MA thesis and an article or term paper that you wrote that pertains to the topic of the position;
- The names and email addresses of two references, including your MA thesis supervisor(s), who may be approached by the selection committee (no reference letters).
Application Deadline
25 October, 2026
Opportunity Application
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