Call for Applications 2026!

📢OPEN: The 2026 application round for the PhD Program International Doctorate for Experimental Approaches to Language And Brain (IDEALAB) is now open!

We are seeking highly motivated and outstanding candidates with a background in Speech and Language Pathology, Psycho- or Neurolinguistics, Clinical Linguistics, or other language-related fields.

IDEALAB provides a rigorous, laboratory-based 3-year doctoral training program focused on the structure, processing, and foundations of language, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches. Candidates conduct original and independent research on experimental and clinical aspects of language and the brain.

Throughout their candidature, candidates are supervised by faculty from at least two of the three participating universities and spend time at both institutions: Universities of Potsdam (GER), Groningen (NL), and Macquarie University (AUS). IDEALAB offers a joint curriculum and research training program, including summer and winter schools, and cumulates in a joint degree.

Application deadline: 26th of January 2026, 23:59pm AEDT
Starting dates: September 2026 – January 2027
Duration: 3 years
More information on the program and the application process: https://phd-idealab.com/

Advertised projects:
👂 Assessing individual differences in infants’ speech perception with a toy
👶 Early cognitive markers of infant morphology
🖥️ App-based verbal treatment in aphasia
👁️‍🗨️ Audio-visual integration in childhood apraxia of speech
📚 Neurocognitive investigation of reading aloud vs silently and their effects on memory retention
🎼 Speech-music therapy and multilingualism
📽️ The impact of accent familiarity on film subtitle processing
👄 Speech: a dynamical perspective