BCBL BASQUE CENTER ON COGNITION BRAIN AND LANGUAGE
Organisation/Company BCBL BASQUE CENTER ON COGNITION BRAIN AND LANGUAGE Research Field Neurosciences Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Application Deadline 10 May 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Madrid) Country Spain Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 35 Offer Starting Date 1 Sep 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
Offer Description
The Basque Center on Cognition Brain and Language (BCBL) in San Sebastian (Basque Country, Spain) is looking for a PhD Researcher to join its team.
* INFORMATION ABOUT THE POSITION
* Position: PhD researcher
* Researcher profile: First Stage Researcher (R1- up to the point of PhD)
* Number of vacancies: 1
* Founding source: Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and university
* Research field: Neuroscience > Cognition and Language
* Type of contract/Duration of Contract: Temporary, 4 years.
* Job Status: Full-time/Part-time
* Hours per week: 35h per week for full-time / 17,5h per week for part-time
Information about the project
Decoding Bilingual Speech Perception (Deco-B) explores how the bilingual brain represents meaning across two structurally different languages: Spanish and Basque. The central question is whether bilinguals use separate language‑specific semantic systems or a shared, unified semantic representation. To investigate this, the project combines advanced neuroimaging techniques (MEG and fMRI) with transformer‑based multilingual AI models. Twenty young adult Spanish‑Basque bilinguals will listen to natural speech in both languages while their brain activity is recorded across multiple sessions. A specially designed bilingual speech corpus will support high‑resolution neural decoding. The decoding models will be trained on brain activity from one language (e.g., Spanish) using semantic features extracted from pre‑trained language models (such as GPT‑2, XLM‑R, mT5, and LaBSE). The models will then be tested on the other language (Basque) to assess cross‑language generalization. The reverse direction (training on Basque, testing on Spanish) will also be examined to evaluate symmetry in bilingual semantic mapping. To integrate the spatial precision of fMRI and the temporal resolution of MEG, the project will use advanced multimodal fusion techniques, including cross‑modal transformers, shared latent space models (e.g., Deep CCA, multimodal VAEs), and contrastive learning approaches inspired by CLIP. Through this interdisciplinary approach, Deco‑B aims to uncover whether meaning in the bilingual brain is language‑specific or shared, offering new insights into the neural architecture of bilingual semantic representation.
One full‑time predoctoral researcher with a background in computational neuroscience will be hired for a four‑year period. The researcher will work under the direct supervision of the Principal Investigator and will play a key role in implementing and adapting machine learning models for the decoding of bilingual speech and neural data.
Primary responsibilities will include developing and optimizing multimodal analysis pipelines integrating MEG and fMRI data, extracting and aligning linguistic features from transformer‑based language models, and contributing to cross‑language decoding and model evaluation. The researcher will also support data preprocessing, quality control, and documentation, and collaborate with other members of the project to integrate shared decoding frameworks and explainability tools.
The position offers training in advanced neuroimaging analysis, multilingual AI modeling, and interdisciplinary research at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and machine learning. The researcher will be encouraged to contribute to scientific publications, conference presentations, and open science practices associated with the project.
The contract is full time and includes an end‑of‑contract payout in accordance with institutional and funding regulations.
* Have the ambition to develop knowledge of research methodologies and discipline
* Have demonstrated a good understanding of a field of study
* Have demonstrated the ability to produce data under supervision
* Be capable of critical analysis, evaluation and synthesis of new and complex ideas
* Be able to explain the outcome of research and value thereof to research colleagues
* To be eligible for a PhD program at UPV/EHU university, candidates must have completed a minimum of 300 ECTS credits across their bachelor's and master's studies (240 ECTS from the bachelor's degree and 60 ECTS from the master's)
Specific Requirements
Develops integrated language, communication and environment skills, especially in an international context.
Training opportunities and Career development plan:
* (1) Training through individually personalized research projects under senior supervision
* (2) Exchanging knowledge with the scientific community and the general public
* (3) Network‑wide training in theory and methods
* (4) Complementary training courses
* (5) Involvement in proposal writing, task coordination
* (6) Development of skills for the organization of training and scientific events
BCBL seeks to foster an environment where all talents can flourish, regardless of gender, sex, sexual orientation, age, sociocultural background, nationality or impairments. We are proud to have in place both an LGTBIQ+ Plan and a Gender Equality Plan to actively promote inclusion and equal opportunities. If you have any questions relating to accessibility or support, please contact us.
Selection process
To submit your application, please follow this link: applying for “PhD-BILINGUAL LENS” and attach the following documentation: by April 20, 2026:
* A statement outlining research interests and motivation to apply for the position
* Transcript of records for the master and bachelor degrees
* Two letters of recommendation (submtted by the referees no later than the application deadline)
* Feedback to all applicants: June 25th 2026
* Work contract start date: Early Autumn 2026
For inquiries or questions related to the content of the position and/or information about the research group please contact: n.molinaro@bcbl.eu
Number of offers available 1 Company/Institute BCBL, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain & Language Country Spain State/Province Gipuzkoa City Donostia-San Sebastian Postal Code 20009 Street Paseo Mikeletegi 69 Geofield
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