Job: PhD Candidate (m/f/d) for the Department of Music, MPI für empirische Ästhetik

The Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, investigates the attentional, cognitive, and affective mechanisms of aesthetic perception and evaluation.

The Department of Music invites applications for a

PhD Position

to work on projects seeking to understand aesthetical development in children, with a primary focus on the development of musical abilities and behavior. Methods will include behavioral measures, audio and video recording, and computational data analysis. The thesis will focus on the development of rhythmical skills and will apply a longitudinal design, as well as an intervention design to approach this research goal. The PhD position will be affiliated with the Musical Development Group, which is part of the Department of Music. We are a small, innovative, and creative group that focusses on developmental questions. We work closely, productively, and jointly on our projects. This means that the successful candidate will become familiar with concurrent PhD projects and that we will support each other in all stages of research.

The Department of Music is generally composed of music historians, music theorists, and ethnomusicologists. They work and research hand in hand with psychologists, sociologists, and neuroscientists in order to jointly develop a transdisciplinary aesthetics of music in which all relevant approaches and methods are productively intertwined. The intention is to gain a better understanding of the specific field of experience and practice that humans have created for themselves with music and how they make use of it. For more information about the research group, please visit our website.

Our requirements:

Requirements for this position are a Master’s degree in developmental psychology, pedagogical psychology, or a related field, as well as a high level of proficiency in both written and spoken English.The ideal candidate for this position will have a strong interest in the musical development of children, a high motivation for scientific research, and the ability to work collaboratively with a newly established research team. Experience with statistics and empirical research methods, as well as critical thinking and a willingness to learn new techniques, tools, and methods, are required. Prior experience with (and high motivation to explore) programming skills for computational data analysis is highly desirable.

Our offer:

The research will be conducted at Max Planck Insitute for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt am Main with access to laboratories for behavioral and physiological experiments. The facilities are supported by experienced IT and physicist staff. The institute is a highly interdisciplinary and international scientific environment, with English and German being the languages spoken in the laboratory. It is located in an attractive location with excellent infrastructure in Frankfurt’s Westend. You can expect a modern workplace with a pleasant and inspiring working atmosphere.

The position will start as soon as possible after February 1, 2024 for a fixed term of three years. The agreed working time is currently 39 hours per week. Payment is based on the Collective Wage Agreement for the Civil Service (TVöD Bund E13 65%) and is supplemented by an annual bonus. Please refer to mpg.de/doctoral students for further information.

Your application:

The Max Planck Society strives for gender equality and diversity. We are also committed to increasing the number of individuals with disabilities in our workforce. Therefore, applicants of all backgrounds are welcome.

Your application should include: your detailed CV; a cover letter that explains why the research and the pursuit of a doctoral degree interest you, and how your skills and abilities are suited to both; copies of relevant degrees and/or certificates; a short (one-page) summary of your master’s thesis; and the names and contact information of two referees who have previously agreed to be contacted.

Please send these materials, no later than January 14, 2024, via our application management system.