Dr. Monika Molnar (University of Toronto, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Department of Speech-Language Pathology) and Dr. Ana Maria Gonzalez-Barrero (Dalhousie University, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders) are looking for 2 highly motivated PhD candidates for a project focusing on early oral language and cognitive skills relevant to reading development in 5-to-7-year-old monolingual and bilingual children. One PhD student will be based at the University of Toronto (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) and another at Dalhousie University (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada). Positions are funded for 3 years following each university’s funding policies.

The ideal candidate has:

• Master and/or undergraduate degree in a relevant field (Cognitive Sciences, Cognitive Neurosciences, Psychology, Linguistics, Education, Communication Sciences & Disorders/Speech-Language Pathology, Music, etc.) 

• Prior research experience within the fields listed above (through research assistantship and/or thesis work) 

• Interest in bilingualism, cognition, language and literacy (i.e., reading) development

• Experience with and/or strong interest in the assessment of young children (in-person and virtually)

• Prior experience with statistical analyses and a strong drive to develop excellent statistical analysis skills

• Relatively strong writing, communication, and presentation skills in English and motivation to further develop these skills

Interested candidates must send a CV/Resume and a one-page cover letter explaining their interest and fit to the positions to Dr. Molnar (monika.molnar@utoronto.ca ) and Dr. Gonzalez-Barrero (anamaria.gonzalez@dal.ca). The review of applications will start immediately. The successful candidates will start in Fall 2025.

We are looking for some talented and motivated MSc research students!

Areas of Research: 

• Do bilinguals and monolinguals look at you differently? Face Scanning patterns of monolingual and bilingual children and adults while learning  from novel and familiar interlocutors. (method: eye-tracking) 

• Do bilinguals learn new linguistic information easier than monolinguals? Physiological correlates of bilingual and monolingual cognitive development across the life span. (methods: EEG, heart rate, eye-tracking)

If you are interested in pursuing one of these programs in the BAM Lab, please e-mail Dr. Molnar directly: monika.molnar@utoronto.ca 

If you are an undergraduate or graduate research student and you share our passion for research in the area of bilingual and multilingual development, consider joining us as a Research Assistant! We always welcome volunteers and may offer Work Study opportunities. 

Contact Dr. Molnar for further details: monika.molnar@utoronto.ca