Horizon Europe Framework Program (HORIZON) Doctoral Networks, ' Bridging Communication Gaps in Human and Human-AI Interactions: The Role of Accented Speech on Neurocognitive mechanisms and Social Dynamics ' (HUM.AI.N-ACCENT).

The Doctoral Candidates (DCs) will be part of an international network of 13 research labs located throughout Europe who work on the EU funded HUM.AI.N-ACCENT project. The full consortium counts with a total of 24 academic and non-academic partners in Europe, Canada and the USA. As part of the training, the DC will attend regular events across Europe and will realize short stays (secondments) to at least two Beneficiary/Partner Organizations.

HUM.AI.N-ACCENT is an interdisciplinary research project that explores the neurocognitive and social impacts of foreign-accented speech in human-human and human-AI interactions. With millions of new arrivals to the European Union each year, there is an urgent need to understand how foreign accents influence communication, decision-making, and social dynamics. Research has shown that foreign-accented speech can generate biases and increase cognitive load, yet the origins and consequences of these effects are still poorly understood. The project aims to fill this gap by combining insights from cognitive psychology, neuroscience, AI engineering, human-computer interaction, and social science, with lifespan perspectives. Using advanced methodologies like neuroimaging, eye-tracking, virtual reality, and neural tracking, the project will investigate how foreign-accented speech affects neural responses, attention allocation, and social judgments. By studying both human-human and human-AI interactions, the project will provide critical insights into how accents shape communication and behavior in various contexts.

PhD positions are available at: Nebrija University, Spain ( link ), Basque Center on Cognition, Brain & Language, Spain ( link and link ), University of Barcelona, ​​Spain (please, check the university job vacancies in the following days for further information here ), Open University of Catalonia, Spain (please, check the university job vacancies in the following days for further information here ), Bangor University, UK ( link ), Radboud University, Netherlands (please, check the university job vacancies in the following days for further information), University of Padova, Italy (2 positions ), University of Oslo, Norway ( link ), University of Lille, France ( link ), Free University of Brussels, Belgium ( link ), University College Dublin, Ireland (please, check the university job vacancies in the following days for further information here and here ), University of Bern, Switzerland (funded by the SERI, link and link ).