MSCA-PF: Joint application at the University of Granada in Melilla. Department of Didactics of Musical, Plastic and Body Expression

Professor Oswaldo Lorenzo Quiles, from the Department of Didactics of Musical, Plastic and Body Expression at the Faculty of Educational and Sports Sciencies of Melilla (University of Granada), welcomes postdoctoral candidates interested in applying for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA-PF) in 2023 at this University. Please note that applicants must comply with the Mobility Rule (for more information about the 2023 call, please consult:(http://sl.ugr.es/0d7F).

Brief description of the institution:

The University of Granada (UGR) was founded in 1531 and is one of the largest and most important universities in Spain. With over 51,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students and almost 3,000 members of staff, the UGR offers over 90 undergraduate degrees, 160 master’s degrees (8 of which are international double degrees) and 28 doctoral programmes via its 124 departments and nearly 50 centers. Accordingly, the UGR offers one of the most extensive and diverse ranges of higher education programmes in Spain.

The UGR has been awarded with the "Human Resources Excellence in Research (HRS4R)", which reflects the institution’s commitment to continuously improving its human resource policies in line with the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. The UGR is also internationally renowned for its excellence in diverse research fields and ranked among the top Spanish universities in a variety of ranking criteria, such as national R&D projects, fellowships awarded, publications, and international funding.

The UGR is one of the few Spanish Universities listed in the Shanghai Top 500 ranking - Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). The 2022 edition of the ARWU places the UGR in 201-300th position in the world and as the 2-5 highest ranked universities in Spain (http://sl.ugr.es/0d7D), reaffirming its position as an institution at the forefront of national and international research. The UGR stands out in the specialties of Library & Information Science (position 38); Food Science & Technology (30) and Hospitality & Tourism Management (51-75), according to the latest edition of this prestigious ranking by specialties (http://sl.ugr.es/0bSp). A little lower in the ranking, the UGR also stands out in Mathematics (76-100).

Additionally, the UGR has 9 researchers who are at the top of the Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) list (http://sl.ugr.es/0d7E), most of these related to the area of Computer Science. It is also well recognized for its web presence (http://sl.ugr.es/0a6i), being positioned at 42th place in the top 200 Universities in Europe.

Internationally, the University of Granada is firmly committed to its participation in the calls of the Framework Programme of the European Union. For the duration of the last Framework Programme, Horizon 2020, the UGR obtained a total 120 projects with a total funding of around 29,4 million euros.  For the current Framework Programme, Horizon Europe, the UGR has obtained 38 projects, so far, with total funding around 11 € million.

Brief description of the Centre/Research Group:

The DEDiCA research group (HUM-742) https://hum742.ugr.es/ was officially created in 2002, within the Andalusian Plan for Research, Development and Innovation (PAIDI) of the Ministry of Economy, Innovation, Science and Employment of the Andalusian Government. The line of research that enabled its emergence was attention to cultural differences and diversity at school from a didactic approach and focused on the Andalusian community.Currently, it has become an interdisciplinary group made up of researchers both nationally and internationally (from Colombia, Puerto Rico and Brazil), with extensive experience in different areas of knowledge: General Teaching, Specific Teaching, Psychology, Philology and Law. The lines of research of the DEDiCA research group have been consolidated and expanded to the following: a) Diversity at school, school coexistence, citizenship, education, intercultural education, education through the arts, education for human rights ...; b) Music psychology (musical stage anxiety, musical preferences, personality and musical tastes, etc.); c) Psychological research on minors in risk contexts, immigrants, women ....; d) Positive Psychology and Emotional Intelligence; e) Higher Education.Likewise, he has extensive experience in organizing periodic scientific events, such as the SIEMAI® (Simpósio Internacional Educação Música Artes Interculturais) and the MEETING OF SPRING®. Since 2011 he publishes DEDiCA magazine. Education and Humanities Magazine. Finally, the research group is linked to the Spanish Association for the Psychology of Music and Musical Interpretation (AEPMIM).In this web page you can consult the general data of the group, its members, the most relevant scientific production, projects it has led, etc.

Project description:

Educational and psychological research in music training and early language development. Candidate will have to work in quantitative quasi-experimental studies with with pretest-tests-postest measures. Music education can positively influence all developmental domains, particularly language. As literature suggests, there is a link, anatomically as well as functionally, between language and music (Gromko, 2005; Koelsch & Siebel, 2005; Patel & Iversen, 2007; Peretz & Zatorre, 2005; Register, Darrow, Standley, & Swedberg, 2007; Slevc & Miyake, 2006; Tallal & Gaab, 2006). Skills in childhood education can contribute to the ability to communicate and comprehend language, increase the interest in books, and help to begin to read. Because of the educational implications, it is suggested that teachers and parents integrate music activities on a daily basis.

All students should have access to music education that focuses on learning musical skills and, consequently, overall learning will be fostered. Even though the professional music educator might have the strongest musical skills and experience, the child can benefit further from musical experiences when his or her community also provides musical experiences. As in language, music skills develop through listening. When children are immersed in this process everyday, their musical capacity, listening skills, and overall development increase (Slevc, 2012). This might be the main reason why music educators encouraged music listening from the womb, as does neuroscience research (Bigand & Poulin-Charronnat, 2006). Musical experiences can provide a space for teachers to practice these skills with their students because, as Patel (2010) stated, music has been naturally created to enhance human development. This benefit becomes more pertinent for the children from low socioeconomic families, which were the population studied in the current research, because they need more support for their learning and emotional development (Ludwig & Philips, 2008). As an added value, when the child has received formal music education experiences, he is more prepared to continue musical training in school and throughout his life.

Research Area:

• Social Sciences and Humanities (SOC)

For a correct evaluation of your candidature, please send the documents below to Professor Oswaldo Lorenzo Quiles, email:  oswaldo@ugr.es

• CV
• Letter of recommendation (optional)