Requirements 

Applicants must hold an MA in Education, Psychology, Linguistics or in a field that has an affinity with the SRC project. A wide interest in educational programs and collaborative science is needed. They should be native or very fluent speakers of Catalan. The dissertation will be carried out within the PhD program in Translation and Language Sciences.

Proposed PhD position: The proposed PhD position will focus on the development, implementation and assessment of the feasibility and effectiveness of the PREVENT-NI educational program, as well as its future scalability across the primary school system in Catalonia. The PhD candidate will engage in active collaboration with other members of the research group and other research collaborators and stakeholders to refine and enhance the different components of the research program.

Expected duration: 3 years

Approximate salary: 23000 EUR per year (gross amount).

Application procedure: Studentsinterested in applying for the position should send the following documents to the PI of the project, Dr. Pilar Prieto ([email protected]):

(i) cover letter with an expression of interest; it must include the names of two researchers who can provide an assessment of the applicant

(ii) CV

(iii) Sample research article or MA Thesis 

Deadline: 15 September 2025 

Description of the project

Preventing school failure of migrant students via a school narrative intervention (PREVENT-NI)

Project description: This project aims to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of the whole-school PREVENT-NI narrative program for increasing the academic performance and diminishing the drop-out rates of migrant children.

Abstract: Many OECD and EU reports have shown that immigrant students are more likely to leave school prematurely than their native- born peers. This has negative social consequences, as early drop-outs are more likely to face unemployment and high-risk behaviors like drug abuse and crime. Spain shows one of the highest drop-out rates in Europe, 17.3% in 2019, with Catalonia at the forefront of early school leaving. The present project focuses on optimizing the educational integration of migrant children during their first year after arrival in Catalonia. To this end, a novel whole-schoolculturally- responsive narrative intervention program (PREVENT-NI) will be implemented in eight public primary schools and then assessed in terms of feasibility and effectiveness. Two important components of the program are parental and stakeholder involvement in the learning process. To validate the program, a set of linguistic competence, academic performance, and social well-being measures will be collected before and at several points after implementation. We expect that full application ofPREVENT-NI will boost the academic and social integration of migrant students. Moreover, it will have a positive impact on our educational system and as well as our society at large by fostering inclusion practices in education and thereby reducing social inequalities.