Find Academic Supervisors

Jing Lin serves as an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU), affiliated with the Network Institute. Her work bridges theoretical linguistics, cognitive development, and educational applications, with a focus on language acquisition in multilingual contexts. Her educational background includes a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Amsterdam (2015) for research on negative polarity items acquisition, and a Research Master in Linguistics from the same institution. She conducted postdoctoral research at Leiden University (2016-2019) focusing on semantics and first language acquisition. Lin's research centers on first and second language acquisition mechanisms, particularly developmental milestones, cognitive interactions in language learning, and multilingual education. She employs experimental and corpus methodologies with special emphasis on young children and newcomers to the Netherlands. Current work investigates how phonological working memory training affects Dutch language acquisition in 4-7 year old newcomers. Her publication trends reveal dual specialization: (1) Core linguistics focusing on syntactic-sematic interfaces in language acquisition, and (2) Applied social psychology examining economic inequality's impact on prosocial behavior in adolescent development. Both strands maintain strong methodological rigor with cross-linguistic and developmental perspectives. NWO Open Competitie XS Grant for cognitive foundation research in second language learning NT2 Teacher Certification (2021) As Principal Investigator of an active NWO-funded project, she leads research on phonological working memory interventions for young newcomers. Her teaching portfolio includes courses on First Language Acquisition, Psycholinguistics, and Foreign Language Teaching. She actively contributes to academic service through conference participation (e.g., Nordic Interdisciplinary Conference on Discourse and Interaction) and peer review for journals like Applied Psycholinguistics. Lin maintains strong community engagement through her NWO project, collaborating with NT2 schools and caregivers of newcomer children in the Netherlands.

• Language Acquisition
• Child Language Development
• Psycholinguistics
• +5 more

Prof. Jan-Wouter Zwart is a Professor of Theoretical Linguistics at the Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen. His research focuses on syntax, linguistic typology, and morphological strength, with a particular emphasis on Germanic languages and cross-linguistic syntactic structures. He holds an office at the Harmony building (Room 1315.0401) and can be reached via c.j.w.zwart@rug.nl. Research Interests: - Syntax and its interface with morphology and semantics - Typological studies of alignment systems and verb positioning - Historical developments in Dutch and Afrikaans syntax - Formal syntactic theory and syntactic derivation mechanisms - Methodological approaches to linguistic analysis Recent work explores coordination structures, modal adverb placement, and rethinking alignment typology. His contributions appear in leading venues like the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics and Syntax-focused volumes. No scientific awards are explicitly mentioned, though his extensive publication record indicates academic recognition. He has no listed advisees or grants in the provided texts. His professional activities are centered at the University of Groningen without external roles.

• Syntax
• Linguistic Typology
• Morphology
• +3 more

Gunter Senft is a prominent linguistic anthropologist and researcher affiliated with the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in the Department of Language and Cognition. He also holds the title of Extraordinary Professor for General Linguistics at the University of Cologne. His work focuses on Austronesian and Papuan languages, particularly Kilivila, the language of the Trobriand Islanders. He has conducted extensive fieldwork in Papua New Guinea over multiple decades. His research interests include: Nominal classification Semantics and pragmatics Conceptualization of space Anthropological linguistics Language, culture, and cognition Endangered languages The body of Gunter Senft's recent publications reveals a consistent focus on the interplay between language, culture, and cognition, particularly through detailed ethnographic and linguistic studies of Oceanic languages. His work spans theoretical pragmatics, narrative structures, spatial reference, and language documentation. A recurring theme is the documentation and analysis of oral traditions and cultural practices, especially from the Trobriand Islands, emphasizing the importance of preserving endangered linguistic systems. His interdisciplinary approach integrates linguistic analysis with anthropological insight, contributing to broader debates on linguistic relativity and cognitive diversity. Scientific recognition includes: AVT/Anéla Award for best dissertation in linguistics in the Netherlands (2012) Otto-Hahn Medal of the Max Planck Society for outstanding scientific achievements (2013) Gunter Senft has played a significant role in academic mentorship and evaluation. He has supervised multiple PhD candidates and served on numerous doctoral committees across institutions such as Radboud University Nijmegen, Universität Heidelberg, and the University of Cologne. His advisory work spans topics in linguistic typology, semantics, and anthropological linguistics. He has also contributed to major archival projects, including digital collections of sound recordings, photographs, and ethnographic materials from Papua New Guinea. These efforts reflect a deep commitment to both scholarly research and the preservation of linguistic and cultural heritage. He has been involved in collaborative research initiatives, including seminars and workshops on semantics and pragmatics with leading scholars such as Stephen C. Levinson and Asifa Majid at Radboud University. His outreach includes participation in public exhibitions, media interviews, and digital dissemination of research materials through the MPI Language Archive and Europeana.

• Austronesian Languages
• Papuan Languages
• Kilivila Language
• +12 more

Stephen Jones is an Assistant Professor at the University of Groningen’s Faculty of Science and Engineering, affiliated with the Bernoulli Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, and Mathematics. His research focuses on the intersection of grammatical theory and cognitive models of language processing, particularly the syntax-prosody interface in Korean and English. He holds a DPhil in General Linguistics from the University of Oxford (2019) and has taught undergraduate linguistics courses at both Oxford and Groningen. Key research areas include Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG), Dynamic Syntax, and computational modeling using the ACT-R architecture. He has also held visiting academic roles at the University of Oxford’s Faculty of Linguistics, Philology, and Phonetics. Awards include the MPhil to DPhil Progress Scholarship from Kellogg College, Oxford. His work bridges formal linguistics and cognitive science, with recent publications exploring Korean question focus, Dutch clitic pronouns, and cross-linguistic lexical tone learning. Grants include funding for computational modeling projects and participation in international conferences on syntax and psycholinguistics.

• Linguistics
• Cognitive Modelling
• Syntax-Prosody Interface
• +3 more

Dr. Hans Wilke is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Speech Communication and Discourse Analysis at the University of Groningen's Faculty of Arts. His research focuses on linguistics, pragmatics, discourse analysis, and experimental methods, with specific interests in information structure, coherence, and sentence processing. He holds a PhD and has contributed to interdisciplinary studies at the intersection of linguistics and cognitive science. Wilke's work examines how linguistic structures interact with discourse principles and cognitive processes, using experimental methods to explore topics like appositive relative clauses, pronoun resolution, and the syntax-semantics interface in Dutch. His recent publications (2022-2025) demonstrate a focus on empirical investigations of discourse processing mechanisms. No scientific awards or grants are explicitly mentioned in the provided texts, though his active publication record suggests ongoing research activity. His advising roles and student supervision details are not documented here. He is affiliated with the Speech Communication and Discourse Analysis unit at the Faculty of Arts, contributing to both teaching and experimental research initiatives.

• Linguistics
• Pragmatics
• Discourse Analysis
• +3 more

Dr. Ielka van der Sluis is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Communication and Information Science, Faculty of Arts at the University of Groningen since 2011. She holds a PhD in Computational Linguistics from Tilburg University (2005) and has held research positions at Trinity College Dublin (2008–2011), the University of Aberdeen (UK), and the University of Twente. Her research focuses on human communication, multimodal interaction, natural language generation, and affective computing. She is a member of the Center for Language and Cognition Groningen and has contributed to projects like TUNA (EPSRC-funded), the OLIVE EC project, and the PAT framework for multimodal instruction analysis. Her work bridges computational linguistics and human-computer interaction, emphasizing the design and evaluation of multimodal systems. She has explored topics such as cross-linguistic referring expression generation, affective text impact, and procedural instruction design. Key contributions include developing the PAT annotation model for multimodal instructions and investigating cross-cultural assessment of automated referring expressions in virtual environments. Her research history spans over two decades, with impactful contributions to the understanding of text-picture alignment in procedural instructions, action categorization in multimedia, and user-centric evaluation frameworks. She collaborates internationally, particularly in computational linguistics and next-generation localization technologies.

• Human Communication
• Information Presentation
• Human-Computer Interaction
• +3 more

Xiaochen Zheng is a Cognitive Neuroscientist at Leiden University's Social and Behavioural Sciences faculty, specifically within the Cognitive Psychology Unit . She holds a Researcher title and investigates intersections between language and broader cognitive systems using advanced neuroimaging techniques. Bachelor: Psychology, Beijing Normal University PhD: Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Her research spans cognitive control , working memory , and language processing , with a focus on how the brain manages information overload, facilitates multilingualism, and generalizes knowledge. Techniques include EEG , MEG , and fMRI across healthy and clinical populations. Recent publications highlight her work on frontoparietal networks , theta oscillations in bilingual control , and hippocampal cognitive mapping . These articles reveal a trend toward understanding domain-general mechanisms in cognition and their applications to language processing. Veni Grant (NWO) - The age of information overload: how do we control what we say? Scholarship for Academic Excellence (Tilburg University) As a co-promotor, she supervised PhD student Elena Mainetto and coordinated interdisciplinary teams across 10+ international institutes. Her work emphasizes team science and open science principles, with data sharing practices evident in multiple publications.

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Language Processing
• Cognitive Control
• +5 more

Ana Bosnic is a Lecturer in Linguistics at the Department of Languages, Literature and Communication, Utrecht University. Her research focuses on experimentally testing quantification and distributive interpretations in Serbian, Korean, and Dutch, with a specialization in syntax-phonology interfaces and language acquisition. PhD in (Psycho)linguistics (University of Groningen & University of Nantes) As a member of the Dynamics of Youth (DoY) initiative and the COST Action Project CA22139 (Y-JustLang), she investigates distributive share markers, exhaustivity requirements, and cognitive load in linguistic processing. Her work spans experimental methodologies across adult and child populations. Recent publications highlight her contributions to understanding distributive quantifiers in Dutch (2018), agreement mismatches in Serbian (2016), and cross-linguistic studies of distributive markers in Serbian, Korean, and German (2020-2024). She employs empirical approaches to analyze syntax-semantic interfaces and phonological constraints. Ana Bosnic's active research and teaching are centered within Utrecht University's Transcomplex building (3512 JK Utrecht).

• Linguistics
• Syntax
• Phonology
• +4 more

Dr. Maaike Schoorlemmer is a Researcher at the Institute for Language Sciences under the Faculty of Humanities at Utrecht University . She has contributed extensively to fields like syntax, morphology, and Slavic linguistics. Role: Research Coordinator Department: Institute for Language Sciences University: Utrecht University Her research interests include: Syntax-Morphology Interface Slavic Language Structures Metalinguistic Awareness Formal Grammar Recent publications focus on Russian grammar, argument structures, and linguistic theory. She has edited academic yearbooks and contributed to theoretical linguistics. Contact: m.schoorlemmer@uu.nl

• Syntax
• Morphology
• Slavic Linguistics
• +3 more

Marijana Marelj is an Associate Professor at the Utrecht University , affiliated with the Department of Languages, Literature and Communication and the Institute for Language Sciences. Her research focuses on the lexicon-syntax-semantics interfaces , particularly causality and volitionality in natural language, and she contributes to projects like Dynamics of Youth and Human-centered Artificial Intelligence . PhD in Theoretical Linguistics (cum laude), Utrecht University (UiL OTS), supervised by Tanya Reinhart and Eric Reuland Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Connecticut (USA) and Utrecht University Her recent work explores clitics at syntax-phonology interfaces , cognate objects , and derivational complexity . She has co-edited major works like Concepts, Syntax and their Interfaces: The Theta System (MIT Press) and contributed to journals including Linguistic Inquiry , Syntax , and Theoretical Linguistics . Marelj is actively involved in Slavic linguistics , Romance-Slavic comparative studies , and psych verbs at interfaces . She serves on the LOT Curriculum Committee and the Linguistic Inquiry Associate Editorial Board .

• Linguistics
• Syntax
• Semantics
• +4 more