Floris Roelofsen

Floris Roelofsen is a Professor at the Institute for Logic, Language, and Computation (ILLC), part of the Faculty of Science, Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Amsterdam. His research centers on expanding semantic theories beyond truth-conditional content, particularly in the interpretation of questions and the formal modeling of meaning through inquisitive semantics. He also investigates sign languages, especially the Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT), aiming to deepen linguistic understanding and reduce communication barriers between deaf and hearing communities.

• Professor, ILLC, University of Amsterdam (2023–present)
• Associate Professor, ILLC, University of Amsterdam (2015–2023)
• Assistant Professor, ILLC, University of Amsterdam (2013–2015)
• Postdoctoral Researcher, ILLC (2010–2013)
• Visiting Assistant Professor, UMass Amherst (2009–2010)

Roelofsen’s research interests include inquisitive semantics, formal semantics, questions in language, sign language linguistics, and computational models of meaning. He explores how linguistic meaning goes beyond truth conditions to include information-seeking functions, and how sign languages make grammatical structures visually accessible. His work integrates theoretical linguistics, logic, philosophy, and artificial intelligence.

The most recent publications reflect a growing trend toward interdisciplinary research combining formal semantics with computational and experimental methods, particularly in sign language processing, annotation, and translation technology. Themes include polar questions in NGT, sign spotting, text-to-sign translation, and the semantics of attitude predicates across languages.

• NWO VICI Grant (2021, 1.5 million euro)
• ERC Starting Grant (2016, 1.4 million euro)
• NWO VIDI Grant (2015, 800,000 euro)
• NWO VENI Grant (2012, 250,000 euro)

Roelofsen has advised 6 PhD students and 6 postdoctoral researchers, and supervised over 10 master’s and bachelor’s theses. He leads the SignLab Amsterdam initiative, which develops machine translation tools using animated avatars to translate Dutch and English into NGT. He is also the principal investigator of major projects such as 'Language Sciences for Social Good' and the NWO VICI project on questions in sign language. His editorial work includes serving as Associate Editor for the Journal of Semantics since 2018.