Walt Detmar Meurers

Prof. Dr. Walt Detmar Meurers is a Research Professor at the Leibniz Institute for Knowledge Media (IWM) since April 2024, leading the Language and AI in Education research group. Previously, he served as a Full Professor of Computational Linguistics and head of the Theoretical Computational Linguistics group at the University of Tübingen (2008–2024). His career spans roles at The Ohio State University (Assistant to Associate Professor, 2001–2008), Universitet i Tromsø (Professor II, 2013–2016), and University of Tübingen (Lecturer, 1997–2000).

His research bridges Computational Linguistics and Empirical Educational Science, focusing on Second Language Acquisition, Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language Learning (ICALL), learner corpora analysis, and linguistic complexity modeling for adaptive educational systems. Key projects include FeedBook (adaptive English learning), MERLIN (learner corpus analysis), and CoMiC (semantic comparison in education). He has contributed to formal syntax-information structure interfaces within the HPSG framework and advocated for integrating linguistic theory with educational technology.

• Scientific Leadership:
  • Steering Board, LEAD Graduate School and Research Network
  • Steering Committee, Heritage Language Consortium
  • Scientific Advisory Board, CATALPA and SZHB
  • Consultant, EFCAMDAT project
• Education:
  • PhD in Computational Linguistics, University of Tübingen (2000)
  • MA in Linguistics, Computer Science, Psychology, University of Tübingen (1994)
  • ERASMUS exchange at IRIT, Université Paul Sabatier
• Impact:
  • Co-authored Language and Computers (freely available as an open-access textbook)
  • Organized workshops: AALL'09, IICALL
  • Advisory roles for start-ups: cabuu, Prosodiya