Dr. Giorgos Spathas is a senior researcher at Leibniz-Centre General Linguistics, leading the DFG project on verbal predication. His semantic research examines aspectual interpretation, measurement systems, and gender features across languages. His theoretical work develops unified analyses for proportional modification and aspectual coercion phenomena, combining event-structural and scalar approaches. Recent publications investigate the syntax-semantics interface in Greek measurement expressions and animal noun classification.
Dr. Tonjes Veenstra is a Researcher and Research Associate at the Leibniz Centre for General Linguistics (ZAS) in Berlin, focusing on linguistic theory and sociolinguistics. He leads the DFG project A02 on speaker choice in creole communities (Bislama/Morisien) within the SFB 1412 'Register' research initiative. As a founding member of SEEPiCLA and President of IACPL, he bridges creole studies with postcolonial linguistics. Roles: Research Associate (ZAS), DFG Project Lead, IACPL President Research Focus: Syntax-morphology interfaces, sociolinguistic modeling of language variation/contact, biocultural diversity in postcolonial societies His work combines fieldwork in creole societies with theoretical insights, emphasizing the role of colonial dynamics in linguistic evolution. Key projects address Bislama (Vanuatu) and Morisien (Mauritius) variation patterns, linking grammatical innovation to social stratification. Publications span creole syntax, language contact, and biodiversity, with recent contributions on multilingualism in creole contexts. He actively engages in global academic networks, presenting at conferences like ICAME and NWAV. Labs/Teams: Involved in SFB 1412 teams and the Leibniz Research Network Biodiversity.
Prof. Dr. Dany Adone serves as Chair of Applied English Linguistics at the University of Cologne and Co-Director of the Center for Australian Studies. Their academic work spans multiple disciplines including linguistics, Indigenous studies, and ecocritical research. Chair of Applied English Linguistics Co-Director, Center for Australian Studies Specializes in Indigenous sign languages and creole languages Research interests focus on Indigenous Australian languages and cultures, particularly through the lenses of sign language studies, creole language acquisition, and ecological knowledge systems. Current projects examine Yolngu ethnoecology and two-way tools for environmental management. Recent publications reveal a strong focus on comparative linguistic analysis, with particular emphasis on creole languages and Indigenous sign systems. Their work bridges linguistic theory with cultural studies and environmental humanities. Academic collaborations include partnerships with Indigenous researchers and institutions in Australia, with notable projects involving sign language documentation in Arnhem Land. Their research frequently intersects with decolonization methodologies and Indigenous knowledge preservation.
Nicoletta Calzolari is a leading researcher at the Institute for Computational Linguistics (ILC) under the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) in Pisa. Her career spans decades of influential work in computational linguistics, language resource development, and standardization initiatives. She has co-chaired major conferences like LREC and COLING and contributed to EU projects (e.g., FLaReNet, META-NET) focused on multilingual NLP infrastructure. Research Interests: Calzolari specializes in: Lexical semantics and ontology development (e.g., Lexical Markup Framework). Multilingual language resource creation and interoperability. Corpus annotation standards and semantic lexicons. Reproducibility in language technology research. Publications: Her recent work emphasizes collaborative frameworks for resource sharing, large-scale lexical databases (e.g., WordNet integration), and infrastructure for sustainable language technology. Dominant themes include standardization, cross-lingual interoperability, and community-driven knowledge ecosystems. Leadership: She coordinates international consortia and editorial efforts, advancing tools and best practices for NLP resource documentation, access, and preservation.
Anastasia Bauer is a linguist and postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Linguistics, University of Cologne, serving as Junior Principal Investigator in the Research Center 'Skills and Structures in Language and Cognition' (SSLAC) and Principal Investigator for the DFG Priority Programme 2329 ViCom project 'Gestures or signs?' She earned her PhD in 2014 from the University of Cologne in Applied English Linguistics with specialization in Sign Language Linguistics. Bauer's research explores human language capacity through multimodal and cross-linguistic analysis of face-to-face interaction. Her primary focus areas include: Corpus Linguistics methodologies Sign Language Linguistics (German, Russian, Polish, Ukrainian) Multimodal Communication systems Gesture Studies in spoken and signed contexts Morphosyntactic structures Bimodal Language Contact phenomena Slavic Languages interfaces Her recent publications demonstrate methodological innovation combining pose estimation, corpus analysis, and cross-linguistic comparison to investigate feedback signals, head movements, and mouthings across sign languages. This work reveals systematic patterns in multimodal expressivity and phonetic differentiation within Slavic language contexts. Bauer actively contributes to DFG-funded research through SSLAC and her ViCom project, developing corpus-driven approaches to compare manual and non-manual constructions in co-speech gesture and sign language. Her work bridges linguistics, computer vision, and cognitive science through interdisciplinary collaboration. She maintains active research leadership within SSLAC and her DFG project team, advancing methodologies for multimodal data collection and analysis while fostering international scholarly exchange in sign language and gesture studies.
Stefan Engelberg is a Professor of German Linguistics at the University of Mannheim and Honorary Professor of Lexicography at the University of Tübingen. He serves as Head of the Lexicon Department and Head of the Program Area "Lexical Syntagmatics" at the Leibniz Institute for the German Language (IDS), with responsibilities in human resources management and research planning . His affiliations include membership in the Management Board and Extended Management Board of IDS, editorial roles in "Studies on the German Language" and "Colonial and Postcolonial Linguistics" book series, and leadership in projects like the International Association for Colonial and Postcolonial Linguistics .
Prof. Tania Kuteva holds a Professorship in English Linguistics at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (since 2000) and is a Professorial Research Associate at SOAS, University of London. She specializes in grammaticalization theory, language contact, and historical linguistics. Her work emphasizes the evolution of grammatical structures and their sociocultural contexts. She has held visiting roles at institutions worldwide, including the University of Texas, Max-Planck Institute, and Nanyang Technological University. Education: PhD in English Linguistics (University of Sofia, 1996), postgraduate studies at Heidelberg University (1992-1993). Research focuses on grammaticalization processes, Standard Average European linguistic unity, and discourse grammar. Awards include the Alexander von Humboldt Feodor-Lynen Fellowship and membership in the Academy of Europe. Her research explores cross-linguistic patterns in grammaticalization, the impact of language contact on syntax, and the neurobiological correlates of discourse grammar. She has authored/co-authored seminal works like *World Lexicon of Grammaticalization* and *The Genesis of Grammar*, contributing to debates on language evolution and typology.
Dr. Giuseppina di Bartolo is a Lecturer at the Department of Linguistics, University of Cologne, specializing in Discourse Studies and Historical Linguistics. She will assume the role of Senior Researcher (RTDb) in Historical Comparative and General Linguistics at the University of Salento (Lecce) starting March 2025. Her research focuses on Postclassical Greek syntax, clause linkage strategies, and sociolinguistic aspects of Ancient Greek based on documentary papyri. She holds a PhD in Greek Philology from the University of Cologne (2018), with a tripartite supervision program (Doctor Europaeus) involving Cologne, Liège, and Sapienza University of Rome. Her academic activities include organizing major conferences such as the 1st Postclassical Greek Conference Cologne (2021) and contributing to initiatives like the Pavia Verbs Database project. She is a Humboldt Fellow (2023–2024) at the University of Pavia, investigating syntactic and discursive aspects of ancient texts. Her teaching portfolio includes courses on linguistic structures, discourse analysis, and Postclassical Greek. Key research areas span language contact, multilingualism in Greco-Roman Egypt, and the diachronic evolution of pragmatic markers. She frequently presents at international forums, including the International Congress of Linguists and the Societas Linguistica Europaea, with publications focusing on valency patterns, metaphorical language, and syntactic variation in ancient corpora. Education: PhD in Greek Philology (University of Cologne, 2018) Memberships: AIP, DGfS, IPrA, SLE, and others Grants: DFG-funded Postclassical Greek Conference (2021), Feodor Lynen Fellowship Her work bridges historical linguistics with papyrology, employing corpus-based methods to analyze colloquial Greek from documentary sources. She collaborates with institutions across Europe and the US, contributing to interdisciplinary projects on ancient language use and variability.
Piotr Gulgowski is a Researcher at the Leibniz Centre for General Linguistics (ZAS) in Berlin, Germany, actively contributing to Research Area III 'Syntax & Lexicon'. His work spans multiple prestigious institutions including Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and international collaborations with researchers across Europe. As a core team member in the DFG-funded project 'Agreement mismatches in relative clauses and related structures' and the GRANITUS project on grammatical illusions in accented speech, he bridges theoretical linguistics with experimental cognitive science. His research centers on the psycholinguistic mechanisms of grammatical number, agreement, and quantification in Polish, employing cutting-edge methodologies like ERP studies, behavioral experiments, and acceptability ratings. Key interests include how syntactic structures interact with cognitive processing, the perception of L2-accented speech, and illusions of ungrammaticality arising from phonological and grammatical errors. His interdisciplinary approach integrates syntax, phonetics, and cognitive neuroscience to unravel language processing complexities. Analysis of Gulgowski's 2018-2021 publications reveals a cohesive trajectory exploring number representation, aspect-countability interactions, and quantifier scope through experimental paradigms. His work consistently leverages Polish as a test case for broader linguistic theories, with recent presentations (2023-2024) expanding into L2 accent processing and personality trait perception. This evolution demonstrates a strategic shift from pure syntax toward sociolinguistic dimensions of speech perception. Gulgowski collaborates extensively with Sarah Wesolek, Marzena Zygis, and the late Joanna Blaszczak (honored in a 2021 memorial workshop) on projects funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. Their team regularly presents at top-tier venues including Interspeech, ICPhS, and LabPhon, with recent work examining how grammatical errors in foreign-accented speech trigger perceptual illusions. The GRANITUS project represents a significant grant achievement focused on neural correlates of speech processing. Based at ZAS's Berlin headquarters (Pariser Straße 1), he operates within a dynamic research cluster investigating syntax-lexicon interfaces. His team's 2024 presentations at Humboldt-Universität, University of Glasgow, and international conferences confirm ongoing leadership in experimental linguistics, particularly regarding German-Polish cross-linguistic comparisons in error processing and accent perception.
Jens Hopperdietzel is a doctoral researcher specializing in Syntax & Lexicon , with a focus on Austronesian and Oceanic languages. His work examines serial verb constructions (SVCs), ergativity, unaccusativity, and the syntax-semantics interface in languages such as Samoan and Daakaka. Presented at major conferences including WCCFL 40 (Stanford University, 2022), NELS 52 (Rutgers University, 2021), and Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association meetings. Collaborated with Artemis Alexiadou and Nicola Klingler on prosodic integration and causative predicate constraints in SVCs. His research bridges formal linguistic theory with empirical analysis of Oceanic language structures, particularly in the domains of nominalization and resultative constructions.
Fereshteh Modarresi is a Senior Researcher at Humboldt University of Berlin specializing in theoretical and experimental linguistics, with primary focus on semantics and syntax of Persian and German languages. She is actively involved in the DFG-funded project ANAPIN (Anaphoric potential of incorporated nominal and weak definitions) under Research Area 3 'Syntax & Lexicon', collaborating extensively with Professor Manfred Krifka. Her academic work bridges cross-linguistic analysis with empirical methodologies. Her research centers on semantic-syntactic interfaces, particularly investigating anaphora, noun incorporation, weak definites, bare nouns, and generic sentences. She examines how these phenomena manifest in Persian (a differential object marking language) compared to German, revealing universal constraints and language-specific patterns. Recent work explores similative plurals, durative markers, and assertion modifiers through both theoretical frameworks and experimental designs, demonstrating how morphosyntactic structures interact with discourse interpretation and pragmatic inference. Analysis of her 2021-2024 publications reveals three dominant trends: (1) systematic comparison of anaphoric potential across nominal types (weak definites, bare nouns, incorporated nominals), (2) experimental validation of semantic theories using Persian-German contrasts, and (3) investigation of homogeneity effects in plural interpretations. Her work increasingly integrates psycholinguistic methods, as seen in studies on trustworthiness markers and number agreement phenomena, pushing the boundaries of formal semantics with empirical evidence. Scientific Awards: No awards documented in provided materials. Advising and Grants: No student supervision details or grant information appears in available records. Her research is primarily conducted within the DFG ANAPIN project framework. Research Infrastructure: Modarresi operates within Humboldt University's linguistics ecosystem as part of the DFG project ANAPIN team. Her work leverages experimental labs for psycholinguistic testing and maintains strong connections with international Iranian linguistics networks, evidenced by frequent presentations at NACIL conferences. Collaboration with Krifka's research group provides access to theoretical frameworks in formal semantics and cross-linguistic databases.
Nicholas Rolle is a Researcher at the Leibniz Center for General Linguistics (ZAS) in Berlin, affiliated with Research Area 3 'Syntax & Lexicon'. His work centers on the intersection of phonological and morphological processes, with specialized focus on tone systems and prosody-phonology interactions in African languages. He maintains an active international presence through invited talks at leading universities across North America and Europe from 2021-2023. Dr. Rolle's research examines tone-driven epenthesis, bipartite morphemes, functional load of tone, and grammatical tone phenomena at the syntax-phonology interface. His empirical work primarily analyzes African languages including Kalabari, Izon, and Macro-Sudan Belt languages, investigating how prosodic structures cultivate segments and how tonal contrasts operate in morphological exponence. Key contributions include developing representational accounts of floating tone association and restrictions on exponent shape in morpho-phonological subcategorization.
Karolina Zuchewicz is a researcher affiliated with Humboldt University Berlin’s Department of Slavic and Hungarian Studies and the Leibniz ZAS Berlin. She earned her PhD in 2020 from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, focusing on the interaction between perfective aspect and factivity in Polish. Her academic journey includes a research assistant position at Freie Universität Berlin (2015-2016) and a junior professorship granted in 2022. PhD in Linguistics, Humboldt University Berlin (2020) Research Assistant, Freie Universität Berlin (2015-2016) Junior Professorship (2022) Zuchewicz specializes in syntax, semantics, and formal Slavic linguistics, particularly investigating clause-embedding verbs, incrementality, and factivity across Polish and German. Her work bridges theoretical syntax with empirical analysis of Slavic morphosyntax. Her recent publications explore factivity-assertiveness alternations in German and Polish, generalized incrementality in clause-embedding predicates, and aspect-veridicality interactions. These contributions appear in peer-reviewed venues such as Open Slavic Linguistics and Sinn und Bedeutung . She actively collaborates with linguists like André Meinunger and Luka Szucsich, participating in workshops such as the MECORE Closing Workshop and FASL33. Her research is associated with projects analyzing mood markers, clausal complementation, and syntactic typology.
Ruben van de Vijver is a Professor of Phonetics and Phonology at the Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany, within the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and Department of Linguistics. His office is located in Building 23.21, Room 04.048, with office hours held on Wednesdays from 15:00 to 16:00 and by appointment. His research centers on the sound structures of language, with primary interests in phonetics, phonology, morphology, and their interfaces. Key areas include laboratory phonology, metrical phonology, morphophonology, prosodic morphology, sociophonetics, and language acquisition. He investigates how phonetic detail influences phonological representations and how morphological knowledge interacts with phonological processes, particularly through experimental and computational approaches. Van de Vijver's recent publications (2023-2024) reveal a strong emphasis on discriminative learning models applied to linguistic phenomena, especially in Maltese and Kinyarwanda. His work bridges phonetics, phonology, and morphology using interdisciplinary methods from cognitive science and neuroscience, exploring word recognition, morphological acquisition, intonation variation, and neural correlates of language processing. He actively participates in professional communities as a member of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sprachwissenschaft (German Society for Linguistics), the Association for Laboratory Phonology, and GĦILM (International Association of Maltese Linguistics), reflecting his engagement with both theoretical frameworks and language-specific research.
Professor Artemis Alexiadou is a distinguished linguist serving as Director of the Leibniz-Centre General Linguistics (ZAS) and holding an S-Professorship in General Linguistics at the Institute of German Language and Linguistics, Humboldt University of Berlin. She has been affiliated with ZAS and the Institute of German Language and Linguistics since October 1, 2022. Her academic journey began with a degree in Philology specializing in Linguistics from the University of Athens (1986-1990), followed by an MA in Linguistics from the University of Reading (1990-1991), and culminated in a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Universität Potsdam (1994). Professor Alexiadou's research focuses on theoretical syntax and morphology, with particular expertise in syntax and its interfaces with morphology, the lexicon and interpretation, Diachronic Syntax, Language Breakdown and Development, and Heritage Languages. Her work has significantly advanced our understanding of nominalization, verbal alternations, and the syntax-morphology interface. She has held prestigious positions including Professor of Theoretical and English Linguistics at the University of Stuttgart (2002-2015) before moving to Humboldt University. Her recent publications reveal a strong emphasis on Heritage Greek linguistics, examining phenomena such as gender agreement, aspect, and the plural indefinite article across different registers. The publication trends indicate a growing focus on experimental and comparative approaches to heritage language phenomena, particularly in the Greek diaspora communities in the USA and Germany. This reflects her leadership in the Research Unit on (Experimental) Syntax and Heritage Languages (RUESHeL). Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize (2014) Doctor honoris causa from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (2016) Member of the Leopoldina, National Academy of Sciences (2014) Member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (2018) ERC Synergy Grant LeibnizDream (2021-2026) Professor Alexiadou has supervised numerous research projects and currently leads the ERC Synergy Grant LeibnizDream project, which investigates how language compresses thought structures. She serves on multiple scientific boards including the International Research Network Heritage Languages in Europe and the DFG Review Board 104 Sprachwissenschaften. Her editorial work includes membership on the boards of Glossa, Linguistic Inquiry, and Syntax, among others. She directs the Compressor Team at Humboldt University, which focuses on language acquisition and processing.
