̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages

Why animals talk

lkm37 — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 13:51:54 +0000

Dr Arik Kershenbaum listens to wolves, gibbons and dolphins to reveal the messages they send one another. His work challenges our assumptions about what animals are capable of, and affirms what makes humans truly unique.

Four Cambridge researchers awarded European Research Council Advanced Grants

jg533 — Fri, 31 Mar 2023 09:43:20 +0000

̽��ֱ��European Research Council (ERC) has announced the award of 218 Advanced Grants to outstanding research leaders across Europe, as part of the Horizon Europe programme.

̽��ֱ��grants, totalling €544 million, support cutting-edge research in a wide range of fields from medicine and physics to social sciences and humanities.

̽��ֱ��ERC is the premier European funding organisation for excellent frontier research. ̽��ֱ��ERC Advanced Grant funding is amongst the most prestigious and competitive EU funding schemes, providing researchers with the opportunity to pursue ambitious, curiosity-driven projects that could lead to major scientific breakthroughs. Grants are awarded to established, leading researchers with a proven track record of significant research achievements over the past decade.

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge’s grant awardees are:

Anna Korhonen, Professor of Natural Language Processing in the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics, for her project Towards Globally Equitable Language Technologies.

Richard Nickl, Professor of Mathematical Statistics in the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics, for his project Statistical aspects of non-linear inverse problems.

Peter Sewell, Professor of Computer Science at the Computer Laboratory, for his project Secure Foundations: Verified Systems Software Above Full-Scale Integrated Semantics.

Sujit Sivasundaram, Professor of World History at the Faculty of History, for his project Colombo: Layered Histories in the Global South City.

'Many many congratulations to Anna, Richard, Peter and Sujit on their success. It is fantastic to see the highly innovative work of our researchers being recognised in international competition in this way. We are once again reminded of the commitment of the ERC to cutting edge research across all disciplines and we continue to urge government to swiftly secure association to Horizon Europe,' said Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge.

"This funding puts our 218 research leaders, together with their teams of postdoctoral fellows, PhD students and research staff, in pole position to push back the boundaries of our knowledge, break new ground and build foundations for future growth and prosperity in Europe,” said Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth.

"These new ERC Advanced Grantees are a testament to the outstanding quality of research carried out across Europe. I am especially pleased to see such a high number of female researchers in this competition and that they are increasingly successful in securing funding. We look forward to seeing the results of the new projects in the years to come, with many likely to lead to breakthroughs and new advances,” said Maria Leptin, ERC President.

̽��ֱ��laureates of this grant competition will carry out their projects at universities and research centres in 20 countries in Europe, with the highest number of projects in Germany (37), the UK (35), France (32) and Spain (16). ̽��ֱ��winners come from all over the world, with 27 nationalities represented, notably Germans (36 researchers), French (32), Italians (21), British (19).

This call for proposals attracted nearly 1,650 applications, which were reviewed by panels of renowned researchers. ̽��ֱ��overall success rate was 13.2%. Female researchers account for 23% of all applications, their highest participation rate in Advanced Grant calls up to now.

In addition to strengthening Europe's knowledge base, the grants are expected to create more than 2,000 jobs for postdoctoral fellows, PhD students, and other staff at the host institutions. Past recipients have included Nobel laureates and other leading scientists who have gone on to make major contributions to their respective fields..

Adapted from a press release by the ERC.

̽��ֱ��funding will enable these researchers to explore their most innovative and ambitious ideas.

It is fantastic to see the highly innovative work of our researchers being recognised in international competition in this way.

Anne Ferguson-Smith

yangwenshuang on Getty

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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Opinion: ̽��ֱ��West must beware the language of appeasement

fpjl2 — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 11:52:03 +0000

Words shape our world. We must see Russia's war on Ukraine for what it is and stop appeasing Putin with our words, write Dr Rory Finnin and Dr Thomas Grant.

Cambridge academics elected to British Academy

cg605 — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 09:17:55 +0000

This year a total of 84 Fellows have been elected to the Fellowship, of which five are Cambridge academics:

Professor Duncan Bell, Professor of Political Thought and International Relations, Fellow of Christ’s College
Professor Sarah Franklin, Chair of Sociology, Fellow of Christ's College
Professor Richard Holton, Professor of Philosophy, Fellow of Peterhouse
Professor Samuel Lieu, President of the International Union of Academies, Bye Fellow of Robinson College
Professor Ianthi Tsimpli, Professor of English and Applied Linguistics, Fellow of Fitzwilliam College

Founded in 1902, the British Academy is the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. It is a Fellowship of over 1400 of the leading minds in these subjects from the UK and overseas. ̽��ֱ��Academy is also a funding body for research, nationally and internationally, and a forum for debate and engagement.

Welcoming the Fellows, the new President of the British Academy, Professor Julia Black, said:

“As the new President of the British Academy, it gives me great pleasure to welcome this new cohort of Fellows, who are as impressive as ever and remind us of the rich and diverse scholarship and research undertaken within the SHAPE disciplines – the social sciences, humanities and the arts. I am very much looking forward to working with them on our shared interests.

“ ̽��ֱ��need for SHAPE subjects has never been greater. As Britain recovers from the pandemic and seeks to build back better, the insights from our diverse disciplines will be vital to ensure the health, wellbeing and prosperity of the UK and will continue to provide the cultural and societal enrichment that has sustained us over the last eighteen months. Our new Fellows embody the value of their subjects and I congratulate them warmly for their achievement.”

Professor Bell works on the history of modern British and American political thought, focusing mainly on visions of empire and international politics in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. “I am delighted to be joining such a distinguished institution,” said Bell. “ ̽��ֱ��humanities and social sciences are vital in both understanding and changing the world, and the British Academy does great work in helping to sustain them.”

Professor Franklin’s research addresses the history and culture of UK IVF, the IVF-stem cell interface, cloning, embryo research, and changing understandings of kinship, biology, and technology. “It is an honour and a privilege to be elected to the Academy and I’m delighted by this news,” said Franklin.

Professor Holton’s current work focuses mainly on Moral Psychology, Ethics, Philosophy of Law, and Philosophy of Language. He said “obviously I’m delighted to be elected, and somewhat daunted! I love the broad range of the British Academy. It does great work supporting the humanities and social sciences, both in the UK and internationally, and I very much look forward to being part of that at a time when these disciplines face many challenges.”

Professor Lieu is the current President of the International Union of Academies (Union Académique Internationale) − an organisation founded after the First World War to promote peace through research collaboration among national academies. Professor Lieu’s field is the history of pre-Islamic Central Asia, especially the history of religions transmitted along the Silk Road (e.g., Christianity and Manichaeism). He said: “I feel greatly honoured and privileged to be elected Fellow of the British Academy, an organisation which has generously supported my subject area, especially in terms of project and publication grants.”

Professor Tsimpli works on multilingualism, first and second language development in children and adults, language impairment, attrition and processing, and the effects of socioeconomic challenges on multilingual children’s language, cognition and school skills. She said “I’m deeply honoured to have been elected and look forward to being part of this community of researchers.”

Five Cambridge academics have been elected to the Fellowship of the British Academy in recognition of their contribution to the humanities and social sciences.

̽��ֱ��need for SHAPE subjects has never been greater.

Professor Julia Black, President of the British Academy

Clockwise: Professor Holton, Professor Franklin, Professor Lieu, Professor Tsimpli, Professor Bell.

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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Now we’re talking: the project helping teenage refugees and asylum-seekers build a new life in Britain

ta385 — Wed, 20 Nov 2019 07:00:00 +0000

A new collaboration involving Cambridge linguists and a student-led charitable group is helping young refugees and asylum-seekers develop their confidence and communication skills.

Discovering a world of languages

cjb250 — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 08:23:48 +0000

A Cambridge-led team seeks to revitalise languages in the UK with a series of interactive pop-up exhibitions and an online game designed to set tongues wagging.

State of Madness: Psychiatry, Literature, and Dissent After Stalin

sjr81 — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 08:02:57 +0000

Towards the end of the 1960s, rumours began to spread that nonconformist citizens of the USSR were being diagnosed with mental illnesses and confined to psychiatric hospitals.

Arthur Schnitzler Digital Edition

sjr81 — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:15:45 +0000

Arthur Schnitzler digital: Digital Critical Edition (Works from 1905 to 1931