How do we know that a sentence was said by a woman? How do we know that what she told us was a question? Researchers from the University of Zurich and the NCCR Evolving Language described the complex processes happening in our brain, that allow us to understand the information contained in pitch.
Exploring the past, present and future of language
The Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Evolving Language is a nationwide interdisciplinary research consortium bringing together research groups from the humanities, from language and computer science, the social sciences, and the natural sciences at an unprecedented level. Together, we aim at solving one of humanity’s great mysteries: What is language? How did our species develop the capacity for linguistic expression, for processing language in the brain, and for consistently passing down new variations to the next generation? How will our capacity for language change in the face of digital communication and neuroengineering?
Upcoming events
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Upcoming Events
ça vous parle? – Semaine du Cerveau 2026
Interactive workshop in EDI – How to be heard: Communication Strategies in Hierarchical and Multicultural Settings (UNIGE)
Our Network
Evolving Language is led by Balthasar Bickel (Institute for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), UZH), Nina Kazanina (Department of Basic Neurosciences, UNIGE) and Klaus Zuberbühler (Institute of Biology, UNINE). Over 40 research groups across Switzerland are taking part in this NCCR, from 9 different institutions as well as partners in industry (Google AI, Sonova) and public organisations. The project has 3 leading houses: the University of Zurich, the University of Geneva and the University of Neuchâtel.
Leading house
Co-leading houses
Funding agency
Partners
Swiss Data Science Center
Wyss Center
Citizen Science Zürich
Fondation Campus Biotech
Zoo Basel
Neurocenter Science Zurich
Liri
Sonova
Google Research
NCCR Research Facilities
