What do monkeys, ChatGPT, and we have in common? According to Quentin Gallot, a PhD candidate at the University of Neuchâtel and researcher at NCCR Evolving Language, they all possess extraordinary predictive abilities that manifest in similarities in their communication systems.
Bonobos create complex and meaningful combinations of calls resembling the word combinations of humans. In this study, researchers at the University of Zurich and Harvard University challenge long-held assumptions about what makes human communication unique and suggest that key aspects of language are evolutionary ancient.
Du 31 mars au 6 avril, découvrez les chimères genevoises lors d’une véritable quête à travers la ville ! Entre musées, parcs et librairie, les chimères sont partout… Retrouvez les toutes à l’aide de la carte interactive.
Last week professors Paola Merlo and Valentina Borghesani, and NCCR Outreach Officer Coralie Debracque, visited primary school students in the canton of Geneva. The aim: to present their daily lives as researchers, between meetings, reading and teaching, but also to reinforce the place of women scientists, and even professors, in the collective imagination.
The members of the NCCR Evolving Language gathered last week for the Winter School and Annual Retreat of the consortium in sunny Champéry. Over a few days, around 110 of our researchers presented their work, and connected with colleagues, from PhD students to senior professors.
Discover the backstage of research at the NCCR Evolving Language with Victoria, intern with us during the month of December! After discussing their work and background with researchers Alexis Hervais-Adelman and Marion Bouffier, Victoria has put together a summary for you.
On January 1, 2025, the University of Zurich (UZH) created a new institute, the Institute for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE). Its mission is to deepen interdisciplinary research in the field of language evolution. The ISLE also serves as the host institution of the NCCR Evolving Language.
Starting from Fall Semester 2025, the UZH will offer a Master’s program in Evolutionary Language Science, an interfaculty program by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Science. More information can be found on their website.
On Thursday December 5, Nina Kazanina, professor in the Department of Basic Neuroscience (UNIGE) and co-director of the NCCR Evolving Language, presented her work to the public at her inaugural lecture, at the Centre Médical Universitaire de Genève.
Découvrez le témoignage d’une élève en classe de 11ème en stage au NCCR Evolving Language sur le campus de Genève qui décrit deux expériences d’un chercheur qu’elle a pu observer.