NCCR Evolving Language

🛌 Chaque nuit, notre cerveau bascule dans un territoire singulier : celui des rêves.

Assistez à la leçon d'ouverture du semestre de printemps avec Prof. Sophie Schwartz!

👉 Le mystère des rêves - entre neurosciences et psychiatrie
📍 Mardi 17 février, 18h30 | Uni Dufour

www.unige.ch/cite/eveneme...

📣 We’re pleased to announce that our department will co-organize the 11th edition of the SwissText conference!
#SwissText2026 will take place on 10 June 2026, hosted at the University of Zurich (Campus Oerlikon). Save the date!

www.swisstext.org/current/

#NLProc #UZHai #CompLing

New PhD and post-doc job openings!

Join me and Prof. Nina Kazanina @ Uni Geneva, Switzerland, to take part in an exciting project on relations and binding in language and vision, explored with cutting-edge neurophysiology (#iEEG and MEG).

Full details in the job offer below.

Acknowledging the skills of local experts - NCCR Evolving Language Scientific expertise of local specialists is critical in animal behaviour research, but often under-recognized and under-appreciated. Based on research conducted at the Budongo Conservation Field Stat...

📰 The scientific expertise of local field assistants is immensely valuable in animal behaviour research, surpassing visiting international researchers, but it is often under-recognized. Researcher @adriansoldati.bsky.social explores this topic in a new article.

evolvinglanguage.ch/acknowledgin...

New paper out👂📢🐒! We highlight the remarkable expertise of local field assistants at BCFS (Uganda) in interpreting chimpanzee pant-hoot calls—identifying who is calling, their age, sex, and context—revealing scientific knowledge built through years of experience. doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

UZH: Machine Learning Expert (all genders) We seek to hire an expert in machine learning at the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) Evolving Language and its 46 different research groups from a large variety of disciplines across ...

📣 We are looking for a Machine Learning Expert! #jobad

Join the NCCR's team of data scientists, affiliated with the University of Zurich's Technology Platform LiRI. Help us advance our understanding of language using machine learning solutions 🖥️💬

👉 Apply here: jobs.uzh.ch/job-vacancie...

Full room for the first day of #ABIM2026! A big shout-out to our sponsors @snsf.ch UNIGE @nccrlanguage.bsky.social @ant-neuro.com Lemanic Neuroscience Doctoral School (LNDS) @cibm.bsky.social Nordic NeuroLab @nirx-nirs.bsky.social ALLHERE @fcbg-neuro.bsky.social Commune de Champéry 🙏🏼

LINGUIST List 36.3752 Jobs: Computational Linguistics: Professor of Computational Linguistics, University of Geneva, Switzerland The LINGUIST List, International Linguistics Community Online.

Tenure-track Assistant Professor position in computational linguistics at UNIGE / @nccrlanguage.bsky.social The application deadline is around the corner (Jan 15)- don't miss it! linguistlist.org/issues/36/37...

‼️ Nous recherchons toujours des personnes bilingues français-allemand pour une importante étude sur le multilinguisme ! N'hésitez pas à partager et à participer si vous le pouvez ! Merci ! @nocelab.bsky.social @nccrlanguage.bsky.social

Great calendar with photos from many different aspects of research on language and its evolution!

The February photo is from our EEG 🧠 study on processing the Äiwoo language (Solomon Islands). We found an interesting pull btw language experience & universal heuristics: dx.doi.org/10.1111/cogs.13340

🎊 If you haven't found your calendar for 2026 yet, the NCCR is here to help! Made with amazing pictures from some of our collaborators, you can download and print at home the NCCR Evolving Language 2026 Calendar, available here: evolvinglanguage.ch/wp-content/u...

Wishing you a Happy New Year!

I'm very grateful to have been awarded grant funding from the European Research Council @erc.europa.eu . I like that this grant scheme allows for untried methods.

Studying the Evolution of Abstract Thought - NCCR Evolving Language In the new ERC-funded project, “Conceptual Diversity and the Evolution of Abstract Thought” (CONCEVO), Mansfield will lead a team of researchers to develop a method for reconstructing the evolution of...

@johnbasil.bsky.social has received an ERC grant for the project “Conceptual Diversity and the Evolution of Abstract Thought”, to develop a method for reconstructing the evolution of abstract concepts, especially spirituality, ethics, and social relations.

evolvinglanguage.ch/studying-the...

Anne-Lise Giraud : parlons chiens Natalité en berne : la France doit-elle refaire des bébés à tout prix ? Dès ses débuts, la voiture électrique avait son avenir plombé Un poulpe qui joue du piano ?

🐕 Anne-Lise Giraud : parlons chiens

🍼 Natalité en berne : la France doit-elle refaire des bébés à tout prix ?

🚙 Dès ses débuts, la voiture électrique avait son avenir plombé

🐙 Un poulpe qui joue du piano ?

Ferons-nous un jour parler les chiens ? On sait que les chiens n’ont cessé d’évoluer à notre contact, que la domestication les a dotés de capacités que n’avait pas leur ancêtre commun, le fameux loup gris. Mais qu’échangeons-nous vraiment a...

👉 Pour aller plus loin, découvrez également l’interview d’Anne-Lise Giraud dans l’émission La Conversation Scientifique sur France Culture : www.radiofrance.fr/francecultur...

Parlons-nous chien ou pensent-ils humain ?-Anne-Lise GIRAUD-Editions Hermann Il ne leur manque que la parole, entend-on souvent dire à propos des chiens. En effet, pourquoi après 35 000 ans de cohabitation, d’amitié, de services rendus, ne nous parle...

📖 Les chiens peuvent-ils nous comprendre ? Pourquoi leur parlons-nous sur un ton "stupide" ? Dans son nouveau livre Ann-Lise Giraud décrypte la communication entre les humains et les chiens.

"Parlons-nous chien, ou pense-t-ils humain ?" est disponible ici : www.editions-hermann.fr/livre/parlon...

Linking Genetics and Language Evolution with Prof. Sandra Oliveira - NCCR Evolving Language Starting this year, Sandra Oliveira has taken on a position as Assistant Professor in Genetic and Linguistic Evolution at the University of Zurich. Her expertise brings a new light to the research of ...

🇬🇧 Starting this year, Sandra Oliveira has taken on a position as Assistant Professor in Genetic and Linguistic Evolution at the University of Zurich. Her expertise brings a new light to the research of the NCCR Evolving Language.

evolvinglanguage.ch/linking-gene...

a close up of a chimpanzee 's face with a national geographic logo in the corner ALT: a close up of a chimpanzee 's face with a national geographic logo in the corner

The human brain doesn’t just recognize human voices—it also recognizes those of #chimpanzees.

🧠 Using #fMRI, @leoceravolo.bsky.social, @thibaudgruber.bsky.social, & colleagues played vocalizations from humans, chimpanzees, bonobos, & macaques to 23 participants. ⬇️

🧪 🧬 #neuroskyence #evobio

Uni3 Seniors Explore the Human Neuroscience Platform at Campus Biotech - NCCR Evolving Language During the Fall Semester 2025, seniors from Uni3 (University of Geneva) had the unique opportunity to visit the Human Neuroscience Platform at Campus Biotech, on three separate occasions.

During the Fall Semester 2025, seniors from Uni3 (University of Geneva) had the unique opportunity to visit the Human Neuroscience Platform at Campus Biotech, on three separate occasions.

Visits were led by Coralie Debracque (NCCR) and Olivier Reynaud (FCBG).

evolvinglanguage.ch/uni3-seniors...

"The Mind Body Problem", une exposition immersive à découvrir jusqu'au 14 décembre à la salle d’exposition de l’Université de Genève, Bd Carl-Vogt 66, 1205 Genève

Les rêves des oiseaux | RTS Des chercheurs et un artiste sonore ont mené une expérience inédite: isoler et reproduire les sons des chants dont rêvent les oiseaux. Le fruit de cette collaboration, une exposition immersive à l'Uni...

🎙️ Une expérience art-science inédite: isoler et reproduire les sons des chants dont rêvent les oiseaux. Découvrez en plus sur ce projet et l'exposition de Robin Meier Wiratunga, en collaboration avec le PRN Evolving Language.

www.rts.ch/audio-podcast/2025/audio/les-reves-des-oiseaux-29070431.html

Comment le bisou est né chez les grands singes | RTS Bien avant Homo sapiens, nos ancêtres primates échangeaient déjà des baisers. Une étude parue dans Evolution and Human Behaviour montre que ce geste, à la fois intime et vecteur potentiel de maladies,...

🎙️ Comment le bisou, avec ses fonctions sociales, reproductives et de transmission dʹinformations, est-il apparu chez les grands singes ? Dans l'émission CQFD (RTS), le chercheur Thibaud Gruber @thibaudgruber.bsky.social en dit plus !

www.rts.ch/audio-podcas...

🚨Who wants to work with Kalahari meerkats? A MSc project with @mathildemartin.bsky.social at the University of Zurich.
#bioacoustics 🧪

I am looking for an intern to support my PhD project on multimodal communication in common marmosets! 🐒🌞
Minimum commitment is 3 months full-time. Please note that this is an unpaid position and that remote options are not available. BSc and MSc students are welcome!🥰
@nccrlanguage.bsky.social

With Chloé Berton, @vd0ubleu.bsky.social @balthasarbickel.bsky.social, and @zuberbuehler.bsky.social

A shared preference in humans and chimpanzees - NCCR Evolving Language A new study from researchers at the University of Neuchâtel, published in The Royal Society Open Science, compared the preference for prosocial behaviour, e.g. cooperation, in humans and chimpanzees. ...

📰Researchers from the UNINE compared the preference of humans and chimpanzees for individuals acting prosocial. The results uncover similarities that add to our knowledge on the origins of the extraordinary human collaborative and communicative abilities.

evolvinglanguage.ch/a-shared-pre...

The perception of prosocial agents by chimpanzees and humans | Royal Society Open Science The human propensity for prosocial behaviour has no equal, not even in our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees. However, it remains unclear whether this difference is grounded in the sheer perce...

🚨 New paper out!
Using a touchscreen task, we explored how humans and chimpanzees perceive social interactions by comparing their responses to prosocial, neutral, and antisocial interactions.

Check out more on 👉 doi.org/10.1098/rsos...

Last days for early registration to #ABIM 2026 !

The names of the speakers: Melanie Boly Ray Dolan Davide Folloni Laura Gwilliams Charles Hillman Hilleke Hulshoff Pol Jean-Rémi King Daniel Margulies Lucia Melloni

Get ready for the biggest #ABIM yet! 🥳 We're celebrating our 20th anniversary with a special edition you won't want to miss.
🗓️ Registration & abstract submission: www.unige.ch/ABIM/partici...
💰Early bird fee ends November 9th!
#ABIM2026 #neuroimaging

Kicking-off the "Mind-Body Problem" exhibition with Robin Meier Wiratunga - NCCR Evolving Language On October 28th, the exhibition "The Mind-Body Problem" opened its doors to the public. It is the fruit of a collaboration between the NCCR Evolving Language and artist Robin Meier Wiratunga.This work...

📍The "Mind-Body Problem" exhibition, by Robin Meier Wiratunga, in collaboration with the NCCR Evolving Language, opened its doors. The science-art installations can be discovered until December 14th at the Salle d'Exposition de l'UNIGE (Bd Carl-Vogt 66, Geneva)!

evolvinglanguage.ch/kicking-off-...