Nijmegen is a hub for linguistics in Europe. To celebrate that and to bring even more students to Nijmegen, a group of students organises the 62nd Student Conference of Linguistics tomorrow. ‘We show that it does not have to be difficult to accommodate people from different countries.’

Starting today, Nijmegen hosts a linguistics conference organised by students, for students. People from four study associations got together to organise the Student Conference of Linguistics (StuTS). Normally, StuTS takes place in Germany, but since Nijmegen is well-known within linguistics and for its research institutes, a group of students decided it was time to host it here. The conference will be in German, Dutch, and English.

The associations that help work on StuTS are Deutscher Verein Nimwegen (German language & culture), SV ¿Ouisí? (Romance Languages and Cultures). ), InTens (Linguistics), and GAG (English language & culture). The conference provides a platform for scientific exchange between students of linguistics and related disciplines. Students can attend student presentations, keynotes by professors, a social program, and tours of research institutes. It is an opportunity for the participants to discuss their own projects, receive an insight of ongoing research, and socialise with other students from around the world while exploring Nijmegen.

Outside Germany
Master student linguistics Annika Schiefner (25) is one of the organisers. She says it is quite interesting to create a conference in three languages. ‘It shows just how useful it is to speak multiple languages. Students can choose between talks and presentations, so they can follow the conference in a language they understand.’ Gino Morillo Morales (22), who is also an organiser, adds: ‘This is also convenient for the speakers, they can present in any language they would like. I think it is important to discuss developments within the field because everyone has different perspectives, you can learn from each other and exchange knowledge.’

Schiefner, Morillo Morales and their colleague Julia Egger (23) want to show their enthusiasm for their subject and see the conference as a chance to bring other students to Nijmegen. ‘We think it is important for a conference like this to grow internationally. It was good to organise it outside of Germany this time’, says Egger. Schiefner adds: ‘I think it is really cool to be able to invite students to see what kind of research is done here and meet people who study here and gain insight into possibilities of doing PhDs in Nijmegen.’ To attract international students, they asked German and Dutch universities to publish a call for papers and put it in international linguistics newsletters. ‘Somehow, it just spread! There will even be students from the US and Morocco’, says Schiefner.

Sign language
One of the workshops will be about Quechua, one of the indigenous languages in South America. ‘I am very curious about that’, says Morillo Morales. Schiefner looks forward to another special presentation. ‘There is one where a participant recorded her speech in English beforehand and will present in Dutch sign language live along with the video, so I am really excited about it!’

‘Nijmegen is really one of the absolute places to be in linguistics’, says Schiefner. ‘You have the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, the Donders Institute and many other institutes doing research in Nijmegen.’ And the organisation of the conference is special, she says. ‘We are cooperating with four different student organisations, that is relatively rare from what I have seen in this university. I am hoping that in other fields, people will also organise events or conferences together with other student associations or groups.’

Anybody can still sign up throughout the conference.