Research

@project{sfb-neglab,
  name      = {Negation in Language and Beyond (NegLaB)},
  abstract  = {Negation is a fundamental and unique property of human language
               since it allows us to reason about what is not the case. It does
               not only express a clearly defined grammatical function, it also
               interacts with various aspects of grammar and cognition. The acquisition
               and processing of negation encompass linguistic as well as non-linguistic
               cognitive procedures. Hence, negation constitutes an ideal testing
               ground to differentiate cognitive mechanisms that are grammatical
               in nature from those that are shared with other cognitive domains,
               such as memory, attention, decision making and cognitive control.
               We intend to explore how the expression of negation is cross-linguistically
               associated with grammatical and non-linguistic cognitive operations
               and also whether the operations observed in negative utterances
               are part of negation itself or, rather, arises as an effect of
               the grammatical system and cognitive functions. While the semantics
               of negation is generally analyzed as a unique propositional operator,
               its morphosyntactic expression is much more varied and often involves
               more than one morphological exponent. Hence, there is a tension
               between a rich morphosyntax and a more straightforward semantics.
               The semantics of negation leads one to expect negation to be expressed
               by a single morpheme positioned at the beginning of the clause
               (Neg-Only Hypothesis). The rich and variable morphosyntax leads
               us to expect that negation requires a number of conditions in
               the semantics (Neg-Plus Hypothesis). We aim to solve this puzzle
               covering several empirical domains. More grammatical effects than
               semantics would lead us to expect are visible in the interaction
               between negative utterances and the cognitive processing and semantic
               evaluation of alternative propositions. This is reflected in acquisition,
               since children produce negative utterances relatively early, but
               all the aspects of negation take a rather long time to be acquired.
               Downstream effects of this can be seen in adult processing as
               the comprehension of negative sentences is costlier than for positive
               sentences. This is supposedly due to the inhibition of the corresponding
               positive sentence that is necessary for the interpretation of
               negative statements. Our exploration into the way negation and
               other grammatical categories or non-linguistic cognitive functions
               interact will lead us to identify how negation functions in natural
               language and how it favors or hinders other (extra-)grammatical
               components or processes. Why do some of them need to occur together
               with negation (e.g., negative polarity items) and why are others
               incompatible with it (as some types of imperatives)? Our general
               aim is to develop a theoretical perspective on the way negation
               manifests itself in natural language, how it is acquired and processed,
               and why it varies so much across languages. Thereby, we will gain
               a better understanding of the connections between linguistic competence
               and general cognition.},
  year      = {2024},
  funded_by = {DFG (SFB 1629)},
  funded_by_url = {https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/509468465?language=en},
  url       = {https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/149292001/Negation_in_Language_and_Beyond},
  logo      = {/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/logo-NegLaB.jpg}
}

@project{new-data-spaces,
  name      = {New Data Spaces for the Social Sciences},
  abstract  = {In order to more precisely research the major societal challenges
               of the coming decades, including digitization, climate change,
               and war- and pandemic-related societal changes, and to be able
               to identify the need for political action on this basis, the social
               sciences need innovative research data and methods.},
  year      = {2023},
  funded_by = {DFG (SPP 2431)},
  funded_by_url = {https://www.dfg.de/de/aktuelles/neuigkeiten-themen/info-wissenschaft/2023/info-wissenschaft-23-20},
  url       = {https://www.new-data-spaces.de/en-us/},
  logo      = {/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/logo-NewDataSpaces-long.png}
}

@project{vicom-gemdis,
  name      = {Virtual Reality Sustained Multimodal Distributional Semantics for Gestures in Dialogue (GeMDiS)},
  abstract  = {Both corpus-based linguistics and contemporary computational linguistics
               rely on the use of often large, linguistic resources. The expansion
               of the linguistic subject area to include visual means of communication
               such as gesticulation has not yet been backed up with corresponding
               corpora. This means that “multimodal linguistics” and dialogue
               theory cannot participate in established distributional methods
               of corpus linguistics and computational semantics. The main reason
               for this is the difficulty of collecting multimodal data in an
               appropriate way and at an appropriate scale. Using the latest
               VR-based recording methods, the GeMDiS project aims to close this
               data gap and to investigate visual communication by means of machine-based
               methods and innovative use of neuronal and active learning for
               small data using the systematic reference dimensions of associativity
               and contiguity of the features of visual and non-visual communicative
               signs.},
  year      = {2021},
  funded_by = {DFG (SPP 2392)},
  funded_by_url = {https://www.dfg.de/en/research_funding/announcements_proposals/2021/info_wissenschaft_21_45/index.html},
  url       = {https://vicom.info/projects/virtual-reality-sustained-multimodal-distributional-semantics-for-gestures-in-dialogue-gemdis/},
  logo      = {/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ViComGeMDis.png}
}

@project{loewe-minderheitenstudien,
  name      = {LOEWE-Schwerpunkt "Minderheitenstudien: Sprache und Identität"},
  abstract  = {Der LOEWE-Schwerpunkt "Minderheiten: Sprache und Identität" erarbeitet
               eine interdisziplinäre Untersuchung der Problematik von Identitätsbildung
               bei Minderheiten. Dazu untersuchen wir drei Arten von Relationen:
               die Relation zwischen Minderheiten "im eigenen Land" und Minderheiten
               "im Ausland"; die Relation zwischen Selbstwahrnehmung und Fremdwahrnehmung
               von Minderheiten (sowohl "im eigenen Land" als auch im "Ausland");
               und die wechselseitige Relation der identitätsbedingenden Vorgaben
               Sprache, Religion, Kultur und Ethnos, in Selbstsicht und Fremdsicht
               "im eigenen Land" und "im Ausland".},
  year      = {2020},
  funded_by = {LOEWE},
  funded_by_url = {https://proloewe.de/de/loewe-vorhaben/nach-themen/minderheitenstudien/},
  url       = {https://sprache-identitaet.uni-frankfurt.de/},
  logo      = {/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/logo-loewe-minderheitenstudien-blau.png}
}

@project{bridge,
  name      = {Berufspraktische Bildungsprozesse im Recht- und Lehramtsreferendariat sowie der Medizin unter Nutzung digitaler Medien (BRIDGE)},
  abstract  = {Die Nutzung von Onlinemedien steigt in allen Bildungsbereichen
               zunehmend an. Auch für den Berufseinstieg nutzen Lernende immer
               häufiger online verfügbare Medien. Ob sich das Nutzungsverhalten
               je nach Beruf unterscheidet und ob es berufsspezifische Unterschiede
               gibt, ist bislang nicht erforscht. Hier setzt das Forschungsprojekt
               der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz und der Johann Wolfgang
               Goethe-Universität Frankfurt an. Die Wissenschaftlerinnen und
               Wissenschaftler untersuchen, wie Berufseinsteigende der Medizin
               im Praktischen Jahr, Lehramts- sowie Rechtsreferendarinnen und
               -referendare online verfügbare Medien nutzen. Hierbei vergleicht
               das interdisziplinäre Team die generelle mit der berufsspezifischen
               Nutzung von Onlinemedien anhand einer repräsentativen Stichprobe
               im Längsschnitt. Mithilfe von innovativen Ansätzen aus der Computerlinguistik
               und aus dem Bereich der Learning Analytics werden Online-Trainings
               entwickelt und die Lernprozesse der Probanden untersucht. Um die
               Daten multiperspektivisch zu interpretieren, wird eng mit der
               Praxis zusammengearbeitet. Das Team der Universität Mainz koordiniert
               das Verbundprojekt und bringt die wirtschaftspädagogische und
               rechtswissenschaftliche Perspektive sowie Expertise zur Kompetenzentwicklung
               ein. Die repräsentative und methodenintegrative Studie liefert
               wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse zum Einfluss und zur digitalen
               Förderbarkeit der berufsbezogenen Mediennutzung in der Berufspraxis.
               Außerdem sind Ergebnisse zu erwarten, die zur Gestaltung der Verbindung
               von formalen und non-formalen Lerngelegenheiten genutzt werden
               können. Praxispartner, wie zum Beispiel Ausbildnerinnen und Ausbildner,
               können die entwickelten adaptiven Trainingskonzepte praktisch
               anwenden und nutzen.},
  year      = {2020},
  until     = {2023},
  funded_by = {BMBF (01JD1906B)},
  funded_by_url = {https://www.empirische-bildungsforschung-bmbf.de/de/Themenfinder-1720.html/projekt/01JD1906A},
  url       = {https://bridge.uni-mainz.de/},
  logo      = {/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/logo-BRIDGE.png}
}

@project{biofid,
  name      = {Specialised Information Service Biodiversity Research (BIOfid)},
  abstract  = {The specialised information service BIOfid (www.biofid.de) is
               oriented towards the special needs of scientists researching biodiversity
               topics at research institutions and in natural history collections.
               Since 2017, BIOfid has been building an infrastructure that contributes
               to the provision and mobilisation of research-relevant data in
               a variety of ways in the context of current developments in biodiversity
               research.},
  year      = {2017},
  funded_by = {DFG (FID 326061700)},
  funded_by_url = {https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/326061700},
  url       = {https://www.biofid.de/en/},
  repository = {https://github.com/FID-Biodiversity},
  logo      = {/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/logo-BIOfid.png}
}