The Max Planck Institute presents the results of language research

– The Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen organized an open day for young and old on Saturday. In addition to the lectures, there were all kinds of activities that taught visitors how language works. The institute hopes to make science more accessible while at the same time showing the results of supported research.

On the corner of the Radboud Campus, you can walk through your brain, meet a social robot, and take on the role of a DNA detective. Visitors undergo some of these experiences to gain more insight into how language works in our brain.

At the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, research mainly focuses on how people are able to develop language from genes and the brain. “We feel it’s important to share this because we’re proud of what we’re doing and we feel like we have something to give back to society. Science is supported by social money and we like to give back what we do with it and what we produce,” says Margoline Schervois, Chief Communications Officer.

Can you drive and talk at the same time?

There are different departments, each of which has conducted experiments and tests to introduce people to scientific research in a fun way.

For example, a room at the bottom of a building has been turned into a simulator, where people get behind the wheel and end up simulating a car with the help of special glasses. Here it is checked whether people can drive and talk at the same time without any problems. says a researcher who is exploring the link between environment and sentence structure.

An open day from now on every two years

The Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics is part of the German Max Planck Institute. In this only Dutch site, scientific research is carried out in language in the field of writing, speaking and gesture support. People who weren’t here today can look forward to another open day. This will be organized every two years from now on.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *