Vice-Chancellor visits Multilingualism and Cognition Research Group

Vice-Chancellor Steve Decent observes an EEG demonstration in a testing room of the Brain and Bilingual Experience Lab (BaBEL). Professor Jason Rothman and Dr Aina Casaponsa explain the procedure while a PhD student wears an EEG cap connected to monitoring equipment. A BaBEL laboratory sign is visible on the wall, and shelving containing lab materials can be seen in the background.
Vice-Chancellor Steve Decent visits Lancaster University's Multilingualism and Cognition Research Group. During the visit, he toured the Brain and Bilingual Experience Lab (BaBEL), where Professor Jason Rothman and Dr Aina Casaponsa demonstrated an EEG experiment with a PhD student participant in one of the laboratory's testing rooms.

On 30 September 2026, the Multilingualism and Cognition Research Group welcomed Vice-Chancellor Professor Steve Decent for a visit showcasing its research on how people learn, use and process languages, and how this shapes the mind and brain. The Vice-Chancellor met academic staff, postdoctoral researchers and PhD students, and heard about the group's research, facilities and future plans.

The visit opened with an overview from Professor Patrick Rebuschat, Professor Jason Rothman, Professor Silke Brandt and Dr Aina Casaponsa, who presented the group's four research areas: language acquisition, language learning mechanisms, cognitive and brain adaptations to multilingualism, and language processing. They also highlighted the group's two laboratories, the Brain and Bilingual Experience Lab (BaBEL) and the Lancaster Language Learning Lab (4L), and the Camões Institute Chair for Multilingualism and Diversity, which supports the group's engagement beyond academia.

At a poster session, the Vice-Chancellor spoke with PhD students and early-career researchers about their projects. This was followed by laboratory demonstrations led by Dr Aina Casaponsa and Dr Jia'en Yee with PhD students, including an EEG demonstration showing how the team studies language processing in the brain.

The group brings together four academic staff, four postdoctoral and senior researchers, and 21 PhD students, making it a major centre of expertise at Lancaster on multilingualism, cognition and the brain.

Colleagues from across the University also attended, including Professor Luke Harding, Head of Discipline for Linguistics and English Language; Professor Tineke Brunfaut, Research Lead for Linguistics and English Language; Andrew Wilkinson from the Research Support Office; and Constanze Vageler, Senior Research Development Manager in Research and Enterprise Services.

The visit ended with a discussion of the group's future, including further growth, postgraduate recruitment, major research initiatives, and its contribution to the University's wider research ambitions.

Professor Patrick Rebuschat and Professor Jason Rothman, Co-Directors of the group, said: "We were delighted to welcome Steve and to share the work of our students and colleagues. Our research brings together linguistics, cognitive science and neuroscience to understand how multilingual experience shapes the mind and brain. We are very grateful for the University's support, which has helped us build a vibrant, ambitious and internationally connected research group, and we look forward to building on this as the group grows."

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