Building a Scientific Community through Real-World Experience, Psycholinguistics in Flanders, Lille, 2025.
Held for the first time in France, the 2025 edition of Psycholinguistic in Flanders (PiF) brought together early-career researchers in Lille for two days of dynamic exchange. More than a conference, PiF serves as a platform for capacity-building, collaboration, and training in scientific communication.
Organized by the Language team of SCALab at the University of Lille, under the direction of Anahita Basirat, Séverine Casalis and Dominique Knutsen and supported by NeurotechEU, this 22nd edition of PiF marked a significant milestone in the event’s history.
The conference is specifically designed to empower early-career researchers ( PhDs, postdoctoral, and master’s students) by offering a safe and professional setting to present their work, receive feedback, and build academic confidence. Over the course of two days, junior researchers took the lead and engaged with an audience of peers and senior academics. This hands-on involvement gave participants an essential opportunity to engage in real-world academic exchange outside their home institutions.
As keynote speaker Pr. James McQueen, Principal Investigator at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour from Radboud Universieit emphasized:
“This platform gives early career researchers an opportunity to network, to get feedback from their peers and from senior researchers in the audience. PiF gives them a chance to practice giving a presentation outside of their home environment before having to do so at a large-scale conference.”
The scientific program reflected the diversity of the field of psycholinguistics. Presentations addressed a wide range of topics including word recognition, reading, language learning, dialogue, bilingualism, speech and language disorders, and the link between language and broader cognitive functions. Methodologies ranged from behavioral studies and EEG to computational modeling and brain imaging, showcasing the richness of approaches in the field.
Pr. McQueen’s keynote explored how listeners adapt to speaker variability in real-time language processing, introducing a novel framework, the Adaptive Bayesian Continuous-speech model (ABC), that integrates abstraction, prosody, adaptation, and episodic memory in spoken-word recognition.
By supporting initiatives like PiF, NeurotechEU strengthens its mission to foster inclusive, transdisciplinary, and high-quality research environments across Europe. Beyond research excellence, the alliance is committed to training future scientists through authentic, formative experiences that connect education, innovation, and international collaboration. PiF is not simply a scientific meeting, it is a gateway to community, experience, and identity for emerging scholars stepping into their academic careers.
Events like PiF demonstrate the impact of empowering early-career researchers through real-world academic experiences. NeurotechEU is proud to support such initiatives as part of its mission to build a connected and inclusive European research ecosystem. Stay informed about upcoming events and training opportunities by visiting our News & Events section, exploring how you can Get Involved, and subscribing to our newsletter to receive the latest updates directly in your inbox.