(08.08.17) In July the Research in Germany initiative was represented at the 18th World Congress of the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA), held in Rio de Janeiro, to present Germany as a place of research. As well as one-to-one advice offered at the stand throughout the congress, there was a lunch session at which the DFG presented its range of funding and cooperation opportunities.

The audience of around 80 comprised attendees from various countries, for example Germany, Brazil, China, India, the UK and Sweden. They followed with great interest the presentations given by DFG Liaison Scientist Prof. Dr. Helmut Galle and the representatives of the DAAD and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Maria Júlia Torres and Prof. Dr. Mônica Santos de Freitas.

Prof. Dr. Jannis Androutsopoulos, who originally comes from Greece, gave a testimonial about the various stages of his career as an international researcher in Germany: his degree in Athens, his doctorate and postdoctoral research at Heidelberg University, and finally his appointment as a professor of German language and literature at the University of Hamburg. He also shared some valuable tips and advice on research visits to Germany.

First held 53 years ago in Nancy, France, this year the AILA congress took place in a Latin American country for the first time, attracting around 1,700 participants. This decision served as recognition and acknowledgement of the research work carried out in the region, which plays a central role in new findings in applied linguistics.

The theme of the congress was ‘Innovation and Epistemological Challenges in Applied Linguistics’. Participants discussed key issues related to language and politics, globalisation, cultural identity, and growing global inequality, in order to “identify solutions in areas such as social injustice and ethical problems in which language plays a key role,” explained AILA President Claire Kramsch.