Home

987 results
  • intranet
  • deen

Language

What role does language play in the sciences, humanities and arts? What is it used for? When does it challenge us to think or rethink about conventions?

Das Bild zeigt eine Gruppe von orangefarbenen Lautsprechern, darunter ein einzelner blauer Lautsprecher, der deutlich aus dem Ensemble hervorsticht.
Photo: Eoneren via iStock

Language plays a key role in everyday scientific and artistic life. It is employed for writing essays and books, giving lectures and discussing with colleagues. For artists, talking about their works is part of professional communication. Researchers and artists reflect on their use of language when they try to convey scientific facts or the aesthetic experience of works of art to other people.

Wooden tabletop covered with scattered light-colored wooden letter tiles, each printed with a black uppercase letter.
Photo: Sven Brandsma on Unsplash

2026

Workshop "Radical Simplicity"

In everyday life, texts written in so-called "easy-to-read" or "plain language" are becoming increasingly common, for example on information boards in museums and in the Tagesschau news programme. These resources are intended to enable social participation for people for whom everyday language poses a barrier for a variety of reasons (see the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Accessibility Enhancement Act and the information page on accessible IT).

Public institutions must ensure accessibility and thus also provide content in easy-to-read language; from June 2025, this also applies to certain private sector organisations, such as retail and service companies. Universities, research institutions and academies are also obliged to make their websites accessible. Consequently, most universities, the DFG and academies provide explanations of their remit in easy-to-read language on their websites. However, the quality of these resources and the underlying assumptions about the target audience are quite varied, as an initial evaluation of science communication in plain language shows.

This workshop, held on 30 September 2026, served several purposes. The participants explored just how much simplification is possible in the field of science communication. At the same time, using their own texts as examples, they learnt how this actually works (or doesn’t work): conveying complex content in plain language. They also wanted to use this opportunity to reflect on the role that inclusion could or should play for Die Junge Akademie. An event organised by Die Junge Akademie had already taken place on this topic in 2021: an inclusive knowledge quiz.

Nahaufnahme eines Smartphone-Bildschirms, auf dem eine Wörterbuch-App mit dem Titel "Dictionary: Definitions from Oxford Languages". Die Suchleiste zeigt das Wort "translation" mit seiner phonetischen Schreibweise "/trænzˈleɪʃən/". Darunter befinden sich Filterschaltflächen mit den Bezeichnungen "All", "Linguistics" und "Biology", über einer teilweise sichtbaren Definition.
Foto: Shutter Speed auf Unsplash (KI-bearbeitet)

2026

Workshop "The Language(s) of Academia"

Language is an essential component of all research, but its importance for academic thinking, experimenting, and writing is seldom taken into account. This workshop was about precisely that: Language(s) of Academia. Participants discussed their personal perspective on the importance of language to themselves as scholars and scientists, which languages they use in their own work and when, and how do acts of translation shape, alter, hinder, or aid their thinking and communication.

In the face-to-face workshop in September, participants from Young Academies from 18 countries addressed these questions on the basis of short translations of their own scientific work into their respective native tongue, which they had prepared in advance. The aim was to raise awareness for the challenges and potentials of multi-lingualism in academia – a characteristic feature that mostly remains hidden although many scholars and scientists do not communicate in their native tongue.

2025

Workshop „RG Language Meets the Editor“

When publishing in scientific journals, it becomes clear time and again how strongly language influences the success of scientific papers – not only in peer review, but also in their visibility and reception within the scientific community.

In this internal workshop on October 8, 2025, the participants will discuss language as a central element of scientific quality and impact together with a professional (‘in-house’) editor of a Nature journal with a social and/or natural science focus.

Eight adults stand side by side facing the camera in a room with wooden parquet flooring. They wear casual clothing—sweaters, shirts, jeans and trousers. Behind them is a white wall with gold trim, a marble fireplace mantel and a large gilded mirror.
Photo: Cutural Foundation Schloss Wiepersdorf

2025

Writing Lab: "Invisible language work. Multilingualism and translation in science and art"

From 22 to 27 September 2025, a group of eight members of Die Junge Akademie met at Schloss Wiepersdorf to reflect on the role that language plays in academic and artistic practice. During the day, the participants worked on their own writing projects in concentrated seclusion, and in the late afternoon they came together for short lectures and discussions on the topic of ‘Multilingualism and Translation in Science and Art.’ Among other things, they discussed the language(s) of mathematics, the differences in writing styles in various disciplines, and the relationship between art performance and language.

Participants included David Labonte, Kathrin Wittler, Max Beyer, Maciej Chmara, Philip Schwartz, Radin Dardashti, Helen Ahner, and Valeska Huber.

2025

Conference „Sprache und Rhetorik des Bundestagswahlkampfes 2025“

On the occasion of the 2025 Bundestag elections, members of Die Junge Akademie's Research Group "Language" are organising with the "AG Sprache in der Politik" an interdisciplinary conference in Berlin on 10 and 11 February 2025, which will focus on language and rhetoric, but also provide a social, political and media context for the topic.

The event will be held in German.

2024

Workshop „Einfach schwierig?“ ('Simply difficult? Complexity and simplicity in scientific language')

The Die Junge Akademie's Research Group "Language" met on 9 October 2024 in Munich for the workshop "Simply difficult?" to reflect on complexity and simplicity in scientific language use. In addition to short member presentations and discussions, there was an evening lecture by linguist Dr Franziska Wallner (University of Leipzig).

Spokespersons

participating Members

participating Alumnae / Alumni

Activities