EMERGENCE South Africa
New Perspectives on Language and the Brain
South African programme launch and scientific kick-off
University of the Witwatersrand, Department of Psychology, Johannesburg I 21–22 October 2026
Registration is open!
Day 1, Wednesday 21st October (full day, CPD pending)
Venue: Seminar room 2. Emthonjeni Centre, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Johannesburg
08:45–09:00
Arrival and coffee
09:00–09:10
Institutional Welcome — Prof Sumaya Laher, Wits Head of School of Human & Community Development
09:10–09:20
Welcome and objectives — Local Organiser, Prof Aline Ferreira Correia, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Wits
09:20–09:50
Speech-language assessment in South Africa: current practice and the Aclickia survey — Dr Nancy Barber, Lecturer in the Department of Speech Language Therapy at Wits
09:50–10:20
Ethical considerations for Global North and Global South collaborations — Prof Aline Ferreira Correia, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Wits
10:20–10:40
Understanding aphasia among isiXhosa-speaking adults: Lessons from research and clinical practice — Dr Carol Legg, Lecturer, Speech and Language Pathology, University of Cape Town
10:40–11:00
Coffee break
11:00–11:45
Mapping the directional flow of the language network — Dr Irene Bellin, Donders Institute, Netherlands
11:45–12:30
The multilingual brain: A critical review of cognitive advantages — Prof Kate Cockcroft, NeuRL (Neuroscience Research Laboratory) co-director, Wits
12:30–13:30
Lunch break
13:30–14:30
Towards a new neurobiology of language — Prof Stephanie Forkel, Donders Institute / Max Planck Institute, the Netherlands
14:30–16:20
Panel: Research opportunities in neurosciences
- Opportunities through the ERC Implementing Arrangement — European Research Council (ERC) Executive Agency representative
- Opportunities for research collaboration and mobility – Dr Maphuti Madiga, Deputy Director: Research Development at the Department of Science Technology and Innovation (dsti)
16:20–17:20
Emergence project pitches — chaired by Aline & Stephanie
4 research projects will be introduced (15 minutes per project)
17:20– 18:00
Closing & Social event
Day 2 — Thursday 22nd October (half day)
Venue: Seminar room 2. Emthonjeni Centre, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Johannesburg
14:00–14:15
Recap and goals for the afternoon — Aline & Stephanie
14:15–15:00
Operational readiness: from recruitment to shared data. Recruitment, assessments, MRI, ethics, data governance, responsibilities, data access/transfer, and supervision.
15:00–17:00
Project working groups. Teams split according to projects and resolve outstanding methods/analysis questions.
17:00–17:30
Closing remarks
What the group will take into Brainhack, and which technical or analytical problems should be tackled over the next week.
19:00–20:00
SASLHA Edu-Series ‘Cognitive and language mapping: how language emerges from the brain’ (CPD accredited) – Online webinar
