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
Day 1, Wednesday 21st October (full day)
Venue: Seminar room 2. Emthonjeni Centre
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, Wits
09:20–09:50
Speech-language assessment in South Africa: current practice and the Aclickia survey — Dr. Nancy Barber
09:50–10:20
South Africa and the ERC: opportunities for research collaboration and mobility – Dr Maphuti Madiga, Deputy Director: Research Development at the Department of Science Technology and Innovation (dsti)
10:20–10:40
Clinical case presentations of ‘Aclickia’ — Carol Legg, Cape Town
10:40–11:00
Coffee break
11:00–11:45
Mapping the directional flow of the language network — Dr. Irene Bellin, Donders Netherlands
11:45–12:30
Clinical neuropsychology research in South Africa: opportunities and barriers — Prof Aline Ferreira Correia, Wits
12:30–13:30
Lunch break
13:30–14:30
Towards a new neurobiology of language — Prof Stephanie Forkel, Donders Netherlands
14:30–14:50
South Africa–Netherlands research collaboration — Embassy representative
14:50–15:10
Coffee break
15:10–16:20
Clicks: from language to speech to brain — tbd
16:20–17:20
Emergence project pitches — chaired by Aline & Stephanie
Approximately 15 minutes per project
17:20– 18:00
Closing & Social event
Day 2 — Thursday 22nd October (half day)
Venue: Seminar room 2. Emthonjeni Centre
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 there.
19:00–20:00
SASLHA Edu-Series ‘Cognitive and language mapping: how language emerges from the brain’ (CPD accredited) – Online webinar
