Thirteen PhD students will be appointed within this network. From 2026, one of these PhD students will conduct research at Radboud University into the processing and social impact of foreign accents.
International communication and accent bias
In an increasingly international society, foreign accents play an important role in how people understand and judge each other. Accents influence not only language processing, but also social interactions and opportunities in everyday life. At the same time, people are more frequently communicating with technology, such as voice-controlled AI systems. The HUM.AI.N-ACCENT project investigates how people and AI systems perceive and process foreign accents, and what consequences this has for communication and inclusion.
Research objectives
The project combines insights from linguistics, psychology, neurosciences and AI research and focuses on four central questions:
- How does foreign-accent speech influence language processing and cognition throughout the lifespan, and which brain mechanisms play a role in this?
- What differences exist between accent processing in human-human communication and interactions between humans and AI?
- What neural processes underlie the pronunciation and perception of speech sounds, and how can this knowledge be used for accent adaptation training?
- How do negative prejudices towards speakers with foreign accents arise, and what strategies can contribute to reducing accent-related discrimination?
These four lines of research demonstrate that foreign accents are not purely a linguistic phenomenon: they touch on cognition, brain processes, social judgement and technology. By examining these various levels at the same time, we can understand where accent-related inequality arises and how it can be reduced.
- Susanne Brouwer
The researchers want to investigate how people process accents. They are looking not only at language itself, but also at what listeners expect from a speaker, for instance based on appearance or context. In a virtual reality environment, they let participants listen to avatars speaking with different accents, while simultaneously measuring their eye movements. This allows them to see in real time how language and social expectations together determine what people hear and understand.
Training young researchers
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Networks are European collaboration projects that train young researchers in an international and multidisciplinary context. Within HUM.AI.N-ACCENT, universities, research institutes and societal partners from various European countries work together. PhD students follow joint training courses, participate in international exchanges and undertake internships outside the academic world. Susanne Brouwer: "The fact that thirteen PhD students are working on related but complementary projects creates a research environment in which insights are continuously shared and refined. You rarely see that scale and substantive coherence."
More information about the project can be found on the project website.