PhD candidate Hedwig Sekeres one of the new KNAW Faces of Science

Hedwig Sekeres, a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Groningen, is one of the new Faces of Science, a network of doctoral candidates from across the Netherlands who are involved in science communication. They share their scientific research and life as doctoral candidates on the Nemo Kennislink website. In her contributions to the website, Sekeres discusses the importance of language in general and regional dialects in particular. Faces of Science is a project of NEMO Kennislink, the KNAW, and De Jonge Akademie.

^{Text: Marjolein te Winkel}

"I find it important to make science accessible to a wide audience," explains Sekeres her new role. "That is a duty of a scientist, and I find it a fun challenge to do so in a compelling and engaging way."

Sekeres researches regional dialects: "I investigate sound changes in Gronings and map how Gronings, and its subvariants, have changed in the past fifty years. Additionally, I research the social hierarchy between the different Groningen dialects and to what extent it influences dialectal changes."

Preservation of regional dialects

The number of speakers of regional dialects has been decreasing for decades. That is precisely why, says Sekeres - who as a master's student took a Gronings course at the Groninger Center for Language and Culture and now has a reasonable command of the language - it is important to understand how language changes and how people relate to their (regional) language. "That knowledge can contribute to actively preserving regional languages."

As a doctoral candidate in the research team of Prof Martijn Wieling, Sekeres already has considerable experience in science communication. She traveled with the mobile Speech Lab to festivals such as Noorderzon, Zpannend Zernike, and Zwarte Cross, together with her fellow doctoral candidates Raoul Buurke and Lourens Visser, developed the board game Streektaalstrijd, and is now putting the finishing touches on a MOOC, a free online Gronings course for beginners, in collaboration with the Groninger Language & Culture Center.

In her monthly contributions to the Faces of Science website, Sekeres wants to raise awareness about language in general, and regional dialects in particular. "But I also want to tell more about doing research: how do you conduct scientific research, how do you apply scientific methods, how do you interpret scientific results?"

About Faces of Science

Faces of Science was established in 2013 and consists of doctoral candidates from across the Netherlands. They write and talk about their research, but also about their lives as young scientists and everything that comes with it. For example, they can show young people facing a study choice what it's like to be a scientist.

The Faces of Science use blogs, vlogs, articles, lectures, media appearances, and social media activities to share their research and their lives. They receive tools and training to further develop their skills in science communication. The researchers receive guidance from NEMO Kennislink to present their research in accessible language, so that everyone can understand it. The 'Faces of Science' can also be asked to present their research at schools, in the media, at festivals, or other events.