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Research projects and institutes
LEI academy project
The aim of the Lessico Etimologico Italiano (LEI) is to document and analyse the history of every single word in the Italian language from its origins to the present day. In addition to the standard Italian language, medical, technical and other specialist vocabularies are also included as well as Italian colloquial language and numerous dialects. The LEI project represents an important contribution to our knowledge about the history of the Italian language and to preserving the linguistic and cultural-historical traditions that are reflected within it.
ALMA academy project: Knowledge networks in the medieval Romance-speaking world
The research of the ALMA project is not only dedicated to the development of Romance languages such as Old French, Occitan and Old Italian into academic languages (1100–1500), but also to the emergence and structure of medieval knowledge networks. It is jointly supported by the academies in Heidelberg, Mainz and Munich. The focus is on medical and legal texts that are indexed in three digital, multilingual corpora. The project combines philology, linguistics and digital humanities. An innovative focus is the creation of historicized ontologies. The Saarbrücken project office is concentrating in particular on the Italo-Romance and Sardinian languages.
Carlo Tagliavini archive
The hitherto unresearched and particularly rich private archive of the Italian philologist Carlo Tagliavini is a veritable treasure trove for research into the history of Romance languages (in particular Italian and Eastern Romance languages), Balkan studies (especially Albanian studies) and Indo-European studies. The privately owned archive includes several unpublished works by Tagliavini.
The aim of the project is to contribute to the history of Romance languages and Balkan studies by analysing the archive material, to publish the inediti and to make some of the correspondence accessible online. The project has been made possible thanks to the kind support of the Tagliavini family.
AUF Representative Office in Germany
Saarland University's AUF Representative Office in Germany (French: cellule francophone en Allemagne) is a national representative body of the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF). It is coordinated by the Officer representing the AUF in Germany (French: Référente de la francophonie scientifique en Allemagne), Professor Claudia Polzin-Haumann (Chair of Romance Linguistics), and the Centre for Franco-German Relations at Saarland University. The unit's mission is funded by the state of Saarland, an observer member of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF).
Its aim is to strengthen the visibility of the scientific Francophonie and its stakeholders in Germany.
Centro di Studi Italiani Saarbrücken | Centre for Italian Studies at Saarland University
The Centro di Studi Italiani at Saarland University offers a diverse and extensive programme of exciting academic and cultural activities relating to the language, culture and literature of Italy. The most important cooperation partners of the Centro di Studi Italiani are the long-term projects Lessico Etimologico Italiano (LEI), the Center for European Regional and Minority Languages – Romania 'minor' (eRMi) and the Knowledge networks in the medieval Romance-speaking world (ALMA). The centre promotes contact with Italian academics, Italian universities and academic institutions through these collaborations.
EuroCom
European plurilingualism and how it can be learned is a key research area of the linguistic and pedagogical training provided by the Department of Romance Languages at Saarland University. A particular focus of the research work is intercomprehension as an innovative tool for bridging language comprehension. The Romance languages branch of the EuroCom project is managed by the Chair of Romance Linguistics, Professor Claudia Polzin-Haumann, and is coordinated by Dr. Christina Reissner. As part of the project, self-directed learning rooms have been created for digital multilingual learning.
French and more – language learning in Saarland
The French and more project, which is run by the Chair of Romance Linguistics (Professor Claudia Polzin-Haumann) and the Institute for Languages and Plurilingualism in cooperation with the Saarland State Chancellery, has been making an important contribution to the promotion of French and plurilingualism in Saarland since 2022. It aims to make (pluri-)language learning – with a special focus on French – attractive, tangible and feasible for everyone living in Saarland and interested individuals. Via the interactive French and more portal, which provides information on French courses, German-French events, tips for (pluri-)language learning and a variety of interactive activities, the project brings the French language and plurilingualism into society, education, the world of work and daily life. It draws on insights from research, for example practice-based French learning opportunities for people working in healthcare offered in cooperation with the Saarland Adult Education Association.
Institut d'études françaises Saarbrücken
The Institut d'Études Françaises was founded in 1956 as a Franco-German Centre (Deutsch-Französisches Zentrum, DFZ). Since 2020, it has been funded by the Franco-German Foundation for Cultural Cooperation (Deutsch-Französische Stiftung für kulturelle Zusammenarbeit). In addition to promoting the French language and Francophone culture in Saarland, the promotion of intercultural dialogue is another key part of its mission and activities.
The aim of the IEF is to also intensify cross-border cooperation in the Greater Region and to deepen intercultural dialogue, particularly in the European context. The IEF's cultural programme (readings, cinema evenings, concerts, debates, etc.) is aimed specifically at a Francophone and Francophile audience. The Head of the IEF is Professor Anne-Sophie Donnarieix, who holds the Chair of French Literature within the European Cultural Context.
Institute for Languages and Plurilingualism with teaching-learning studio
The Institute for Languages and Plurilingualism provides innovative ideas for handling linguistic and cultural diversity in schools. A key part of the ISM is the teaching-learning studio, a space for school projects, seminars, workshops and much more. Since its foundation in 2017, the ISM has been under the direction of Professor Claudia Polzin-Haumann (Chair of Romance Linguistics) and Professor Julia Knopf (Chair of German in Primary Education). The teaching-learning studio (German abbreviation: LLA) is also part of the Learning Workshop Network (Verbund der Lernwerkstätten – VdL) at Saarland University.
Käte Hamburger Research Centre for Cultural Practices of Reparation (CURE)
The Käte Hamburger Centre for Cultural Practices of Reparation (CURE) at Saarland University is an Institute for Advanced Studies that has been funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) since 2024. The academic directors at the Käte Hamburger Research Centre for Cultural Practices of Reparation are Professor Markus Messling and Professor Christiane Solte-Gresser.
The goal of the Käte Hamburger Research Centre is to develop a transmedia theory of the practices and processes of cultural reparation from a historical and transcultural viewpoint and so gain a fuller understanding of the cultural practices of reparation in a socio-political context. The Centre aims to generate new insights into both the individual and collective processes of reparation in a globalized world – insights that are of fundamental relevance to future cultural coexistence and that will open up new perspectives in the field of cultural studies. The research focuses on cultures of remembrance and historical-political discourse, on individual experiences of loss and damage and on cultural-ecological issues. The Centre will host up to twelve international research fellows each year.
LATI: Research Laboratory for Territorial Intelligence
Plurilingual cooperation in cross-border spatial planning is the focus of the new research project LATI – Research Laboratory for Territorial Intelligence of the University of the Greater Region (= lead partner), which is funded by the Interreg VI A Greater Region programme. While spatial planning is characterized by national structures, the challenges in the individual sub-regions, e.g. climate change or living and working in close proximity to traffic, are usually very similar. The main aim of the cross-border research project is therefore to develop joint solutions for the SaarLorLux+ Greater Region.
In addition to expertise in this area, language and plurilingualism and their conscious use in the project context play a key role here. The sub-project Plurilingual communication: a key factor in multilingual project work, led by Professor Claudia Polzin-Haumann and Dr. Christina Reissner, aims to make a long-term contribution to optimizing professional communication and cooperation between stakeholders in the SaarLorLux+ Greater Region. Within the LATI project, cooperation in multilingual teams will be examined on three different levels (internal communication, external communication, outputs) in order to develop a general language concept for cross-border cooperation.
DÉRom project
The Romance linguistics research team are aiming to create a pan-Romance etymological dictionary following the example of Meyer-Lübke's REW (Romanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch). An international, mainly Franco-German team has set itself the goal of reconstructing the etymology of the common core of the Romance inherited lexicon using the method of comparative grammar reconstruction and presenting its phonological, semantic, stratigraphic and variational analysis in digital lexicographic form. The result is the first stage of the Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom).
Promouvoir le Plurilinguisme dans la Professionnalisation Entrepreneuriale
In this project, we are collaborating with researchers from the Université Antsiranana (Madagascar) and htw saar. The focus is on the role of languages, plurilingualism and intercultural skills in achieving inclusive, responsible and sustainable entrepreneurship.
The project is co-financed by the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) as part of the Co//ectif programme.
SUUN: Saarland-Ukrainian University Network
The Hispanic-oriented academic cooperation between Romance studies and Ukraine dates back to 2009. Since then, funding has been continuously raised within the framework of the Eastern Partnerships, and numerous academic projects and lecturer and student exchanges have been carried out. The work, which initially began with the Petro Mohyla Black Sea National University in Mykolajiv, addresses current academic issues in Hispanic and Latin American studies. Our collaborative book publications focus on the topics of transmediality, dreams, memory, trauma, resilience, and depictions of violence and war in Spanish-language literature, film and art. In the wake of the war of aggression against Ukraine, the Romance Studies cooperation moved to Lviv and concluded new agreements with the Ukrainian Catholic University and Ivan Franko National University. Since 1 July 2025, the Chair of Reinstädler has been cooperating with its Ukrainian partners in the DAAD-funded German-Ukrainian University Network. At the University of Saarland, innovative teaching and research concepts in the fields of humanities, cultural studies, linguistics and law are being developed under the title SUUN – Saar-Ukraine University Network: Overcoming Borders for a European Future, which provide the basis for a sustainable, modern European university landscape.
Center for European Regional and Minority Languages
The Minority Languages in the Romance-speaking World – Romania 'minor' project was conceived and launched in 2013 by Professor Elton Prifti. The primary objectives of this teaching and research project are:
- the systematic teaching of in-depth linguistic, philological and practical knowledge of the so-called minority Romance languages and cultures
- the promotion of research in the field of minority languages in the Romance-speaking world
- the comprehensive discussion of contexts linking Romance languages and cultures.
It is primarily aimed at students of Romance Languages and early career researchers who would like to learn more about the linguistic and cultural diversity of the Romance-speaking world, which – as is well known – does not end with the 'major' Romance languages such as Spanish, French, Italian or Portuguese, but only just begins there.