Priority Programme “Visual communication. Theoretical, empirical, and applied perspectives (ViCom)” (SPP 2392)
In March 2021, the Senate of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) established the Priority Programme “Visual Communication. Theoretical, Empirical, and Applied Perspectives (ViCom)” (SPP 2392). The programme is designed to run for six years in two phases. The present call invites proposals for the second three-year funding period.
Visual communication is still a young and developing field in theoretical linguistic research. To date, visual phenomena have been analysed by applying the formal linguistic vocabulary originally established for spoken languages. It is now becoming evident that the formal linguistic repertoire can be applied fruitfully to other fields and domains but that it also needs to be modified and extended to meet the specific requirements of visual communication. This is due to the fact that visual phenomena are often different in nature from spoken language phenomena, which form the main basis of most linguistic research. Visual input, for example, is often more iconic and more expressive than auditory or written material.
ViCom aims at bridging the gap between these new dynamics in theoretical linguistics and other disciplines, such as cognitive linguistics, semiotics, neurosciences, cultural studies or conversation analysis, where the investigation of visual communication phenomena has a longstanding tradition and where a substantial body of empirical data and a considerable amount of insight on the form and functions of visual communication means already exists.
The overall goal of ViCom is to investigate the special features and linguistic significance of different components of visual communication. Central fields of interest are
- sign languages as fully developed natural languages exclusively using the visual modality and
- visual means that interact with and enhance spoken and written language such as co-speech gestures and emojis. With a strong focus on developing linguistic theory, ViCom strives to bring together different research foci and the joint expertise of communities which usually work on similar research objects, but without a great deal of interaction.
The programme addresses researchers in different fields of linguistics, semiotics, psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, animal communication, visual studies, computational linguistics, didactics and related fields who seek to advance our understanding of the linguistics of visual and multimodal communication by
- formulating formally explicit models of the linguistic structures and cognitive mechanisms underlying visual communication.
- testing these models using different empirical and experimental methods and developing new methods which address the specific characteristics of visual communication.
- developing new applications in technological, therapeutic and didactic environments based on the results of new theoretical and methodological insights.
For the second funding period, we therefore encourage submissions addressing interdisciplinary research questions on theoretical, methodological and applied aspects of different kinds of visual communication with a strong focus on
- developing new formally precise theories and new formal tools to extend the existing formal apparatus and especially account for iconic and demonstration-based components of visual communication in comprehensive models of human and animal communication.
- advancing empirical and experimental methodology in different fields (corpus studies, psycholinguistics, kinematics, etc.) to gain new empirical evidence to test fine-grained predictions of new theories of visual communication.
- developing new didactic and therapeutic models as well as new computational systems which are capable of transferring research findings on visual communication to different didactic and therapeutic settings or virtual world environments.
The scientific ambition of ViCom is best met by a broad collaboration involving researchers from different disciplines such as phonetics, semantics, pragmatics, discourse analysis, semiotics, psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, animal communication, visual studies, computational linguistics and didactics. To accomplish its ambitious scientific goals, ViCom implements a well-balanced, extensive suite of individual measures to support diversity, networking and dissemination, and to ensure the success of female researchers, deaf researchers and researchers in early career phases in particular.
Proposal Instructions
Proposals must be written in English and submitted to the DFG by 31 March 2025. Please note that proposals can only be submitted via elan, the DFG’s electronic proposal processing system.
Applicants must be registered in elan prior to submitting a proposal to the DFG. If you have not yet registered, please note that you must do so by 17 March 2025 to submit a proposal under this call; registration requests received after this time cannot be considered. You will normally receive confirmation of your registration by the next working day. Note that you will be asked to select the appropriate Priority Programme call during both the registration and the proposal process.
If you would like to submit a proposal for a new project within the existing Priority Programme, please go to Proposal Submission – New Project – Priority Programmes and select “SPP 2392” from the current list of calls. Previous applicants can submit a proposal for the renewal of an existing project under Proposal Submission – Proposal Overview/Renewal Proposal.
When preparing your proposal, please review the programme guidelines (form 50.05, section B) and follow the proposal preparation instructions (form 54.01). These forms can either be downloaded from our website or accessed through the elan portal.
With the submission of a proposal within this programme, the applicants agree that the DFG will share all necessary information with the coordinator of the Priority Programme after the call deadline.
Funding decisions are expected to be completed in November 2025.
The DFG strongly welcomes proposals from researchers of all genders and sexual identities, from different ethnic, cultural, religious, ideological or social backgrounds, from different career stages, types of universities and research institutions, and with disabilities or chronic illness. With regard to the subject-specific focus of this call, the DFG encourages deaf researchers in particular to submit proposals.
Further Information
More information on the Priority Programme is available under:
The elan system can be accessed at:
DFG forms 50.05 and 54.01 can be downloaded at:
For scientific enquiries please contact the Priority Programme coordinator:
- Professor Dr. Cornelia Ebert, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Fachbereich Neuere Philologien, Institut für Linguistik, Norbert-Wollheim-Platz 1, 60323 Frankfurt, phone +49 69 798 32393, contact@vicom.inf
Questions on the DFG proposal process can be directed to:
- Programme contact: Dr. Helga Weyerts-Schweda, phone +49 228 885-2046, helga.weyerts-schweda@dfg.d
- Administrative contact: Melanie Klein, phone +49 228 885-2843, melanie.klein@dfg.d