Project members

Merel Keijzer (project leader)

Merel Keijzer is a professor at the University of Groningen. Her research looks at learning a second language and multilingualism, across the lifespan. She is especially interested in older adults. She studies how using more than one language affects their thinking and their well-being. Her research looks at healthy older adults, but also at people who have memory or mood problems.

Merel is the head of the Bilingualism and Aging Lab (BALAB) in Groningen. With her research, she wants to help older adults directly, but she also works together with researchers from other fields. For example, she talks with experts in psychology, brain science, aging research, and medical sciences about why language is important in their work.

Merel was the president of the Dutch Association for Applied Linguistics. She has received several important research grants and awards, including the NWO Veni (2009), the NWO Vidi (2017), and the Ammodo Award for Fundamental Science (2023).

Merel is the project leader of CAREful, which is funded by an NWO Vici grant.

Marlies Oegema

Marlies works as a research assistant in the CAREful project. Her research interests are language, healthy aging, and dementia. Marlies is also doing another research project that studies how language, speech, and movement can help detect Alzheimer’s disease at an early stage. This project is a collaboration between the University of Groningen and Hanze University of Applied Sciences. She has a background in linguistics, holding a BA in German Language and Culture and Dutch Language and Culture, as well as an MA in Multilingualism and Language Acquisition.