Personal profile
Biography
Professor Raffaella Folli is a Member of the Royal Irish Academy since 2023 and Research Director for Unit 26. She studied Philosophy at the University of Milan where she completed a BA in 1995. In 1998 she completed an MPhil in Linguistics at the University of Oxford and in 2001 a DPhil in Linguistics, also at the University of Oxford. She joined Ulster University in 2005 having previously held research positions at the University of Arizona and then the University of Cambridge.Her main research area is theoretical syntax. Her standing in linguistics is evidenced by her extensive publications in top journals in the field, various grants from different research councils and extensive collaborations with academics in the UK and the US. In 2011 she was awarded a Distinguished Research Fellowship award in recognition of her research achievements. In 2023 she was the recepient of the Faculty of Arts Humanities and Social Science Senior Distinguished Research Fellowship Award. Raffaella is part of the linguistics team that in 2012 established the Ulster Centre on Multilingualism (UCoM), an information service for people raising or working with children growing up with more than one language. As part of UCoM, she is involved in Language Made Fun, a programme designed to support the language needs of multilingual children or migrant children in Northern Ireland. It is delivered in collaboration with Barnardo’s and funded by a grant from the Big Lottery Fund.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being -
SDG 4 Quality Education -
SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy -
SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure -
SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities -
SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities -
SDG 13 Climate Action -
SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Acquisition of auxiliary selection in French and Italian and the role of input
Lauzon, B., Folli, R., Sevdali, C. & Gerard, J., 9 Jun 2025, In: Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics. 10, 1, p. 1-42 42 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile57 Downloads (Pure) -
Developing a new consortium for outreach activities
Gerard, J., McGill, S., Haughey, T., Singer, V., Simms, V., Folli, R., Sevdali, C., Macleod, M. & Dautel, J., 28 Mar 2025, (Unpublished).Research output: Contribution to conference › Poster › peer-review
File11 Downloads (Pure) -
Future Island-Island Impact Cards: Architects of Change Programme
Jackson-Smyth, J. & Folli, R., 2025, 1 ed. Belfast. 2 p.Research output: Book/Report › Other report
Open AccessFile18 Downloads (Pure) -
Future Island-Island Impact Cards: A series of Impact Cards highlighting the social, economic, cultural, and environmental impacts of Future Island-Island, focusing on circular economies, sustainable material innovation, heritage preservation through digital technologies, and community-driven solutions for a sustainable future.
Magee, J. (Editor), Colhoun, G. (Editor), Lynn, J. (Illustrator), Quigley, T. (Illustrator), Power, S., Jonny, W., McGilloway, S., Millar, B., Dunlop, P., Montgomery, I., Bates, J., Melki, H., McGlade, M., Bosanquet, C., Parkin, A., Gault, A., Duffy, A., Keefe, G., Campbell, E. & Cullen, S. & 27 others, , 21 Aug 2025, 72 p. BelfastResearch output: Other contribution
Open AccessFile56 Downloads (Pure) -
Language proficiency across tasks in sequential bilingual and monolingual children
Logue, S., Folli, R., Sevdali, C., Singer, V. & Gerard, J., 31 Jan 2025, In: Languages. 10, 1, p. 1-41 41 p., 7.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile25 Downloads (Pure)
Activities
- 5 Oral presentation
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The Acquisition of Si with Anticausatives and Reflexives in Italian
Folli, R. (Speaker), Gerard, J. (Contributor), Harley, H. (Contributor), Lauzon, B. (Contributor) & Macleod, M. (Speaker)
23 Jan 2026Activity: Talk or presentation › Oral presentation
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Driving Improvement for Multilingual Pupils in Northern Ireland
Folli, R. (Contributor), Macleod, M. (Speaker), McGill, S. (Contributor) & Sevdali, C. (Contributor)
6 Sept 2025Activity: Talk or presentation › Oral presentation
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Understanding Newcomers in Northern Ireland
Gerard, J. (Speaker), Macleod, M. (Speaker), McElroy, E. (Contributor), Folli, R. (Contributor), Gazzola, M. (Contributor), McGill, S. (Contributor), Murphy, J. (Contributor), O'Connor Bones, U. (Contributor) & Sevdali, C. (Contributor)
10 Jun 2025Activity: Talk or presentation › Oral presentation
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Animacy and Null Objects in English
Folli, R. (Contributor), Gerard, J. (Contributor), Harley, H. (Contributor), Lauzon, B. (Contributor) & Macleod, M. (Speaker)
23 Oct 2025Activity: Talk or presentation › Oral presentation
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Animacy and Null Objects in English
Folli, R. (Speaker), Gerard, J. (Contributor), Harley, H. (Contributor), Lauzon, B. (Contributor) & Macleod, M. (Speaker)
3 Sept 2025Activity: Talk or presentation › Oral presentation
Profiles
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Gianluca Porta, (PhD Researcher)
Person: Doctor of Philosophy
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Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) models for children's language development in Irish: a study on computational tools for under-represented languages
Gerard, J. (PI), O Domagain, G. (CoI), Singh, M. (CoI) & Folli, R. (CoI)
1/10/25 → 30/09/27
Project: Research
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Framing the legacy of our Irish and Scottish Heritage
O Donaill, C. (PI), Ferguson, F. (CoI), Comer, N. (CoI), Folli, R. (CoI) & Afshari Saleh, R. (CoI)
1/09/25 → 28/02/29
Project: Research
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A Digital Linguistic Atlas of pan-Gaelic Dialects: Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man
Hughes, A. (PI) & Folli, R. (CoI)
1/09/25 → 31/08/26
Project: Research
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The role of focus in dislocated disjoint reference effects
Stockwell, R. (PI) & Folli, R. (CoI)
1/06/25 → 31/05/27
Project: Research
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Animacy restrictions : a window on the interplay between language and meaning
Folli, R. (PI)
1/05/24 → 30/04/26
Project: Research