It is with great gratitude that we look back on the 16th conference for young researchers organised by the Austrian Society for Language Didactics (ÖGSD) - an event that once again proved how inspiring academic exchange between young researchers can be. The well-balanced programme not only provided in-depth specialist insights, but also created space for valuable discussions, especially during the poster tours and breaks.
The conference brought together a total of 62 participants from Austria, Germany and Italy. Particularly noteworthy were the two plenary lectures by Benjamin Kremmel and Stefanie Faustmann, two researchers from the Universities of Graz and Innsbruck, 22 specialist lectures and nine poster presentations, which covered a broad spectrum of current language didactics research. The event took place on 9 and 10 May 2025 under the aegis of the Department of Romance Studies and with the collaboration of the Department of Slavic Studies in the premises of the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) in Graz, which impressed not only with its hospitality, but also with its proximity to the mission of the ÖGSD - excellence and innovation in language teaching. Special thanks also go to our sponsors, whose support made this conference possible in the first place: the Alumni community, Malvinenstiftung and the Centre for Pedagogical Education at the University of Graz, as well as the ÖGSD.
The conference offered an ideal platform for interdisciplinary exchange between philology, specialised didactics and teacher training. It once again emphasised how important such forums are for young academics - for sharing knowledge, for constructive networking and for further developing their own projects. The anticipation for the conference documentation and the extended abstract volume is great - as is the anticipation for the next ÖGSD conference for young researchers.