About Us

Dr Leandro Beltrachini is a Senior Lecturer at the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University. His research focuses on computational physics applied to medical imaging, especially to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electro/magnetoencephalography (E/MEG). He is a beginner Welsh speaker, currently able to distinguish between the ‘ch’ and the ‘ll’.

Professor Mara Cercignani is the Head of MRI at the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of Psychology, Cardiff University. Her research focuses on developing and applying advanced MRI techniques for understanding the human brain in health and disease. She moved to Wales recently and does not speak Welsh yet. She hopes that this project will help her to learn more about the Welsh language and culture.

Dr Andreas Papageorgiou is a Research Associate at Cardiff University Department of Physics and Astronomy. He is an astronomer specializing in radio interferometry and far-infrared scan-imaging and spectroscopy . His main scientific activity is on the definition, implementation and operation of space telescope missions. He is currently working on ESA’s exoplanet characterisation mission ARIEL, due to launch in 2029. He recently completed a Welsh language beginners course and is really excited to move on to the next level.

Dr Jonathan Morris is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Welsh, Cardiff University. His research focuses on the accents of Welsh speakers and how social factors affect how we talk. He is also interested in how Welsh speakers and learners use Welsh in different situations and how they feel about their languages.

Dr Iwan Wyn Rees is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Welsh, Cardiff University. His research focuses mainly on various aspects of the dialects of Welsh, both in Wales and the Welsh Settlement in Chubut Province, Argentina. He is also interested in the acquisition of Welsh as a second language, both in English and Spanish-dominated contexts.

Dr Ivor Simpson is a Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence in the Department of Informatics, University of Sussex. His research focuses on developing machine learning models to analyse imaging data, in particular using MRI to understand how the function and anatomy of the human brain is affected by disease. He does not currently speak Welsh, although he shares his name with a famous animated Welsh steam train.