Universal paradigmatic gaps are gaps in linguistic paradigms that appear across languages and across users of a given language. As of yet, only very few gaps of this kind have been discussed in the literature. The one gap that has received substantial discussion concerns the universal absence of a lexicalized negated form for the quantifiers all, every or always: There appears to be no language in the world that exhibits a single word (or lexical item) that means ‘not all’, ‘not every’ or ‘not always’, an observation dating back to Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). UNPAG will show that the landscape of universal paradigmatic gaps is in fact much richer and more varied than generally thought of. It is deeply enigmatic that such words do not exist across languages and cultures. Clearly, any theory seeking to explain such missing lexicalizations, i.e. any theory of universal paradigmatic gaps, should be able to make clear predictions about what may or may not be lexicalized, and why that is the case. Such a theory has thus far not been developed. It is also without question that such a theory should have a broad empirical foundation. To date, the pool of data has been heavily slanted toward well-studied, Western, Indo-European, adult spoken language, and negative quantifiers therein. No existing study has thus far come even close to targeting a richer empirical base, even though many more universal gaps can be observed! UNPAG will be the long-overdue filler of this gap. Understanding the nature, distribution and behaviour of universal paradigmatic gaps will have several profound implications for our understanding of human cognition, language and communication. UNPAG is the first panoramic study of universal paradigmatic gaps. Why is it that we cannot always say what is thinkable? UNPAG will provide an answer to this question and show when, how and why universal paradigmatic gaps may emerge in the languages that we speak or sign.

Within the Erasmus+ Key Action 107 Project 2018, the University of Goettingen (UGOE) partnered with 25 institutions from 15 countries and implemented 136 mobilities of students and staff. The mobilities granted for UGOE included the following countries: Bhutan, Chile, China, Côte d’Ivoire, Georgia, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Myanmar, Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Thailand and Viet Nam. UGOE has well-established partnerships with the universities from these countries, which all greatly benefited from this mobility scheme.In total, 60 students benefitted from KA107. Most of these student mobilities have been incoming students to Goettingen. Student mobility and internationalisation-at-home is an important aspect of the internationalisation strategy of UGOE. International student participation in university life in Goettingen or at the partner institutions abroad have an essential impact on the university as a whole. These students help to further the effect by taking all the academic and cultural knowledge and experience back to their respective home universities. Most of the grantees have not only achieved knowledge enhancement, but have broadened their overall outlook through their interaction with the faculties and students of the host universities. In addition, studying abroad helped to improve their ability to adapt to different cultures.Furthermore, 76 staff mobilities for teaching and training were implemented, which provided a crucial benefit for students, teaching and research. The KA107 project has an important impact in the internationalization of study programmes from the UGOE and the participating partner institutions, especially within existing double degree Master programmes.In addition, through the mobility of administrative staff, all institutions were able to improve the different administrative processes of their collaborations, establish mutual standards etc. UGOE also organised an “International Staff Training Week” in 2019 both with EU partners (KA103) and non-EU partners (KA107) which was a huge success. During the event, the participants could not only exchange knowledge and discuss challenges and new ideas with UGOE staff on a bilateral basis but also with colleagues from all over the world. In particular, staff participants stated that their participation in the exchange strengthened their existing partnerships. The University of Goettingen has efficiently used the approved mobilities to foster its bilateral cooperations and research collaborations with the selected partners. In terms of student mobilities, the project has contributed to enhancing educational qualifications and intercultural understanding on an individual as well as on an institutional level at all involved universities.The last part of the project was heavily affected by the global Covid-19 pandemic. Due to travel restrictions and safety measures, the project had to put many mobilities on hold, some of which were successfully rescheduled. The availability of funding provided in the KA107 programme was instrumental in upholding mobility: Students who were abroad as the pandemic reached the country could choose to stay in the host country and complete their time spent abroad; and students who were in the difficult position considering international mobility while the waves of infection kept ebbing and rising were more ready to embark on the uncertainty than they would have otherwise.Overall, the project results show that the KA107 programme has proved to be an invaluable asset both for EU and non-EU institutions, for their students, their staff but also for the society of the respective countries.