Welcome to IAFPA 2026, welcome to Trier!
Dear colleagues and friends,
It is our great pleasure to welcome you to the 34th Annual Conference of the International Association for Forensic Phonetics and Acoustics (IAFPA) at Trier University.
Trier, Germany's oldest city and a former imperial capital of the Roman Empire, is home to one of the country's youngest universities. Although the original University of Trier was founded in 1473, it was closed by Napoleon in 1798 and re-established only in 1970. Today, around 12,000 students and 2,000 staff study and work across six faculties, with a particular strength in the Humanities and Social Sciences. We are delighted to welcome you to our university and hope you will also have the opportunity to discover the rich history and unique atmosphere of the city during your stay.
Hosting IAFPA in Trier is particularly meaningful because forensic phonetics has a long and distinguished tradition at our university. Since Jens-Peter Köster established the Department of Phonetics in 1985, Trier has become an internationally recognized center for forensic phonetics. Together with Herbert Masthoff, Angelika Braun, the late Hermann Künzel, and many colleagues and graduates over the years, the department has made lasting contributions to both research and practice. Forensic phonetics remains an integral part of our teaching and research, with students engaging in authentic casework and producing numerous Master's and doctoral theses in the field. At the same time, the department's research has expanded considerably. Current work focuses on prosody, regional speech variation, and second language acquisition, while continuing to build bridges between basic phonetic research and its forensic applications. We are proud that this tradition continues today and that Trier remains closely connected to the international forensic phonetics community. Our connection with IAFPA goes back more than three decades. Trier hosted the Association's second conference in 1993 – the first to be held outside York – and welcomed the community again in 2010. We are therefore especially honored to host the conference for a third time, making Trier, alongside York, one of only two venues to have welcomed the IAFPA Annual Conference on three occasions.
Both IAFPA and forensic phonetics have grown tremendously since that first meeting in Trier. The Association has expanded into a truly global community, annual conferences have been held on four continents, forensic phonetics has become a well-established topic at the International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, and the field continues to thrive through an ever-growing body of innovative research. We are delighted that this year's conference reflects this continued development.
For this year's scientific program, we received submissions from researchers across the globe, reflecting both the international character of our community and the breadth of current research in forensic phonetics and acoustics. The program covers a remarkable range of topics, from inhalation patterns, phonetic variation, and voice quality to emerging challenges such as AI-generated speech and deepfake detection. Altogether, the conference features 21 oral presentations and 29 poster presentations, including several Work in Progress contributions.
This year's Special Session, Expertise in Context, focuses on the implications of judicial systems for practical forensic casework. It highlights the role of the (voice) expert as a key participant in criminal proceedings and explores the interplay between experts, judges, and defense lawyers across different judicial systems. By placing forensic expertise within its broader legal context, the session offers an important perspective on the practical application of our research.
We are especially pleased to see a strong participation of early-career researchers, whose enthusiasm and innovative work promise a bright future for our field. Their contributions are an essential part of this conference, and we look forward to recognizing outstanding work through the Early Career Researcher Awards.
This conference would not have been possible without the support of many people and institutions. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Trier University for hosting the event, to the IAFPA President and Executive Committee for their continued support and guidance, and to the local organizing team, whose effort, dedication, and enthusiasm have made this conference possible.
In the spirit of the department's long-standing commitment to forensic phonetics and international collaboration, we warmly welcome you to Trier. We hope you enjoy the scientific program, engage in stimulating discussions, establish new collaborations, renew old friendships, and take the opportunity to experience the unique history and hospitality of our city.
We wish you an inspiring, enjoyable, and memorable conference.
For the local team
Angelika Braun and Katharina Zahner-Ritter
