In the current context, strategic planning of research, development and innovation activities is essential, as well as their proper alignment with national and international frameworks. At the same time, effective coordination of R&D&I actions within the same disciplinary field is necessary, with the aim of achieving broader scientific goals, accessing research funding opportunities, attracting and retaining research talent, and improving the international standing of the institution and its research groups.
The Instituto de Investigación Lingua (iLingua) at the University of Vigo emerges as a response to these needs, consolidating an institutional commitment to the internationalization and prestige of scientific activity, research and knowledge transfer in the field of linguistics. This initiative is also supported by the presence of a critical mass of research staff in linguistics at the institution, with representation across various areas of the discipline. Research in languages and linguistics at the University of Vigo encompasses core lines in Galician, Spanish, and other foreign languages and literatures, as well as in the translation and interpretating of these languages. Its most prominent distinctive feature lies in the consolidated presence of studies and research in translation and interpreting, as the University of Vigo is the only higher education institution in Galicia offering both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in this field. Additionally, specific research lines have been identified in other key areas such as intercultural mediation, technologies applied to linguistic processing, the relationships between language, discourse and society, sign language and linguistic variation—including, for example, variation in English as a global language. Altogether, this constitutes a privileged starting point for advancing research and knowledge transfer in the field of language and languages in the contemporary world.