I’m Syd, a doctoral researcher at the University of Edinburgh curious about how humans learn languages. I am funded by the UKRI’s CDT in Natural Language Processing and work under the supervision of Frank Mollica and Jennifer Culbertson. My research investigates how humans acquire and process semi-productive verb-argument structures (a.k.a. collocations), drawing on theories and methods from psychology, cognitive science, linguistics (theoretical and applied), and computer science.

My academic background includes an MSc in Psychological Research from the University of Edinburgh, and an MSc in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition from the University of Oxford. I earned my undergrad in theoretical and Portuguese linguistics at the University of Lisbon. I am also affiliated with the Psycholinguistics Laboratory at the Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa where I work on experimental morphology in European Portuguese.

When procrastinating, I enjoy reading, attempting overly complicated recipes that make for good leftovers, and balcony gardening.