Dr. Catherine Ferris is a scientific officer at the Vice President’s Office for Research and Development and a lecturer and researcher at the Institute for Language and Literary Education at the St. Gallen University of Teacher Education. She specializes in cognitive linguistics, second language acquisition, language teaching and learning, multilingualism, and pragmatic competence. She earned her PhD in English Linguistics from the University of Basel, following an MA in English/American Literature and Linguistics from the University of Zurich. Her academic career includes teaching positions at the St.Gallen University of Teacher Education, University of Basel, Zurich University of Teacher Education, and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.
Catherine Ferris is responsible for academic human resources development, coordinates PhD programs, and has led the nationally funded projects Tools@Schools and Tools@Schools:immersive. She has organized international conferences, contributed to higher education policy working groups, and published in the fields of linguistics and language pedagogy. Her work bridges research, teaching, and institutional development in multilingual and foreign language education.
