The PHONLAB project, coordinated by Quintino Lopes, is nearing completion and is set to achieve one of its major objectives: the opening of the Armando de Lacerda Wing: Laboratory of Experimental Phonetics of Coimbra, which has transformed the former premises of the former laboratory into a place of remembrance, research and outreach.

Quintino Lopes emphasises that this is “a unique exhibition in the field of the history of experimental phonetics”, as it features Lacerda’s chromographs, “advanced instruments for phonetic research which, from the 1930s onwards, were used at the Laboratory of Experimental Phonetics of Coimbra and which helped to attract scientists from different countries and continents.” The exhibition “also highlights Armando de Lacerda’s international standing and recognition, as well as the scientific work carried out at the laboratory”, placing “particular emphasis on his collaborators and disciples, including foreign researchers who visited the laboratory, thereby highlighting the international dimension of the research school established by Lacerda.”

On a more reflective note, Lopes also points out that “the exhibition marks a shift in the memory that the University of Coimbra constructs and projects about itself” and that its realisation rectifies an omission that had persisted for some five decades — “the failure to recognise the significance of a laboratory and a scientist of global renown”. Furthermore, “and this detail is notable”, the University of Coimbra heeded “a warning that came from outside, specifically from the Institute of Contemporary History”.

Developed through a partnership between the IHC’s Évora Campus, the University of Coimbra and Stockholm University, with the ongoing support and involvement of the Lacerda family, the new permanent exhibition is based “on the recovery and promotion of documentary and instrumental collections” and will be “open free of charge to diverse audiences”, explains Quintino Lopes. Following the recognition of Armando de Lacerda by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 2023, the opening of this exhibition represents yet another unique achievement of the PHONLAB project, forming part of the programme for the 8th International Workshop on the History of Speech Communication Research (IWHSCR), which will serve as the concluding conference of the PHONLAB project.

The main objective of the PHONLAB project, funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology, was “increase our knowledge about the History of Experimental Phonetics”, using as a case study the Laboratory of Experimental Phonetics at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Coimbra (1936–1979), established by the Portuguese phonetician Armando de Lacerda (1902–1984) “and regarded by several foreign linguists in the mid-20th century as the most advanced Experimental Phonetics laboratory in Europe.”