Here is a list of associations, research centers, and work groups focused on research in semiotics across the world. Please contact us to update this loist along with its website links.
- Arbeitsstelle für Semiotik/Research Center for Semiotics (Germany) – A research center founded in 1974 within the Institute for Speech and Communication at Technische Universität Berlin to promote semiotics research, collaborative projects, teaching, publications, and meetings with other semiotic network partners in Germany and abroad.
- Asociación Andaluza de Semiótica (AAS) (Andalusia, Spain) – An organization engaged in organizing symposia; holding introductory and advanced courses, and producing publications in the field of semiotics.
- Asociación Argentina de Semiótica (Argentina) – An organization promoting the study of semiotics through collaborative research, annual conferences, and the publication of its conference proceedings.
- Asociación Chilena de Semiótica (Chile) – Founded in 1996, this organization aims to promote semiotics research and teaching in Spain and Latin America.
- Asociación de Estudios Semióticos en Colombia (ASES) (Colombia) – An association created to promote and contribute to semiotics research by strengthening international cooperation, publishing research, and organizing academic activities and conferences in the field.
- Asociación Española de Semiótica (AES) (Spain) – An organization that aims to promote the discipline of semiotics in Spain through conferences, publications, and other opportunities for collaboration among researchers.
- Asociación Peruana de Semiótica (Peru) – An organization founded in 2009 with the goal of promoting the study of semiotics; organizes seminars and conferences.
- Asociación Venezolana de Semiótica (AVS) (Venezuela) – An organization founded to promote the study of semiotics through research and collaboration with other organizations and institutions; publications; and events such as seminars, courses, and a biannual national conference.
- Association Française de Sémiotique (AFS) (France) – An organization dedicated to publishing research and organizing conferences in semiotics.
- Association Marocaine de Sémiotique, Université Moulay Ismail (Morocco) – A semiotics association founded in 2008 in Meknès to promote exchange among scholars and develop the discipline of semiotics in Morocco.
- Associazione Italiana Studi Semiotici (AISS) (Italy) – Founded in 1972 in Bologna and reinstated in 2008, this organization is dedicated to the promotion of semiotics studies through roundtables, seminars, conferences, and book presentations.
- Centre de Recherches Sémiotiques (CeReS), Université de Limoges (France) – Founded in 2000 by Jacques Fontanille, this research center within the Faculté des Lettres et Sciences Humaines aims to promote semiotics and accommodate researchers developing new programs in the field (website in French).
- Centre for Cognitive Semiotics, Lund University (Sweden) – Holds seminars and organizes research groups in cognitive semiotics.
- Center for Semiotics, Aarhus University (Denmark) – Interdisciplinary center for research and education in semiotics; offers Master’s degree program in cognitive semiotics.
- Centro de Investigación de Semiótica Literaria, Teatral y Nuevas Tecnologías, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (Spain) – A research center founded in 2001 within the department of Spanish literature and literary theory to promote the semiotic study of Spanish literature and theater and their relationship to new technologies; publishes the journal Signa. Revista de la Asociación Española de Semiótica, organizes an annual conference, and offers continuing education and Ph.D.-level courses.
- Centro de Pesquisas Sociossemiótica, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (Brazil) – A research center that promotes semiotics research; holds courses, workshops, and symposia; and publishes its yearly symposium proceedings in Caderno de discussão do Centro de Pesquisas sociossemióticas.
- Centro Interdisciplinar de Semiótica da Cultura e da Mídia (CISC), Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (Brazil) – A research center founded in 1992 to promote the study of culture, communication and media from a semiotic perspective.
- Centro Internacional de Estudos Peirceanos (CIEP), Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (Brazil) – A research unit within the Programa de Pós-Graduação em Tecnologias da Inteligência e Design Digital that promotes the study of Peircean semiotics; organizes study groups and publishes research and conference papers in the field.
- Centro Internazionale Scienze Semiotiche, Università degli Studi di Urbino (Italy) – A research center that aims to promote exchanges and collaboration around research projects, organizes meetings, publishes proceedings, and offers an international Ph.D. in semiotics, with an adjunct optional master’s degree in conjunction with affiliated universities (website in Italian).
- Centro di Semiotica e Teoria dell’Immagine Omar Calabrese, Università degli Studi di Siena (Italy) – A research center focused on promoting structuralist semiotics work in textual analysis, organizing conferences, and publishing the peer-reviewed journal Carte Semiotiche: Rivista internazionale di semiotica e teoria dell’immagine (website in Italian).
- Centro Ricerche Semiotiche di Torino, Università di Torino (Italy) – A research center within the department of letters and philosophy focused on semiotics teaching, research activities and organizing symposia.
- Charles S. Peirce Society (USA) – An organization promoting the study of the work of Charles S. Peirce and its ongoing influence in the fields of intellectual endeavor to which he contributed.
- Chinese Association for Language and Semiotic Studies (China) – A semiotics association created within the Suzhou University School of Foreign Languages (website in Chinese).
- CUBE: Centro Universitario Bolognese di Etnosemiotica, University of Bologna (Italy) – An ethnosemiotics research center founded in 2009 within the university’s Department of Visual Arts.
- Cyprus Semiotics Association (Cyprus) – An academic organization that aims to promote and develop the science of semiotics and its different branches by organizing conferences, trainings, seminars, lectures and workshops, as well as publishing writings relevant to semiotics in Cyprus.
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Semiotik (DGS) (German Society for Semiotic Studies) (Germany) – A semiotics association founded in 1975 that organizes conferences and publishes the journal Zeitschrift für Semiotik (website in German).
- Federación Latinoamericana de Semiótica (FELS) (Argentina) – Founded in 1987 in Rosario, Argentina, this organization publishes and promotes semiotics research and colloquia in Latin America.
- GESC: Grupo de Estudios de Semiótica de la Cultura, Fundación Instituto Universitario Ortega y Gasset (Spain) – A research center dedicated to collaborative investigation; organizes conferences and publishes work in semiotics.
- Grupo de Investigaciones Semióticas, Centro de Estudios de los Discursos Sociales (CEDIS), Universidad Nacional del Litoral (Argentina) – A group dedicated to semiotics research and preparing undergraduate students for graduate study in semiotics.
- Hellenic Semiotics Society (Greece) – An organization promoting the discipline of semiotics in Greece (website in Greek).
- Institute for Semiotic Studies, Ewha Womans University (South Korea) – An institute established in 1987 that aims to promote semiotics research, especially in Korea; organizes monthly colloquia and yearly symposia and publishes translations of semiotics-related texts.
- Institute of Semiotics and Media Studies (ISMS), Sichuan University (China) – A research center founded in 2006 that publishes research and translations of texts in semiotics, with a focus on popular culture and approaches such as Marxism, psychoanalysis, gender studies phenomenology, existentialism, hermeneutics, and post-modernism.
- International Association for Cognitive Semiotics (IACS) (2013) – (IACS) Founded at Aarhus University in connection with the Eighth Conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS), this organization aims to advance research, facilitate scholarly exchange and organize conferences and other events in the field of cognitive semiotics.
- International Association for Semiotic Studies (IASS) – The leading international semiotics organization founded in 1969 by a group of scholars including Algirdas Julien Greimas, Roman Jakobson, Julia Kristeva, Emile Benveniste, Thomas A. Sebeok, and Jurij M. Lotman.
- International Association for Visual Semiotics (IAVS) (France) – Founded in 1989, this organization aims to gather semioticians all over the world who are interested in images and visual signification, without privileging any particular interpretation of semiotics and without favoring any semiotic tradition.
- International Institute of Semiotic Studies (IISS-NNU), Nanjing Normal University (China) –An institute established in 2007 with the goal of promoting semiotics research and organizing academic activities and symposia.
- International Semiotics Institute (ISI) (Lithuania) – Founded in 1998 in Imatra, Finland, and moved to Kaunas, Lithuania, in 2014, the ISI is an international research institute dedicated to the study and dissemination of semiotics through events and conferences, as well as the publication of Acta Semiotica Fennica.
- International Society for Biosemiotic Studies – An organization aimed at collaboration among scholars dedicated to biosemiotic studies and propagating knowledge of this field of study to researchers in related areas, as well as to the public in general.
- Istituto di argomentazione, linguistica e semiotica (IALS), Università della Svizzera italiana (Switzerland) – A research center within the faculty of communication sciences that is devoted to research and teaching in the field of verbal communication, semiotics, discourse and dialogue analysis, argumentation and rhetoric.
- Japanese Association for Semiotic Studies (Japan) – An organization founded in 1980 with the goal of promoting semiotics (website in Japanese).
- Laboratoire de résistance sémiotique, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) (Canada) – An open research community founded in 2013 by doctoral students in semiology to redefine the importance of semiotic studies in general knowledge production and their relevance within academia; supports research and organizes symposia.
- LISaV: Laboratorio Internazionale di Semiotica a Venezia, University of Venice (IUAV) (Italy) – A semiotics research center focused on the study of art, culture, and communication; brings together students and researchers from the department of arts and industrial design.
- Médiations Sémiotiques (France) – A research group focused on the semiotic study of information and communication processes through an integrated approach to meaning; issues publications, promotes collaborative research projects, and organizes symposia.
- Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (Finland) – The Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS) was founded in 1987 in Imatra, Finland, and has arranged a number of international conferences.
- Österreichische Gesellschaft für Semiotik/Institut für Sozio-Semiotische Studien (Austrian Society for Semiotics/Institute for Socio-Semiotic Studies) (Austria) – (website in German).
- Research Centre for Semiotics, Ilia State University (Georgia) – Established in 2012, this center aims to promote semiotics through the publication of its journal Semiotics, the organization of conferences and the translation of seminal works in the field.
- Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Kulturtheorie und Semiotik (Swiss Society for Cultural Theory and Semiotics) (Switzerland) – Founded in 1981 under the name Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Semiotik/Association Sémiotique Suisse (SGS/ASS) (Swiss Society for Semiotics) and renamed in 2009, this organization produces various publications and organizes conferences, roundtables and colloquia in semiotics.
- Semiosis Research Center (South Korea) – An institute founded in 2010 through Hankuk University of Foreign Studies to propose new research and educational paradigms in semiotics and connect with other research centers and civil society organizations in South Korea and abroad.
- Semiotic Circle of California (USA) – Refer to UC Berkeley’s Department of German website for updates on future meetings (usually in January).
- Sémiotická skupina (Czech Republic) – A professional group of the Czech Society for Cybernetics and Informatics founded in 1974 under the leadership of Czech logician Otakar Zichthat and composed of Czech and Slovak specialists; aims to facilitate interdisciplinary dialogue in semiotics.
- Semiotics and Visual Communication Lab (Cyprus) – Unit within the Department of Multimedia and Graphic Arts at Cyprus University of Technology established in September 2009 to promote research, theory and graphic design practice, as well as explore the role of semiotic theories within visual communication.
- Semiotics Lab @ the University of Pennsylvania (USA) – Founded in 2000, the Penn Semiotics Lab is a research unit in the Department of Anthropology that aims to facilitate faculty and student research in semiotics, and to encourage collaborative projects among participants.
- South-East European Center for Semiotic Studies, New Bulgarian University (Bulgaria) – Founded in 1998, the center promotes research in theoretical and applied semiotics, particularly in cultural studies, anthropology, sociology, linguistics, media, marketing and technology; organizes the yearly International Early Fall School of Semiotics and Spring School of Semiotics; offers master’s degree programs in semiotics with multiple areas of specialization and an international doctoral program through SEMKNOW (see Academic Programs). (To access the correct page in English, click on the link provided > at the top right-hand corner of the page, click on the British flag icon > “Departments and Centers” > “South-East European Center for Semiotic Studies”.)
- Suomen Semiotiikan Seura (Semiotic Society of Finland) (Finland) – Founded in 1979, the association promotes research, teaching and exchange in semiotics through activities that include an annual symposium and lecture series.
- Tehran Semiotics Circle (Iran)
Toronto Semiotics Circle (Canada) – An association that hosts academic symposia and other events with the goal of promoting research and facilitating communication among scholars interested in semiotics.
