Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg

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Prof. Axel Michaels receives the title of Senior Professor

The President of Heidelberg University, Prof. Dr. Bernhard Eitel, has awarded Prof. Axel Michaels (Head of Department Cultural and Religious History of South Asia) the title of Senior Professor as of 1 October 2016. “Senior Professor” is an honorary degree, inaugurated in 2007, that can be bestowed upon a university professor following his or her retirement or the conclusion of their obligations. The rectorate decides who shall receive the title. 
German newspaper Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung published on 19 September 2016 an interview entitled “Demokratie wird in Asien ganz anders verstanden” with Prof. Axel Michaels. The article mentions inter alia his title of Senior Professor and his appointment as Secretary of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. The interview is available here.

In the interview, Axel Michaels depicts steps of his professional career and indicates that Nepal played an extraordinary role in it. Furthermore, he refers to his future objectives and engagements regarding the "Centre for Asian and Transcultural Studies" (CATS), the Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies (HCTS), the Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe” and the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (HAW).
Prof. Michaels recently was appointed Secretary of the Class of Philology and History at the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. At HAW, he is also head of the research unit „Documents on the History of Religion and Law or pre-modern Nepal”. The project systematically studies, selectively edits and translates unique documents on the History of Religion and Law or pre-modern Nepal. Centrepiece of the academic endeavour is an open access digital database, which will unite references to published and unpublished documents and will enable complex searches in the data sets.

Axel Michaels studied Indology, philosophy and law in Munich and Hamburg as well as at the Benares Hindu University in India. 1996, he joined the faculty at Heidelberg University as professor of Classical Indology at the SAI, where he heads the Department of Cultural and Religious History of South Asia. The researcher has been a member of the directorate of the Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in a Global Context” since 2007, and is acting director of the Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies (HCTS) founded at Ruperto Carola in 2013. He also directs the “Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Premodern Nepal” research unit of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

The Heidelberg Academy of Sciences has been founded in 1909 and is an assembly of scholars and scientists in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. It organises scientific conferences and public lectures und promotes young scientists, e.g. through programmes such as the WIN-Kolleg and by awarding of research-prices.
20 Sep 2016
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