Find Academic Supervisors

Milad Abedi is a PhD candidate in Linguistics at the University of Zurich and Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (INALCO), Paris, focusing on the cultural history of Sino-Iranian lexical contacts. He has taught Zoroastrian Middle Persian and Middle Iranian languages at the University of Zurich while conducting research on topics including language contact mechanisms and historical Persian grammar. PhD in Linguistics (2020–Present), University of Zurich & INALCO, Paris MA in Ancient Languages and Cultures of Iran (2015–2019), Allameh Tabataba'i University (Highest Distinction) BSc in Cellular-Molecular Biology (2010–2015), Islamic Azad University His research spans ancient Iranian language contact (Elamite-Iranian, Sino-Iranian, Arabic-Iranian), historical grammar of Persian, and Classical Persian literature. He has published on topics such as kinship term evolution, cuneiform epigraphy, and metonymic phrases in Achaemenid Elamite. Recent publications highlight his focus on lexical diffusion across Eurasia, with key works on donkey terminology in cross-cultural contexts and the origins of felt words in Iranian languages. His collaborative research with Wolfgang Behr and Samira Müller demonstrates interdisciplinary approaches combining linguistics and archaeology. 2021 Travel grant, University of Zurich 2016 Travel grant, Allameh Tabataba'i University 2016 Top student award, Allameh Tabataba'i University As a Lecturer at the University of Zurich, he has taught courses on Zoroastrian Middle Persian and historical linguistics. His digital humanities expertise includes ELAN software, GIS, and SQL for language documentation.

• Historical Linguistics
• Language Contact
• Ancient Iranian Languages
• +4 more

Robin Meyer serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Language and Nursing Sciences at the University of Lausanne's Faculty of Letters, specializing in Diachronic Linguistics. He joined the institution in August 2020 and is affiliated with the Section of Language and Information Sciences. His research focuses on syntactic developments in ancient languages, particularly Armenian and Iranian, as well as language contact phenomena and pedagogical approaches to ancient languages. Dr. Meyer holds a BA from the University of Oxford (2011), a Master's in General Linguistics and Comparative Philology (2013), and a PhD on syntactic loans from Parthian into Armenian (2017). His upcoming monograph, *Iranian Syntax in Classical Armenian* (Oxford University Press), details this research. Current projects include studies on relative clauses in preclassical Latin and typological aspects of syntactic changes due to language contact. He has received notable awards including the Excellence Award from Oxford University (2019) and a UK AHRC Doctoral Fellowship (2013). His teaching emphasizes diachronic linguistics, and he actively seeks funding for interdisciplinary linguistic research.

• Diachronic Linguistics
• Language Contact
• Ancient Languages
• +3 more

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Behr is a Professor of Sinology at the University of Zurich since 2008 and Institutsdirektor (Institute Director) since 2023. He has held academic positions at Goethe University Frankfurt (1991–1997), Ruhr University Bochum (1998–2008), and visiting roles at Chinese University Hong Kong (2014) and Jao Tsung-I Academy (2017). As Prodekan Forschung (2018–2022) and Senior Visiting Fellow at Kyoto University (2022), he bridges administrative and research roles. Education : Magister (1991), Ph.D. (1997), and Habilitation (2008) from institutions in Germany and China, focusing on Sanskrit-Chinese lexicon, Bronze inscriptions, and early cultural history. His research interests span Old Chinese phonology , etymology , paleography , and Sino-Tibetan comparative linguistics . He explores external contacts of Old/Middle Chinese, dialectology, cultural history, and the epistemological foundations of historical linguistics beyond Eurocentric frameworks. Additional focuses include early Chinese brain concepts, non-alphabetic writing systems, and experimental literary translation. Recent publications analyze phonological variation , lexical borrowing , and metrical evolution in Early China. He co-edits journals like Bulletin of Chinese Linguistics and Worlds of East Asia , and serves on boards for Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Études Asiatiques . As a leader in academic associations—including European Association for Chinese Studies (Executive Board), Swiss Asia Society (President), and Li Fang-kuei Society (Board of Directors)—he shapes disciplinary discourse. Current Ph.D. co-supervisions address topics like Sino-Iranian lexical exchange and early Chinese versification .

• Historical Linguistics
• Sinology
• Comparative Linguistics
• +7 more