Dan Zahavi

Dan Zahavi is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Copenhagen (Department of Communication, Faculty of Humanities) and concurrently Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford (St Hilda’s College). Since 2002 he has directed the Danish National Research Foundation’s Center for Subjectivity Research (CFS), a Centre of Excellence devoted to interdisciplinary investigation of selfhood, intersubjectivity and consciousness. He is also Honorary Professor at the University of Southern Denmark.

Education

• 1988 – Exam.art. (B.A.) in Philosophy, University of Copenhagen
• 1991 – Cand.phil. (M.A.) in Philosophy, University of Copenhagen
• 1994 – Ph.D. in Philosophy (Summa cum Laude), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
• 1999 – Dr.phil. (Habilitation), University of Copenhagen

Research Interests

Zahavi’s work lies at the intersection of phenomenology, philosophy of mind, cognitive science and psychopathology. He investigates self-consciousness, intersubjectivity, empathy, collective intentionality and social cognition from a rigorously phenomenological perspective, integrating insights from developmental psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience. His recent projects explore the constitution of we-identities, the phenomenology of second-person engagement, and the structure of shared emotional experiences.

Scientific Awards and Honours

• Edward Goodwin Ballard Book Prize (2000)
• Silver Medal, Royal Danish Society of Sciences and Letters (2000)
• Elite Research Prize, Danish Ministry of Science (2006)
• Carlsberg Foundation’s Research Prize (2011)
• Dansk Magisterforenings Forskningspris (2013)
• Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog (2017)

Grants and Doctoral Supervision

Zahavi has secured over 100 million DKK in competitive funding, including two 5-year DNRF Centres of Excellence and an ERC Advanced Grant “Who are we?” (18.6 mill DKK, 2020-2027). He has supervised or co-supervised 27 PhD dissertations on topics ranging from schizophrenia and self-disorders to expert musicianship and embodied cognition.

Laboratories & Teams

As director of the Center for Subjectivity Research (CFS), Zahavi leads an interdisciplinary team of philosophers, psychologists, psychiatrists and neuroscientists. The centre hosts annual summer schools, international conferences and visiting scholars, fostering collaborative research on consciousness, empathy and collective intentionality.