Nina Mirnig

Nina Mirnig is a Professor of Cultural and Intellectual History of Premodern South Asia at the Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, University of Vienna. She holds a PhD in Oriental Studies/Sanskrit from the University of Oxford and has held academic positions at institutions including the University of Groningen, University of Cambridge, and the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Her research combines historical, philological, and anthropological methods to study Sanskrit texts, inscriptions, and cultural heritage.

• Bachelor: Oriental Studies/Sanskrit, University of Oxford (2004)
• Master: Oriental Studies/Sanskrit, University of Oxford (2005)
• PhD: Oriental Studies/Sanskrit, University of Oxford (2010)

Her research focuses on Sanskrit culture's role in shaping religious, philosophical, and scientific traditions across South Asia and beyond. She investigates cultural connectivity through manuscript and inscription studies, with particular emphasis on Shaiva and Tantric traditions, early Nepal and the Himalayas, and technology-mediated knowledge systems. Her interdisciplinary approach bridges history, archaeology, and anthropology to analyze how ancient cultural processes influence modern identity and heritage debates.

Scientific awards include:

• Elise-Richter-Preis (FWF, 2019-2024) for research on early medieval Nepal
• Jan-Gonda-Stipendium (2013) from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Membership in the Young Academy of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (since 2020)

She leads the department as acting director and contributes to the FWF Excellence Cluster "Eurasian Transformations" (since 2023). Her teaching includes classical Sanskrit, South Asian philosophies, and cultural heritage studies.