Susann Fischer

Prof. Dr. Susann Fischer is a Professor of Spanish and Catalan Linguistics at the University of Hamburg's Faculty of Humanities, Institute of Romance Studies. She has held a W2 professorship in Linguistics of Spanish and another Romance language since October 2009.

Her academic journey began with studies in Hispanic Studies and North American Studies at Freie Universität Berlin (1987-1994), earning a Magister Artium degree. She then completed a European Master of Linguistics (1994-1995) through a joint program between University of Manchester and Freie Universität Berlin. Her doctoral studies at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Universität Potsdam culminated in a Dr. phil. (2000) with her dissertation on Catalan syntax, followed by habilitation in 2008 on word-order change across Romance and Germanic languages.

Prof. Fischer's research focuses on comparative syntax, syntax theory, syntax/morphology interface, distributed morphology, and contact-induced language change. Her work demonstrates a particular expertise in Romance languages, especially Spanish and Catalan linguistic structures. She has led significant research projects including DFG-funded studies on Judaeo-Spanish in Bulgaria and clitic doubling across Romance languages.

She has organized numerous academic workshops including the Syntax of Small Objects (2022), Parameters in Context (2022), and Biolinguistics & Parameters (2015). Prof. Fischer actively contributes to the academic community through her membership in the Sintaxi histórica del Català project, the NEREUS research network, and editorial roles with Bucharest Working Papers in Linguistics and Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft.

Her academic career includes positions as Academic Assistant at Universität Stuttgart (2003-2009), acting W3 Professor at Goethe-Universität Frankfurt (2008-2009), and researcher positions on DFG projects at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Universität Potsdam (2000-2003).