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About Us

The Center for Buddhist Studies at the University of Hamburg was founded in the fall of 2007 under the umbrella of the university's Asia-Africa-Institute. The Center promotes and connects academic research and teaching and increases the public's knowledge of and access to information about Buddhism. Hamburg's Center for Buddhist Studies is closely interrelated with the Institute's programs in Chinese Studies, Indology, Japanese Studies, Korean Studies, Thai Studies, Tibetan Studies, and Vietnamese Studies.  A unique institution in the German-speaking world, the Center is modelled on the Centers for Buddhist Studies housed in a number of major American universities. Its facilities include an exquisite specialized academic library on Buddhism, lecture halls, and offices.

Guiding Concepts and Responsibilities

The University of Hamburg's Center for Buddhist Studies promotes the development and coordination of academic resources on Buddhism in three focus areas: teaching, research, and academic exchange/public outreach.

Promotion of Teaching

The thorough and promising education in Buddhist Studies offered at the University of Hamburg is based on the reading and comprehension of Asian primary sources and historical-philological methods. The Center strengthens the curriculum of Buddhist Studies at the University by offering additional, specialized courses and seminars, as well as its Summer School in Buddhist Studies. Although the Center itself does not offer academic courses that are obligatory for the students' curriculum, it consolidates the B.A. and M.A. programs of the Asia-Africa-Institute and all other university institutions related to Buddhism and supports the annual Numata Visiting Professorship in Buddhist Studies. Plans are underway to establish an M.A. program in Buddhist Studies and a new full professorship in Southeast or East Asian Buddhism at Hamburg to complement the existing positions in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism.

Promotion of Research

The Center enables research fellows and visiting fellows to pursue their own individual research projects by providing local support and access to its library's exceptional collections. Specifically, the Center promotes research in five ways:

Research Projects
Offering an ambitious research environment that encourages close collaboration, the Center provides academics from Germany and abroad with the opportunity to work on their own research projects and encourages their continued engagement with teaching. At present, research fellows from a number of countries are taking advantage of this research opportunity, which includes participation in all Center activities.

Fellowships
The Center promotes young academics by offering fellowships for graduate studies.

Online Publications
The Center offers digital publication of academic contributions regarding Buddhist Studies

Library
The Center's continual fundraising efforts are crucial to increasing the holdings of its library, which ranks among the most outstanding specialized European academic libraries in the field of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. link

International Network
The continual expansion of its network of scholars, students and other institutions, enables the Center to encourage and intensify academic exchange. Relationships with many universities and individuals all over the world have already been established.

Forum for Interdisciplinary Academic Exchange and Public Outreach

The Center is instrumental in communicating to the public the University of Hamburg's important role as an interdisciplinary locus for expertise in Buddhist Studies. The Center supports and organizes events that link various disciplinary fields and promotes dialogue between Buddhist traditions and the public. Since 2007, the Center's multifaceted programs have included a summer school, two international symposia, a workshop, an exhibition, as well as more than five interdisciplinary lecture series and panel discussions comprising more than twenty-eight lectures linking diverse disciplines.

No other city in Germany offers a broader spectrum of living Buddhist traditions than Hamburg. Joint projects such as the “First International Congress on Buddhist Women's Role in the Sangha” held at the University of Hamburg in 2007, featuring sixty-five speakers including the 14th Dalai Lama, is one example of the promising connections that events can foster between academia and Buddhism in practice.

Important Goals of the Center

In order to firmly establish the Center for Buddhist Studies at the University of Hamburg as a leading institution in Europe and to further expand its program, one important goal is the development of an international M.A. program in Buddhist Studies. In order to strengthen the Center's academic foundation, the Center also plans to establish a third professorship in Southeast or East Asian Buddhism (for instance Chinese Buddhism) in addition to the two pillars of Indian and Tibetan Buddhism.

Requirements to Reach Our Goals

The Center relies on financial support from sponsors who are interested in the successful development and enhancement of the Center and who support its goals, the expansion of its fellowship programs, and its international profile.

Setting

The Center for Buddhist Studies is embedded in the University of Hamburg’s scholarly and logistical infrastructure. Particularly relevant for the study of Buddhism are:

Center Administration

Director: Prof. Dr. Michael Zimmermann (Hamburg, Indian Buddhism)
Associate Director (N.N.)

Advisory Board:

Honorary Board Members:

  •  Dr. Matthieu Ricard (Shechen Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal)
  •  Prof. em. Dr. Lambert Schmithausen (Hamburg, Indian Buddhism)

Board Members:

  • Priv.-Doz. Dr. Bhikkhu Analayo (Sri Lanka; Taiwan; Hamburg, Buddhist Studies)
  • Heidi Fischer-Klages (Hamburg)
  • Prof. Dr. Michael Friedrich (Hamburg, Chinese Studies)
  • Prof. Dr. Volker Grabowsky (Hamburg, Thai Studies)
  • Prof. Dr. Jörg Quenzer (Hamburg, Japanese Studies)
  • Dr. Bhiksuni Jampa Tsedroen (Tibetan Center, Hamburg)