Linguist receives lifetime achievement award at celebration of Oxford-ERC links

An Oxford University professor has won a prestigious German award for lifetime achievements in linguistics.

Professor Aditi Lahiri CBE FBA (a member of the Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics and Fellow of Somerville College) was awarded the Linguistic Society of Germany’s Wilhelm von Humboldt Award for Lifetime Achievements in Linguistics earlier this month.

She marked the award with a conference in Oxford to celebrate her long association with the European Research Council (ERC), and her latest ERC Synergy Grant-receiving project PAAL.

Professor Lahiri’s research, which focuses on the phonological and morphological representations of the mental lexicon, has garnered a record-breaking six European Research Council grants, most recently a prestigious ERC Synergy grant. Professor Lahiri is the first Indian woman to hold a professorial chair at Oxford, and helped to establish Oxford University’s Faculty of Linguistics, Philology, and Phonetics.

In recognition of these many achievements, the Linguistic Society of Germany (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sprachwissenschaft) honoured her contribution to linguistics by awarding her the Wilhelm von Humboldt Award for Lifetime Achievements in Linguistics.

Professor Sophie Repp, President of the DGfS, said: “Professor Aditi Lahiri has had a large impact in linguistics in Germany and beyond through her outstanding scientific work…and through the education of students and young scientists…who are shaping Germany’s linguistics landscape today.”

The PAAL celebration at Somerville was attended by Catherine Royle, Principal of Somerville College; Professor Maria Leptin, President of the ERC; and Professor Irene Tracey, Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford. The event highlighted strong bond between the University of Oxford and the ERC, which has to date generated over 400 ERC grants.

More information is available on the Somerville College website, and more on Professor Lahiri and her research can be found here.