The Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies (ISTB) at the University of Vienna is proud to announce that Emer. O. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Ernst Steinkellner has been awarded the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art by Austria’s President Alexander van der Bellen.

This highest national distinction for achievements in science and arts recognizes Steinkellner’s outstanding contributions to the fields of Buddhist and Tibetan studies, as well as his pivotal role in establishing these disciplines in Austria at the University of Vienna and the Austrian Academy of Sciences. As founding director of the former Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies in 1973 and, following its successful merge with Indology in 1999, as Professor for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the ISTB, he has played a central role in shaping the academic landscape of Buddhist philosophy in Austria. His pioneering research on Buddhist epistemology and logic, together with his long-term editorship of the Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde (WSTB), have earned him international recognition.

The ISTB warmly congratulates Ernst Steinkellner on this well-deserved award!