Three Paths
The stories of how three students from different backgrounds received a KF Doctoral Student Support grant.
Dr. Jörg Heimbel Appointed Professor of Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich
I am excited about applying my knowledge and experience to advance teaching and research in Tibetan studies, actively contributing to shaping its future, while also training the next generation of scholars in the field.
Dr. Jörg Heimbel
Khyentse Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Jörg Heimbel as professor of Tibetan and Buddhist studies at Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich (LMU). Jointly sponsored by the German TARA Foundation (TARA Stiftung), Khyentse Foundation, and LMU, the tenured position is one of just a handful of Tibetan Buddhism professorships in Europe. The professorship has been vacant since the retirement of Prof. Dr. Franz-Karl Ehrhard in 2019. Ehrhard had served in the position for 16 years.
Heimbel comes to LMU from the University of Hamburg, where he has been a lecturer in classical and colloquial Tibetan in the Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies at the Asia Africa Institute since 2014. His appointment ensures that LMU’s successful BA program in Buddhist and South Asian studies and the MA program in religion and philosophy in Asia will continue to offer a pathway in Tibetan studies, and that students of the doctoral program in Buddhist studies will again be able to prepare dissertations on Tibetan topics. Heimbel will take up the professorship in the winter semester of 2024, joining a community of 15 professors and postdoctoral researchers active in the field of Buddhist studies at the Institute of Indology and Tibetology as well as in the wider Department of Asian Studies and the neighboring Faculty for Religious Studies.
Heimbel’s main interest lies in the history of Tibetan Buddhist traditions and their related textual culture, with a particular focus on the Sakya school. He studied Tibetology and social anthropology first at the University of Göttingen and then at the University of Hamburg, where he received both his Magister Artium (2007) and PhD (2014). His doctoral thesis examined the life and times of Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo (1382–1456), one of the most prolific and influential masters of the Sakya school and the founder of Ngor monastery. During his doctoral studies, he joined the Tibetan language program at Tibet University, Lhasa, China, and was a research fellow at the Lumbini International Research Institute, Nepal. He has published widely on the history of the Ngor branch of the Sakya school, Buddhist ascetic traditions, vegetarianism, book culture, and sacred art. His recent books include Vajradhara in Human Form: The Life and Times of Ngor chen Kun dga’ bzang po (2017) and The Ngor Branch Monastery of Go mig (sTeng rgyud) in Spiti (2019).
“Our faculty is very excited and pleased to have been able to fill the vacant professorship of Tibetan and Buddhist studies with such a renowned scholar, thanks to the generous support of TARA and Khyentse Foundation. Dr. Heimbel is so much dedicated to Tibetan traditions, culture, and language, both historical and colloquial, that he will surely contribute to our interdisciplinary Buddhist studies in many fruitful ways. He will attract new students and bring international scholars to LMU by his rich networks. All in all, he will help make Tibetan studies thrive at LMU and in the worldwide scientific community.” — Irene Götz, dean of the Faculty for the Studies of Cultures, LMU
“I am truly honored and deeply grateful for being appointed to the esteemed professorship at LMU. This recognition marks a milestone in my academic journey, and I sincerely appreciate the trust and confidence that have been placed in me. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Khyentse Foundation and the TARA Foundation for their generous support in funding this position. Their collaboration ensures the continuation of Tibetan studies at LMU, offering students a unique opportunity to engage with the Tibetan language and explore the rich culture and Buddhist traditions of the Tibetan world. This support is also instrumental in advancing my research projects and fostering international collaborations. I am excited about applying my knowledge and experience to advance teaching and research in Tibetan studies, actively contributing to shaping its future, while also training the next generation of scholars in the field.” — Dr. Jörg Heimbel
The professorship in the field of Tibetan and Buddhist studies at LMU was established by the TARA Foundation in 2003. Under Prof. Dr. Ehrhard’s stewardship LMU became a hub for Tibetan Buddhist studies in Europe, attracting scholars from Asia, the US, and elsewhere in Europe. The university also collaborated closely with international institutions working in the field. Following Prof. Dr. Ehrhard’s retirement, LMU faced the possibility of losing the professorship and of terminating part of its program. In order to ensure its continuation the university approached Khyentse Foundation for sponsorship, and a collaborative contract was signed in 2020.
Made together with the TARA Foundation and LMU, the present endowment is one of six such professorships and chairs that Khyentse Foundation has funded to date, following Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche’s aspiration to establish an endowed academic chair of Buddhist studies at a major university on each continent. The other positions are at the University of California, Berkeley, USA; the University of Michigan, USA; the University of Sydney, Australia; the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel; and the International Buddhist College, Thailand.
Featured image above: The main building of Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich (LMU), with some of the churches of the old town in the background. Photo courtesy LMU.
