We congratulate Asifa Majid, Professor of Cognitive Science an der University of Oxford, on being awarded with the prestigious Humboldt Research Award by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The Foundation presents this distinction to internationally outstanding scholars from abroad whose research has had a lasting impact on their field and from whom further ground-breaking insights are expected. The award carries 80,000 euros in prize money and enables research stays in Germany.
Asifa Majid is among the internationally leading experts in the study of language, cognition and perception. Her pioneering work has fundamentally transformed our understanding of how linguistic and cultural diversity interacts with mental processes. Drawing on a broad spectrum of innovative, interdisciplinary methods—from fieldwork in previously understudied speech communities to controlled laboratory experiments—she has shaped cognitive science and linguistics in decisive ways. She was nominated by Rasha Abdel Rahman of the Department of Psychology at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Together with Dr. Martin Maier, they will jointly investigate how language and culture relate to multimodal mental imagery.
The Humboldt Research Award was presented on 24 June 2026 by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Berlin.
© AvH/Benjamin Pritzkuleit