Center for the Human Past
CHP
-
He traces the genetic history of modern humans
•
Read more →: He traces the genetic history of modern humansThe Knut & Alice Wallenberg Foundation has just published an update on the research by Mattias Jakobsson, one of the KAW scholars. Mattias Jakobsson’s focus in his new Wallenberg Scholar project is to track the development that occurred between 300,000 and 600,000 years ago, following the genetic line that leads to modern humans. The material…
-
A new SCAS podcast with Axel Palmér. Historical Linguistics: A Window into the Human Past
•
Read more →: A new SCAS podcast with Axel Palmér. Historical Linguistics: A Window into the Human PastIn the new SCAS podcast episode (episode 65), Axel Palmér, a historical linguist specialising in Indo-European languages, discusses his research on agricultural vocabulary in the Rigveda. Axel examines whether the people who composed the Rigveda were pastoralists or agriculturalists by analysing the text’s descriptions of agriculture and comparing them to those found in other Indo-European…
-
UppTalk podcast with Mattias Jakobsson
Read more →: UppTalk podcast with Mattias JakobssonIn June, Mattias Jakobsson was a guest on the podcast series UppTalk, run by the Science and Technology Domain at Uppsala University. The podcast episode, under a title: Vad kan forntida DNA avslöja om människans evolution? (What can ancient DNA reveal about human evolution?) is one of many recorded UppTalks available on the Uppsala University…
-
A new book on Indo-European research
•
Read more →: A new book on Indo-European researchOur colleague, Axel Palmér has just published a book Indo-Slavic Lexical Isoglosses and the Prehistoric Dispersal of Indo-Iranian. Axel I. Palmér, Ph.D. (2024, Leiden University), is currently a Human Past Junior Fellow at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS) in Uppsala, Sweden. His research focuses on the origin and development of the Indo-European languages…
-
Key components in research excellence
Read more →: Key components in research excellenceWhat does it take to achieve excellence in research? According to Anders Broström, associate professor of economics at KTH, one should “allow for more open, visionary projects and consider what you believe is possible in the discipline, and what the people involved can achieve, rather than require a fixed plan.” Jenny Larsson believes that “the…
-
Human Past SCAS Fellows 2025-26 are…
Read more →: Human Past SCAS Fellows 2025-26 are…We’re excited to announce that the Human Past Fellows for academic year 2025-26 have been selected! The fellowship programme is an initiative by the Center for the Human Past, administered by the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Studies (SCAS). It is designed to foster a collaborative environment where early-stage and established scholars can converge across three…
-
Call for the Human Past Fellowships 2026-27 is open
Read more →: Call for the Human Past Fellowships 2026-27 is openThe Fellowships are a joint initiative of the Center for the Human Past (CHP) and the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS). Deadline for applications: 2 June 2025. The fellowship aims to attract researchers interested in the human past, combining methods and materials from different disciplines. The primary focus is research on three major migration…
-
Carina Schlebusch is the Editor-in-Chief of the HPGG journal
•
Read more →: Carina Schlebusch is the Editor-in-Chief of the HPGG journalJoshua Akey, Professor, Lewis-Sigler Institute, Princeton University, USA, and Carina Schlebusch, Professor, Human Evolution, Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Sweden, are the Editors-in-Chief. The Human Population Genetics and Genomics Journal (HPGG; ISSN 2770-5005) is an international peer-reviewed Open Access journal published quarterly by Pivot Science Publications. This journal aims to publish discoveries and recent breakthroughs…
-
Mattias Jakobsson elected a new member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Class for biosciences
Read more →: Mattias Jakobsson elected a new member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Class for biosciencesThe Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) was founded on 2 June 1739. It is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting natural sciences and mathematics and strengthening their influence in society whilst endeavouring to promote the exchange of ideas between various disciplines. The goals of the academy are: Every year, the academy awards the Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry,…
-
New read alert: Population history and admixture of the Fulani people from the Sahel
Read more →: New read alert: Population history and admixture of the Fulani people from the SahelThe new paper by Fortes-Lima, Diallo, Janoušek, Černý, and Schlebusch (2025) was published last week in The American Journal of Human Genetics. Researchers have uncovered the origins and genetic diversity of the Fulani, one of Africa’s largest pastoral populations. The study reveals a complex genetic ancestry with influences from North and West Africa, shaped by historical migrations that have left a…