Center for the Human Past
CHP
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Meet Francesco Giannelli, our new postdoctoral researcher in interdisciplinary genetics
Read more →: Meet Francesco Giannelli, our new postdoctoral researcher in interdisciplinary geneticsFrancesco Giannelli defended his PhD on “The role of expansion dynamics in shaping genetic diversity and load accumulation: insights from two Lessepsian invaders” at the Marche Polytechnic University in Ancona, Italy, in May 2025. He investigated how expansion dynamics affect neutral and deleterious genetic diversity. In September, he joined the Centre and Carina Schlebusch’s Lab…
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Hugo Reyes Centeno and Anthony Jakob are the current Human Past SCAS Fellows
Read more →: Hugo Reyes Centeno and Anthony Jakob are the current Human Past SCAS FellowsWe are pleased to welcome Hugo Reyes Centeno, an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Kentucky, USA and Anthony Jakob, a historical linguist with a PhD from Leiden University as our new fellows. During the fellowship, Hugo will work on the project Genomic and archaeological approaches toward resolving the Austronesian problem, while Anthony…
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Stories of horses, people & Indo-European language
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Read more →: Stories of horses, people & Indo-European languageIn summer, Jenny Larsson and Axel Palmér talked with Karin Bojs about the intertwined history of people and horses. The conversations contributed to the recorded podcast series, “Shortcuts with Karin Bojs”, available on Swedish Radio (in Swedish). Hästar och indoeuropeiska språk har parallell historia (4/8) Från Vedaskrifter till Staffan Stalledräng (5/8)
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In 1 minute – Center for the Human Past
Read more →: In 1 minute – Center for the Human PastHere’s a gist of what the Center for the Human Past is and what we do. In one minute (and 22 seconds). The video was made for the Swedish Research Council (VR). It was recorded at the Uppsala University Blåsenhus recording studio (13 May 2025). Behind the scenes…
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Axel Palmér joins the Center in a new role
Read more →: Axel Palmér joins the Center in a new roleThe post of Associate Senior Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Comparative Indo-European Linguistics at the Department of Linguistics and Philology, Uppsala University, has been awarded to our Human Past Fellow, Axel Palmér. Axel’s enthusiasm, curiosity, and quest for learning, combined with his desire to teach, make him the ideal colleague to work with. Congratulations, Axel! More about…
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He traces the genetic history of modern humans
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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…
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A new SCAS podcast with Axel Palmér. Historical Linguistics: A Window into the Human Past
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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…
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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…
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A new book on Indo-European research
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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…
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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…