Markus Viehbeck

Biography

Markus Viehbeck joined the Cluster in October 2010 as Assistant Professor at the Chair of Buddhist Studies. Prior to his post in Heidelberg he was involved in a research project on more recent developments in Tibetan Madhyamaka philosophy conducted at the Institute for South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, University of Vienna, where he was also employed as a lecturer. He completed his PhD on the monumental debate between 'Ju Mi pham and Dpa' ris Rab gsal, which he studied in extensive co-operation with Tibetan scholars from various monastic centres in Nepal, India and Tibet, at the same institution.

Research Interest

Markus Viehbeck research interests lie within the field of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, forms and practices of debate in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, and, more generally, migration and contention of knowledge. In a new project he studies the Eastern Himalayas, in particular the town of Kalimpong, as a "contact zone" for enabling and shaping the production of knowledge between Tibet and the modern world of the early 20th century.