The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is awarding this year's prestigious Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Prize to the Italian German scholar Ermenegildo Bidese. The prize is endowed with 10,000 euros and includes a research stay in Germany. The Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Advancement Award, which has honoured young academics in German studies since 2011, goes to Sophie Picard from France. In addition to a research stay in Germany, she receives prize money of 3,000 euros.

"We would like to congratulate Professor Ermenegildo Bidese and Sophie Picard on winning this year's Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Prizes. Their outstanding achievements in the field of German studies deserve great recognition. With their research work and their commitment to German-speaking minorities in northern Italy and to Franco-German friendship, they have enriched the European academic landscape. We are therefore proud to be able to present them with these awards and wish them both continued success in their academic careers," said DAAD President Prof Dr Joybrato Mukherjee. 

Professor Dr Ermenegildo Bidese works at the University of Trento and is a renowned syntax researcher. He is recognised worldwide for his research into language contact and language change and also specialises in German-speaking minorities in northern Italy. His publications include several monographs in German and English on linguistics and philosophy as well as publications on the teaching of German as a foreign language. In addition to his academic work, the doctor of philosophy is involved in numerous activities for minorities in Italy. 

Dr Sophie Picard works at the University of Aix-Marseille and is a specialist in classics and canon research as well as in questions of the reception of literature and art. She holds a PhD in German and Comparative Literature from the University of Sorbonne and the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena. She received the 2021 Dissertation Prize of the Franco-German University for her doctoral thesis. In addition to her research achievements, she is characterised by her great pedagogical commitment to teaching, for which she was awarded the University of Jena Teaching Prize in 2017.

Background

With the Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Prizes, the DAAD honours foreign academics who, in addition to their academic achievements, are particularly committed to international cooperation in the fields of German Studies and German as a Foreign Language. The DAAD's German Studies Advisory Council, which advises the DAAD on all matters relating to the promotion of German studies and German at universities, decides on the awarding of the prizes. The Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Prizes are funded by the Federal Foreign Office. 

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Award ceremony and press service

The prizes will be presented on 28 September at 6.30 p.m. as part of the German Studies Meeting Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands in Strasbourg. The award ceremony will take place at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. 

Journalists are cordially invited to attend the award ceremony. The award winners will be available for interviews in advance. Please register by 24 September by sending an e-mail to presse at daad.de.

Further information

Previous winners of the Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Prizes (in German)