Professor Neil Bermel, Professor of Slavonic Languages and Linguistics at the University of Sheffield, has been awarded the Josef Dobrovský Honorary Medal for Merit in the Philological and Philosophical Sciences.
Awarded by the Czech Academy of Sciences, the medal recognises outstanding contributions to the social sciences, particularly in areas including linguistics, literary history and art studies. It is named after Josef Dobrovský, a major European scholar whose work helped shape the study of Czech, Old Slavonic and other Slavonic languages.
Professor Bermel’s research focuses on Czech, Russian and Slavonic linguistics, with particular expertise in grammatical variation, language regulation and planning, multilingual interaction, and language management. His work has contributed to international understanding of how languages are used, regulated and understood across different contexts.
Alongside his academic research, Professor Bermel has translated several works of contemporary Czech literature, including novels by Pavel Kohout, short stories by Daniela Fischerová, and Helga’s Diary, the autobiographical account of Holocaust survivor Helga Weiss.
The award recognises Professor Bermel’s longstanding contribution to Slavonic studies, Czech linguistics and the international study of language and culture.
