Urgeschichte und Naturwissenschaftliche Archäologie

PD Dr. Manuel Will

Address:

Universität Tübingen
Ältere Urgeschichte und Quartärökologie
Burgsteige 11
72070 Tübingen

Office: Room 106, Schloss Hohentübingen

 +49-(0)7071-29-74993
manuel.willspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de

Office hours:
by arrangement

 

Current position

Lecturer (Akademischer Rat a. Z.)

Current research

Active Research Projects

2023 - 2025Co-Principal Investigator, Fritz Thyssen Foundation “Investigating the relationship between human behavioral change and environmental conditions during the Late Pleistocene in the interior of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa”, with Dr. G. Bader (Ref 10.23.2.005AA)
2022 - 2025                  Principal Investigator, DFG project “Landscape use, niche construction and cultural evolution of early Homo sapiens in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa” WI 4978/3-1
Since 2020Co-Principal Investigator, “The Paleolithic settlement of the Ermstal Valley (Swabian Jura), Germany”, with Dr. G. Bader.
2018 – 2022Co-Principal Investigator, DFG project “Dynamics of subsistence and technology before and during the Still Bay at Sibudu, South Africa” with Prof. N. Conard; CO 226/34-1/WI 4978/1-1
Since 2018Co-Principal Investigator, Scientific network “Comparative Analyses of Middle Stone Age Artefacts in Africa (CoMSAfrica)”, with Prof. C. Tryon; Consortium of 12 international scholars on comparative lithic analyses
Since 2017Project Collaborator, Lithic analyst, “The evolution of landscape use among modern humans”, ARC project, Director Dr. A. Mackay

Editorial services

Associate Editor 

      Journal of Archaeological Sciences: Reports (since 04/2019)

University education

2023

Habilitation in Prehistoric Archaeology & Paleoanthropology,

University of Tübingen

2012 - 2016

Doctoral studies in Prehistoric Archaeology

University of Tübingen

2011 - 2012

Master of Philosophy in Human Evolutionary Studies

University of Cambridge                 
2008 - 2011

Bachelor of Arts in Prehistoric Archaeology and Paleoanthropology                                

University of Tübingen

Previous employment

2016 - 2018

Junior Research Fellow (Archaeology & Anthropology)

Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge

2013 - 2016 Coordinator of studies and teaching, B.Sc. and M.Sc.
"Archaeological Sciences" (University of Tübingen)

Publications (Books)

Publications (Edited volumes)

Publications (Articles & Book chapters)

Publications (abstracts)

Podium presentations

Poster presentations

Grants & 3rd-Party Funding

2023-2025 “Investigating the relationship between human behavioral change and environmental conditions during the Late Pleistocene in the interior of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa”, with Dr. G. Bader (120,000 Euro)
2022–2024 DFG project “Landscape use, niche construction and cultural evolution of early Homo sapiens in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa” WI 4978/3-1 (172,270 Euro)
2019

Fonds National Suisse (SNF), “Comparative Analyses of Middle Stone Age Artefacts in Africa (CoMSAfrica)”, with Dr. K. Douze (18,960 CHF)

2018–2020

DFG project “Dynamics of subsistence and technology before and during the Still Bay at Sibudu, South Africa” with Prof. N. Conard; CO 226/34-1/WI 4978/1-1 (495,350 Euro)

2018

Accelerator Workshop, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University (USA), “Comparative Analyses of Middle Stone Age Artefacts in Africa (CoMSAfrica)”, with Prof. C. Tryon (20,000 $)

2015

Travel grant awarded by the German National Academic Foundation (420 Euro)

2015 Travel grant awarded by the Universitätsbund Tübingen e. V. (300 Euro)
2014

Travel grant awarded by the Pan-African Archaeological Association of Prehistory and Related Studies (1,500 Euro)

2013 Travel grant awarded by the Universitätsbund Tübingen e. V. (500 Euro)
2012

Travel grant awarded by Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (620 Euro)

2012

Travel grant awarded by Homerton College, University of Cambridge (150 Pound Sterling)

2012 Travel grant awarded by the Paleoanthropology Society (500 US Dollar)
2011

Research grant awarded by the Heidelberg Academy of      Sciences and Humanities for the conduction of lithic analyses at the University of Cape Town, South Africa (1000 Euro)

Scholarships and Prizes

2017 Dissertation prize of the University of Tübingen (500 Euro)
2017

Prize for best dissertation in the Division of Geosciences (University of Tübingen)

2016–2020

Junior Research Fellowship (4-year) at Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge UK (ca. 88,000 Pound Sterling)

2014–2016

Doctoral Dissertation Scholarship of the ‘Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes’ (German National Academic Foundation) (36,600 Euro)

 

Teaching and supervision

University of Tübingen (Germany)

Supervision:

University of Cambridge (UK)

Academic service

Reviewer for the following journals and book series (33x journals, 76x reviews)
African Archaeological Review, Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, BMC Ecology and Evolution, Cambridge Archaeological Journal, Current Anthropology, Evolutionary Anthropology, Evolution and Human Behavior, Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Journal of African Archaeology, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, Journal of Archaeological Science, Journal of Human Evolution, Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology, Journal of Quaternary Science, Lithic Technology, Nature, Nature Communications, PaleoAnthropology, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, PLOS One, Proceedings of the Seminar of Arabian Studies, Quaternary International, Quaternary Science Reviews, Quaternary Science Advances, Science, Science Advances, Scientific Reports, Science China: Earth Sciences, South African Archaeological Bulletin, South African Journal of Science, Springer Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series, The Anatomical Record.

Grant reviews (12x reviews)
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG); National Science Foundation (NSF; USA), National Research Foundation (NRF; South Africa), Israel Science Foundation (ISF), Leakey Foundation (USA), National Science Centre (NCN; Poland), Czech Science Foundation (GACR), Italian Ministry for universities and research (MUR; Italy), Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF; Switzerland)

Committees & Panels

2021

PhD defense committee of Dr. Marco. A. Vidal Cordasco (Universidad de Burgos), PhD Program: Evolución Humana, Paleoecología del Cuaternario y Técnicas Geofísicas aplicadas a la Investigación (Interuniversitario)

since 2021

Expert Evaluator for EU Horizon postdoctoral research fellowship program “Shaping European Research Leaders for Marine Sustainability” (SEAS), University of Bergen

since 2020Study commission of Archaeological Sciences (BA; MSc) and Paleoanthropology (BA), University of Tübingen
since 2018Committee member (5x) of the German National Academic Foundation for admission of pupils and students

Workshop attendance and organization

Professional memberships

Since 2022 Vertrauensdozent of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes
2016-2020 Fellow of The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge
Since 2017  Cultural Evolution Society
Since 2017 Member of the Institute of Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen
Since 2013 South African Archaeological Society
Since 2012 European Society for the Study of Human Evolution
Since 2010 Gesellschaft für Urgeschichte e.V.

 

Language skills

Additional qualifications