Prof. Dr. Swati Acharya from Savitribai Phule Pune University was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit at the German Embassy in New Delhi on 12 May 2026.

Dr. Swati Acharya is a distinguished scholar of German Studies and former Head of the Department of Foreign Languages at Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), with over 27 years of teaching and research experience. Over the course of her career, she received several prestigious DAAD fellowships and was awarded a research fellowship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, conducting research at the University of Tübingen and Freie Universität Berlin (FUB).

In 2024, she was elected to the German Academy for Language and Literature (Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung), making her the first and so far only Indian woman to receive this honor. In addition, in 2024 she was appointed Science Ambassador of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and President of the Goethe Society of India (GSI).

She is a member of the academic advisory board of the Friedrich Schlegel Graduate School at Freie Universität Berlin and has been instrumental in supporting and promoting academic exchange between SPPU and FUB.

On behalf of Freie Universität Berlin, the India & South Asia Office extends its congratulations on this honor and is proud to continue its association with Dr. Acharya.