Afsaneh Gächter, born 1965 in Tehran, Iran. Disciplines studied at the University of Vienna: Ethnology, Sociology and History. Doctoral studies at the University of Vienna, Department of Sociology in 2003. Thesis: “The Circulation of Elites in Transition Societies – A Sociological Case Study in Iran.” Since 2007 Researcher at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Iranian Studies. Current project: Transfer of Knowledge and Culture between Austria and Iran: The Austrian Physician and Ethnographer Jacob Eduard Polak (1818-1891). Since summer term 2011 Lecturer at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Department of Iranian Studies.