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Department of Psychology

The Department is pleased to welcome two new members of academic staff for the start of the academic year. 

Professor Zoe Kourtzi

An expert in imaging neural processes of the human brain, Professor Zoe Kourtzi has been Chair in Brain Imaging at the University of Birmingham since 2005, and joins the Department as Professor of Experimental Psychology.

Combining multimodal brain imaging methods such as structural and functional MRI, EEG, and MEG, established behavioural paradigms from cognitive psychology, and mathematical algorithms, Professor Kourtzi seeks to understand the links between brain structure, neural function and behaviour. Her work focuses on the role of learning and experience in enabling humans of all ages to translate sensory experience into adaptive behaviours. Professor Kourtzi's research is elucidating our understanding of disorders of the nervous system, and laying the foundation for the development of treatments for, and prevention of, nervous system disorders.

Professor Kourtzi sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Vision, and is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Neurophysiology and Frontiers.

Dr Andrew Welchman

Dr Andrew Welchman is a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow in Basic Biomedical Science and joins the Department having previously been Reader in Sensory Neuroscience at the University of Birmingham.

The research interests of Dr Welchman encompass 3D vision, multisensory perception and Bayesian modelling.  Dr Welchman's research methodology brings together behavioural, movement recording and brain imaging techniques. His work seeks to understand the nature of the sensory information and how it is represented and used to provide the basis for perceptual decisions and the control of movements.

The arrival of Professor Kourtzi and Dr Welchman will lead to new research collaborations and add further depth to the world-leading psychological and neuroscientific research conducted in the Department.