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I started my academic life in 2003, as a Research Assistant at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL, with Patrick Haggard, examining visual-tactile integration mechanisms. I subsequently undertook my PhD with Cecilia Heyes to ask about the role of domain general associative learning processes in visual-motor integration. My doctoral work was followed by three fellowships. The first, based again with Celia, the second, based with Martin Eimer, and the final with James Kilner and Karl Friston. Here I asked a variety of questions about sensorimotor interactions, usually concerning their role in social processes. I took up my first faculty position at the University of Reading in 2010, before moving to Birkbeck in 2012. In 2024 I moved to UCL, where I am a PI at both the Department of Experimental Psychology and Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging. I am head of the Action and Perception Lab, where we ask a variety of questions concerning how action and perception mechanisms operate together to allow us to control our actions and perceive our world.
Emma Ward (Postdoctoral researcher)
I joined the lab in December 2021 as a postdoc, and I am specifically interested in working together with Prof Clare Press to ask how people distinguish between incoming sensory information that is a useful basis for forming future expectations and incoming sensory information that is irrelevant or unreliable. For my PhD I studied this process in autism, at the Donders Institute in Nijmegen, supervised by Prof Sabine Hunnius and Prof Jan Buitelaar. sites.google.com/view/emma-k-ward
Quirin Gehmacher (Postdoctoral researcher)
In 2023, I completed my PhD in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Salzburg under the supervision of Prof. Nathan Weisz. My research focuses on auditory perception and active sensing with a special interest in how the oculomotor system is linked to – and potentially links – auditory and visual processing. Afterwards, I joined Prof. Clare Press and her Action and Perception Lab as a Postdoctoral Researcher in late 2023 to investigate sampling routines as a Bayesian learning account.
Abbie Bradshaw (Postdoctoral researcher)
I completed my BA and DPhil in Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford. I then completed my post-doc at UCL, investigating the effects of sensorimotor interactions on speech production. I currently hold a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, studying the neural computations underlying predictive processes during speech production and perception. This project involves collaboration with Prof Clare Press and Dr Matt Davis.
Nicholas Simpson (PhD student)
I completed an MEng in Biomedical Engineering at Imperial College London focussing on computational neuroscience, modelling, and medical imaging. Now, I am a PhD student investigating the perceptual prediction paradox under the supervision of Clare Press.
Aaron Kaltenmaier (PhD student)
I completed an MRes in Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London investigating the distinct roles of different kinds of visual expectations. In my PhD with Clare, we are focusing on the role of learning in shaping perceptual sampling rhythms. We are doing so in collaboration with Matt Davis and Peter Kok.
Jessye Clarke (PhD Student)
I completed a BA and Msci in Philosophy and Natural Sciences respectively at the University of Cambridge in 2022. After this, I completed an MSc in Neuroscience at the LMU in Munich under a DAAD scholarship, focussing on the neural correlates of conscious visual perception. Now, I am an incoming PhD student under the supervision of Professor Clare Press.
Richard O'Farrell (PhD student)
I completed my MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL, where I investigated how we decide to ‘offload’ or store intentional information in our environment with Sam Gilbert. After a brief Research Assistant role in University of Sussex, I then joined the MetaLab in 2024 as a PhD student examining the timescale of conscious perception – specifically, what the temporal resolution of awareness can tell us about its function. My PhD is supervised by Steve Fleming and co-supervised by Clare Press.
Rob O'Mara (Research Assistant)
I have worked as a data scientist for 10 years and completed my MSc at Birkbeck in 2023. Currently, I am working on a modelling project with the Action and Perception lab to ask how we come to learn about the volatility of our environment, and its impact on perception.
Kirsten Rittershofer (Research Assistant)
I have previously completed my BSc in Cognitive Science at the University of Osnabrück and my MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience at Radboud University, Nijmegen. Currently, I am just completing a PhD under the supervision of Clare Press and Peter Kok, examining how perception is shaped by expectations, and employed as a Research Assistant.
Joseph Catling (MSc Student)
I completed a BSc in neuroscience as part of my medical degree at UCL, working with John O’Keefe on spatial navigation. After an additional year working in the O’Keefe lab as a research assistant, I started studying on the Brain and Mind Sciences MSc. I have joined the Action and Perception lab this year to complete the research component of the degree, asking how visual rhythms determine oscillatory processing.
Gil Kfir (MSc Student)
I completed my dual bachelor's degree in Psychology and Business Administration in 2022. I then joined my family’s consulting firm and spent two years facilitating change management and conflict resolution workshops and retreats. I joined UCL to pursue my dual master’s degree in Brain & Mind Sciences to gain a deeper insight into what drives human behavior and change. I joined the Action and Perception Lab to investigate the role the motor and respiratory systems play in brain oscillatory activity and perception.
Spencer Lee (MSc Student)
I am currently pursuing an MSc in Neuroscience at UCL. I am currently investigating the impact of stimuli expectation on VTA-RN connectivity under the supervision of Professor Clare Press and Nick Simpson.
Collaborators
(a) Cristina Becchio, IIT, Italy.
(b) Jennifer Cook, University of Birmingham.
(c) Richard Cook, Birkbeck, University of London.
(d) Floris de Lange, Donders Institute, Netherlands.
(e) Martin Eimer, Birkbeck, University of London.
(f) Richard Ivry, Berkeley, United States.
(g) Peter Kok, Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL.
(h) Daniel Yon, Birkbeck, University of London.
Alumni (selection)
James Chard (2015 – 2024). https://www.facebook.com/james.chard.940. James was a part time PhD student in the group, who undertook his PhD alongside employment as a lawyer, and working as the Councillor for Twickenham Riverside and the Deputy Mayor of Richmond Upon Thames. He continues to work as a lawyer and councillor and to collaborate with the lab.
Daniel Yon (2013 – 2019). https://psyc.bbk.ac.uk/uncertainty/. Daniel undertook his MSc and PhD with us on a 1+3 ESRC studentship, followed by a postdoctoral position on a Leverhulme funded project. He subsequently took up a lectureship at Goldsmiths, before becoming faculty at Birkbeck in 2021.
Rosanna Edey (2013 – 2018). https://uk.linkedin.com/in/dr-rosy-edey-29145154. Rosy undertook her PhD as a graduate teaching assistant, followed by working with us on a Wellcome Trust ISSF fellowship. She is now a Senior Consultant Data Scientist at Deloitte.
Matan Mazor (2021 – 2023). https://www.asc.ox.ac.uk/person/dr-matan-mazor. Matan did his PhD at UCL with Steve Fleming and Karl Friston before working in our group, funded by the ERC consolidator project. He is now working at the University of Oxford on a 5-year All Souls Fellowship.
Emily Thomas (2017 – 2021). https://med.nyu.edu/helab/lab-members. Emily undertook her PhD on a Leverhulme funded project and subsequently moved to a postdoctoral position at New York University with Biyu Jade He.
Carl Bunce (2017 – 2022). https://pure.york.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/carl-james-bunce. Carl was a research assistant on a Wellcome Trust funded project, and subsequently undertook his PhD with Rich Cook at Birkbeck (Clare as secondary supervisor). He is now a postdoctoral researcher with Harriet Over at the University of York.
Eva Berlot (2013). https://www.predictivebrainlab.com/people-details/eva-berlot/. Eva worked with us on a Wellcome Trust summer studentship before undertaking a PhD with Joern Diedrichsen (Western, Canada) and subsequently a Marie Curie fellowship with Floris de Lange (Donders, Netherlands; ongoing).
Michel-Pierre Coll (2013). https://www.cirris.ulaval.ca/en/researchers/michel-pierre-coll/. Michel-Pierre was a visiting PhD student from the Universite of Laval. He subsequently undertook a fellowship at the University of Oxford with Geoff Bird and is now faculty back at Laval.
