Tom is a cognitive scientist with a background in computer science and cybernetics. He works in the areas of artificial life, human-computer interaction, agent-based modeling, and philosophy of mind. He coordinates the Embodied Cognitive Science Unit, and is Editor-in-Chief of Adaptive Behavior.

Kaori helps us to run this unit smoothly. She manages our equipment purchases, travel and visits, workshops, and supports us in all of our activities. Please contact her with any requests you may have.

Mark's has a PhD in the philosophy of embodied cognitive science, a MA in philosophy and a BA in philosophy and psychology. His PhD work was focused on how culture is reproduced through embodied social interaction. Mark's postdoctoral efforts will focus on questions of wellbeing in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, exploring the intersection between embodied cognitive science, design and digital technologies.

Finda has a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, M.Sc. in Biology of Human Performance and Health, and B.Sc. in Biology. She has a research background in Brain-Computer Interface, neurofeedback, and hyperscanning recording, and mostly worked around EEG. She joined the group to take part in the perceptual crossing hyperscanning EEG experiment and analyses.

Leonardo has a PhD in medicine, as well as a medical degree. He works in the perceptual crossing experiment project and is interested in the statistical modelling and the dynamics of dyadic embodied interactions.

Stephen has a BSc in biomedical engineering and MEng in mechanical engineering. He has industry experience in reverse engineering. In this unit he will apply his mechanical engineering skills to support work with robotics and human-computer interfaces.

Brian served for 20 years in the U.S. Air Force as an Aircraft Electrical and Environmental Systems Specialist before pursuing a BSc in Psychology. With a growing interest in embodied cognition, he joined the unit which aligns with his passions and now works as Lead Technician. Looking ahead, Brian will play a key role in coordinating unit projects with an excellent group of team members.

Tae is a certified medical translator. She supports the unit with ethics applications, participant recruitment, data collection and administration matters.

Chen Lam has a BSc in Biomedical Sciences and MSc in Computational Neuroscience and Neuroinformatics. His interests lie in multi-agent social interaction, non-representational theories of cognition and neurolinguistics. In this unit, he studies interpersonal synchrony using mathematical modelling and experimental approaches.

Ivan has a Bachelor's in Neurobiology and a Master's in Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology. During his rotation he will be setting up an evolutionary robotics environment to test the role of bodily degrees of freedom on the degrees of freedom of neural activity.

Natalya has a BSc in chemistry and MSc in theoretical chemistry. During her rotation she used network analysis to characterize active learning environments. In this unit she is studying the fundamental principles of learning and its relationship to emergent creativity in complex adaptive systems through computational modeling.

Shannon has a Bachelor's in Art, Psychology, and Neuroscience. Currently, Shannon is interested in cognition, especially ways to improve cognition, and comparative studies. During rotation Shannon will be participating in the Video Interactions project to study realtime social interactions.

Kazuma has a BSc and MSc in computer science. His interest is “Self-Dynamics” in the human-computer integration experience. He works on this topic through the demonstration and the psychophysical/cognitive experiment. He is not only a Ph.D. student at OIST, but also he is a Research Assistant of SonyCSL and a Visiting Researcher of Keio Media Design. He approaches his theme from various perspectives and aspires to work across disciplines.

Georgii has a combined BSc and MSc in theoretical astrophysics. Currently, his interests in intersection of astrobiology and artificial life.

Kensei obtained Bachelor’s in Engineering (Material Science) in 2020. His previous work was focused on developing autonomous robots and molecular computers using DNA as building blocks. After enrollment of OIST, his interest shifted to evolution of animal sociality and collective behavior. Under co-supervision by Dr.Tom Froese, Kensei is now studying macroscopic trends in social evolution of animals, exploring the relationship between brain development and animal behavior.

Iga has a B. A and is finishing a M.A. in Cognitive Science. She has a research background in network neuroscience and psychedelic studies. As she is also interested in Far East Asian culture, her goal is to combine her interests with cognitive science background while studying Zen koans from the irruption theory perspective. During her internship, she will also learn about EEG experiments.

Ani has almost six years of experience in psychological research at the "Personality and Social Context" research laboratory at Yerevan State University. She holds a Master's degree in Personality Psychology and Counselling, as well as a Bachelor's degree in Psychology. Her studies focus on personality traits, subjective well-being, value orientations, social norms, and psychometrics, including adapting and developing questionnaires in the Armenian language. Her strong interest in investigating Human Agency has led her to the Unit, where she will also contribute to studies related to Personality Psychology.

Alberto has a BSc and MSc in Theoretical Physics. His interests revolve around applying methods of Information Theory and Complexity Science to neural data, focusing on the relations between consciousness and brain dynamics. In this Unit, Alberto works on testing irruption and absorption hypotheses by studying neural complexity and integration.