Sam Schwarzkopf

The overarching theme of my research is to understand how we perceive the world around us. Predominantly my lab studies the visual sense, although I have a strong interest in all the senses. Understanding perceptual processing can tell us about how the brain works. This is important for understanding how this processing can differ, for example in neurological illness or psychiatric conditions.

I studied neuroscience at Cardiff University, Wales, where I also did my PhD on how the visual brain changes during early life. Subsequently, I briefly worked as a postdoc at the University of Birmingham, England, where I became a cognitive neuroscientist. In 2008, I moved to UCL to join the lab of Geraint Rees at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging (the “FIL”) and the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience (ICN). In 2012, I was awarded a ERC Starting Grant to support my research and set up my own lab in UCL. Finally, in 2017 I moved to Aotearoa New Zealand to the School of Optometry and Vision Science at the University of Auckland, where I am now the Associate Head Research.