Birkbeck psychologist elected to German National Academy of Science
Professor Martin Eimer has been elected a member of the Leopoldina
Professor Martin Eimer, of Birkbeck’s Department of Psychological Sciences, has been elected a member of the Leopoldina, the German National Academy of Science and equivalent to the Royal Society.
Election to the Leopoldina, the oldest continuously existing academy of medicine and the natural sciences in the world, is the highest academic honour awarded by an institution in Germany. Its membership of 1,400 distinguished scholars is drawn from 30 countries and past members have included such eminent scientists as Marie Curie, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Max Planck. Professor Eimer’s election is in recognition of his work on perception, attention and the control of action in Birkbeck’s Brain and Behaviour Lab.
Professor Eimer said: “I am delighted to have been awarded this honour and to have been elected a member of such an august institution. While I did my first degree and PhD in Germany, most of my research career has been here in the UK, so it is very pleasing to have had this recognition from my country of origin.
“This honour is also an acknowledgement of the leading role the Brain and Behaviour Lab plays in the fields of experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Being housed in Birkbeck’s Henry Wellcome Building also means that, along with the Baby Lab team, my colleagues and I have access to the best equipment and can work in the best possible environment for our research.”
Professor Eimer and the Brain and Behaviour Lab’s main areas of research are the brain mechanisms of selective attention; the integration of information across the senses; the links between perception and action; face perception and the condition of ‘face blindness’ or prosopagnosia, which was recently awarded major funding by the Economic and Social Research Council.
Professor Mike Oaksford, Head of the Department of Psychological Sciences, said: “This is a very great honour for Martin, the department and Birkbeck. It follows the recent awards to Martin and his departmental colleague Matt Longo from the Experimental Psychology Society and further confirms the leading research being carried out in the department.”