Professor Martin Eimer elected as Fellow of the British Academy
Psychology professor honoured for outstanding contribution to research
Birkbeck professor of psychology, Martin Eimer, has been elected a Fellow of the British Academy (BA) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to research – an honour bestowed on distinguished UK-based humanities or social sciences scholars.
Professor Eimer’s fellowship was announced today (15 July) by the BA – the UK's national academy for the promotion of the humanities and social sciences – following its 2016 annual general meeting. He is among an elite cohort of only 42 academics to have been elected for the prestigious fellowship in 2016.
Professor Eimer leads the Brain and Behaviour Lab at the Department for Psychological Sciences, where he and his team investigate the cognitive and neural mechanisms of visual attention and working memory, and study face perception and recognition and their impairment in prosopagnosia (face blindness).
He was responsible for organising the past three research assessment exercises (Research Assessment Exercise (RA) and Research Excellence Framework (REF)) for the Department, and also served on the College Steering Groups for the most recent assessments in 2008 and 2014. In the most recent exercise, REF 2014, 60% of the Department's work was rated in the highest category 4*, defined as ‘world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour’.
Professor Eimer said he was delighted to have been elected as a Fellow of the British Academy.
He added: “This is a great honour not just for me, but also another acknowledgement of the research excellence of the Department of Psychological Sciences at Birkbeck, which was ranked among the top five UK Psychology/Neuroscience departments in the REF2014.
“My team and I could not have conducted our work without the fantastic research infrastructure provided by the department and the College, and without the help and support of our excellent colleagues.”
Other past and present Birkbeck academics to have been elected Fellows of the British Academy in recent years include:
- Isobel Armstrong, Emeritus Professor of English
- Ian Christie, Anniversary Professor of Film and Media History
- Eric Hobsbawm, Professor Emeritus of Economic and Social History and President of the College
- Michael Hunter, Emeritus Professor of History
- Joni Lovenduski, Anniversary Professor of Politics
- Annette Karmiloff-Smith, Professorial Research Fellow, Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development
- Laura Mulvey, Professor of Film and Visual Media
- Jacqueline Rose, Professor of Humanities
- Joanna Bourke, Professor of History
- Dame Marina Warner, Professor of English and Creative Writing
Find out more:
- Professor Martin Eimer
- The British Academy
- Birbeck’s strong performance in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework
- About the British Academy Fellowship election process