Strategic Advisory Board

Ass.-Prof. Matthew Pelowski, PhD

Ass.-Prof. Matthew Pelowski, PhD

Matthew Pelowski is currently assistant professor of Psychology in Cognitive and Neuroaesthetics at the Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology and the Vienna Cognitive Science Hub. His academic work is specifically focused on the topic of empirical study of profound art and museum experience. He developed the first theoretical model of transformative art experiences (Pelowski & Akiba, 2011), extending from Prof. Leder’s earlier work, and has since refined this in a major new update, leading to the main theoretical model and empirical behavioral measures (Pelowski, Leder et al., 2017) which will serve as the basis for this project’s empirical WPs. He has published over 40 papers in leading journals, including important empirical studies of art experiences in museums throughout Japan, North America, and Europe. He has also published major reviews on best practice in museum study (Pelowski et al., 2017) and pioneering work detailing new behavioral and physiological methods for documenting and uncovering ecologically-valid, museum art experience. He also spearheaded the empirical studies and research collaborations employing Network modelling and latent class analysis for data- driven methods of quantifying varieties of art experience, and co-developed and has been running the Archive of Art Experiences Project which will also be extended in the present program.

He has further worked to expand his repertoire to investigations of art and the brain, first as a postdoc at the Nagoya University, Laboratory of Cognitive Informatics, one of the first laboratories to utilize fNIRS technology, which he applied to art-viewing. He has published multiple empirical and theoretical papers on fNIRS, as well as hyperscanning, and spearheaded (with his collaboration partners) the state-of-the-art analytical approaches which will be employed here. From 2015-2017 he also led a Marie Curie project to integrate causative (tDCS) and brain imaging methods with the study of art. In addition, he has developed projects and papers regarding the relation of art engagement to social factors, empathy, and/or perspective taking, mobile eye and movement tracking in museums. He was recognized with the Baumgarten Award for outstanding contributions by young scientists by the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics (2016). He also has experience in large projects focused on societal challenges-for example assessing social, cultural, and infrastructural factors underlying media and technology use, or factors and solutions for modulating parent decisions to register new-born children in Kenya.

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Helmut Leder

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Helmut Leder

Prof. Leder is one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of empirical aesthetics. He studies human aesthetic experiences, regarding a variety of objects, and contexts, from neurophysiological laboratory studies, to field studies in museum and outdoors. He studies (i) what are the cognitive and emotional mechanisms that determine what we like – and find aesthetically pleasing, (ii) what is the nature of aesthetic experiences, and (iii) what effects has beauty on our perception, feeling, well-being. He uses a broad range of research methods, with a major focus on behavioral measures (evaluations, scales, eye-tracking) and physiology (FacialEMG, EEG, tDCS, Nirs). His work is distinctively interdisciplinary, e.g. including collaborations with art history, the fine arts and biology. With his appointment in 2004 as Professor of General Psychology at University of Vienna, he founded an official research focus (Faculty level) in Empirical Aesthetics, which was the first of its kind, and has a leading role in various areas of empirical aesthetics (faces, design, art, museum studies, emotion). Helmut Leder will also contribute his expertise from acting as Head of Department (from 2004 to 2020), as Speaker of the interdisciplinary research institution Vienna Cognitive Science Hub, and co-founder of the doctoral school CoBeNe. Helmut Leder has published more than 150 peer-reviewed papers, in various fields of empirical aesthetics and visual perception. From 2014 until 2018 he was the president of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics (IAEA) and organized the biannual international Conference of IAEA 2016 in Vienna. In Vienna, fruitful collaborations with the art history department, the University of Applied Arts, and various museums have been consolidated. He was a Founding International Member of the Global Institute of Advanced Studies (GIAS at NYU), International Consultant of the UMA Project (PI Hekkert, TU Delft), and has received several grants (FWF, DFG, WWTF, MC EU; Austrian Ministry, UNIVIE). In 2018 he was a visiting professor at Keio University, Tokyo and a Fellow at the Italian Academy of Advanced Studies in America, at Columbia University, N.Y.

Additional collaborators and human resources

Beyond the project team, the EVA Lab comprises two postdocs, four doctorate students, research assistants and support by a full-time technician, all of whom will contribute. In addition to the EVA Lab, the Department of Basic Psychological Research also includes the Social, Cognitive, and Affective (SCAN) Unit (Lamm), which specializes in neuroimaging and empathy. The project will also be integrated into the Cognitive Science Research Platform, which has a focus of strengthening interdisciplinary research efforts. The project team is also connected to Cultural Psychology (Slunecko), Cognitive Biology (Fitch, Huber, Bugnyar), and has an ongoing research collaboration with Art History (Prof. Rosenberg, Cognitive Research in Art History Lab, University of Vienna). The University provides a full range of project management support services to project staff through the Research Services and Finance Departments, in addition to specific support services e.g. ethics and Open Access.

Corinna Kühnapfel

Corinna Kühnapfel

Corinna Kühnapfel is a PhD candidate in the ARTIS project at the Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology at the University of Vienna.

She has a background in cognitive science and embodied cognition with a focus on empirical aesthetics and neuroaesthetics. In her PhD she investigates the role of the body in the experience and evaluation of art by considering physical engagement, movement patterns, physiological responses and interoception. She is particularly interested in the effect of the special modes of engagement offered by installation art, such as viewer placement, bodily awareness and active exploration and how these create conditions for engaged, insightful, and self-reflective experiences.

She is also a co-founder of EDGE e.V., a non-profit organisation that communicates neuroscientific concepts to the public through workshops and multimedia exhibitions and functions as a network to initiate exchange and collaboration between artists and scientists.

MacKenzie Trupp

MacKenzie Trupp

MacKenzie Trupp is currently a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, studying at the intersection of art and science.

After studying psychology and art history in the United States, she went on to graduate as part of the first MSc cohort of Psychology of the Arts, Neuroaesthetics, and Creativity at Goldsmiths, University of London, with a focus on the role of cardiac interoception in moving aesthetic experiences.

Now based in Vienna, she aims to explore if, how, and why viewing art can enhance wellbeing, and whom can benefit the best from it.

Blanca T. M. Spee

Blanca T. M. Spee

Blanca T. M. Spee is currently a PhD candidate and project team member within the ARTIS project at the Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology at the University of Vienna. In addition, she is a scholar at the Radboud University Medical Center of Expertise for Parkinson & Movement Disorders in the Netherlands. Since 2017 she has also been coordinator at the Vienna Cognitive Science Hub, establishing interdisciplinary research at the University of Vienna. 

She already has many years of experience working in the private sector and her academic training covers business administration with a focus on information technologies, as well as psychology. The focus of her PhD thesis research lies on connecting empirical art research with neuropsychopharmacological approaches. Besides her interest in neuropsychopharmacology and neuroaesthetics, she has a special focus on research in Parkinson’s disease, dementia, and other neurodegenerative disorders approaching art, aesthetics, and creativity. 

To build a theoretical foundation for her research, she aims to discover new approaches that emphasize network-based processing, considering predictive processing frameworks and enactivist perspectives. A main future aim is to use this research for translational health science and creativity-based art therapies.

Draško Boko

Draško Boko

Draško Boko is currently working as ARTIS project manager at the Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology at the University of Vienna.

He obtained his MSc degree in Biology from the University of Zagreb and his PhD degree in Molecular Biology from the University of Vienna.

In addition to his research background, he also has professional experience in managing research projects, as well as in the context of EU institutions.

Dr. Eftychia Stamkou

Dr. Eftychia Stamkou

Dr. Stamkou is currently a tenured assistant professor of Social Psychology at the University of Amsterdam, has been a visiting scholar at Columbia University of New York, and has worked as research consultant to Adidas. She completed her graduate and postgraduate studies with distinction in 2018 (cum laude) and has also obtained a degree in music composition in 2009 (cum laude). Her dissertation was a finalist for two prestigious Best Dissertation Awards in the fields of social and cross-cultural psychology. Her research has been published at the flagship journal of social psychology (i.e., JPSP) and other acknowledged journals (e.g., PSPB, GPIR, JESP).

She has been awarded a competitive doctoral grant (Research Talent Grant, NWO), a Fulbright postdoctoral scholarship, and a total of €238,332 in grant money. She developed and is currently coordinating the Cultural Psychology Master’s at the UvA, where she has an active role in mentoring master’s students.

Her current collaborators include eminent scholars in the fields of social psychology (Prof. Galinsky, Columbia University), cultural psychology (Prof. Gelfand, University of Maryland), and empirical aesthetics (Prof. Leder and Dr. Pelowski, University of Vienna).

Prof. Gerben A. Van Kleef

Prof. Gerben A. Van Kleef

Prof. Gerben A. Van Kleef is currently Chair of the Social Psychology Group of the Psychology Department at the UvA. Between 2012 and 2016 he held an extraordinary professorship of prosocial behavior on behalf of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 2014 he was a visiting professor at Columbia University. Prof. Van Kleef is one of the leading scientists in social psychology, with a wide range of expertise on social power, social hierarchies, leadership, and emotions. He published 112 articles in top-tier journals, including Science (IF=37.2) and Behavioural and Brain Sciences (IF=15.07).

Prof. Van Kleef has also authored a textbook and a popular science book, and his research has been publicized through various mass media outlets (radio, TV, newspapers). His work has been cited more than 11,000 times (h-index: 55) and has attracted much funding (total of ~€2 million) including the prestigious VENI and VIDI research grants. He won numerous awards for his extensive scientific contributions, such as the bi-annual Best Dissertation Award of the International Association for Conflict Management (IACM), the Best Dissertation Award of the Dutch Association for Social Psychology (ASPO), the early career award of the European Association of Social Psychology (EASP), the Most Influential Paper Award of the Academy of Management (AOM), and the Outstanding Book Award of the IACM. Prof. Van Kleef has supervised 4 post- docs and 15 PhD-students. He is the founding director of the Amsterdam Behavioural Insights Lab, a platform that liaises with government and companies seeking science-based solutions for societal challenges, many of which relate to behavioral change. This platform enables a continuous exchange between research and practice.

Rohan Dunham

Rohan Dunham

Rohan Dunham is a PhD candidate in Social Psychology at the University of Amsterdam under the supervision of Dr. Eftychia Stamkou and Prof. Dr. Gerben van Kleef. Before turning to Psychology, he studied classical ballet at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague and was a professional ballet dancer at the Zürich Ballet in Switzerland and then the Dutch National Ballet in The Netherlands.

After his career as a dancer, he read Psychology at the University of Amsterdam where he obtained a BSc. (Hons.) and then a Research MSc. in Social and Work & Organisational Psychology (both awarded cum laude). His interests include the social impact of art, cross-cultural psychology, the psychological impact of social power, and (destructive) leadership.

Yağmur Özbay

Yağmur Özbay

Yağmur Özbay is a PhD candidate in Social Psychology at the University of Amsterdam under the supervision of Dr. Eftychia Stamkou and Dr. Suzanne Oosterwijk. 

She completed her BA degrees in psychology and sociology, with a minor in media and visual arts, at Koc University, Istanbul. After completing her MA studies in cognitive psychology, at the same university, she started her PhD at the UvA.

She is interested in the social ramifications of art, from micro-level effects of art engagement on social-cognitive abilities and its impact on interpersonal attitudes and behavior, to its macro-level implications on sociocultural systems. Currently, she explores if, and how, art engagement can facilitate social-cognitive abilities, and transform interpersonal processes and interactions.

Ljiljana Rogač Mijatović, PhD

Ljiljana Rogač Mijatović, PhD

Ljiljana Rogač Mijatović, PhD, Senior Research Associate at Faculty of Dramatic Arts, lecturer at master studies UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy and Management, and lecturer at PhD studies of the University of Arts in Belgrade. The core fields of her expertise include: international cultural relations and intercultural communication, cultural diplomacy, cultural policy, and cultural identity. She has gained an extensive experience in the public sector, working for cultural institutions, festivals, as well as in tourism. Her book "Cultural diplomacy and the identity of Serbia" is a pioneering study in the field. She is a member of the several international research projects: COST IS 1007 Investigating Cultural Sustainability, COST IS 1308 Populist Political Communication in Europe, COST IS1203 In search of transcultural memory in Europe; COST IS 1307 New Materialism: Networking European Scholarship on 'How Matter Comes to Matter', COST CA 16213 New Exploratory phase on research on East European Cultures of Dissent, Erasmus+ BEOPEN Boosting Engagement of Serbian Universities in Open Science.

Katrin Heimann, PhD

Katrin Heimann, PhD

Dr. Heimann, alumni of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation, conducted her PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Parma, Italy, as fellow of the integrated Marie-Curie ITN program TESIS (Towards an Embodied Science of InterSubjectivity). Her thesis focused on neurological responses to different elements of film style and the implications of these for spectators’ experiences. She was recruited by Aarhus University right after her PhD, became European based fellow at the Einstein Group "Consciousness, Emotions, Values" in Berlin in 2017 and is currently Assistant Professor at the Interacting Minds Centre. Here she is working with three thematical foci: art and media-experiences, with a continuous special interest on film and other (audio-)visual media, the experience of playfulness as an embodied state of mind as well as the experience of care and indifference regarding social and environmental injustice as a potential way to behavioral change.

Methodologically, she combines behavioral and physiological measurements as well as third person observational data with qualitative interview data that is acquired using micro-phenomenology - a guided introspection method designed to assess subjective experience. She is Associate Editor of Frontiers in Psychology, Section Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology.

Prof. Ulf Aminde

Prof. Ulf Aminde

Prof. Aminde is an artist, filmmaker and teaching activist. He is professor for Time Based Arts at the Weissensee academy of Art, Berlin in the Foundation Year department. There he initiated the *foundationClass for newcomers who want to start their studies at an art academy. In Cologne he will develop a film-based (and by using Augmented Reality also participative) monument in memory of the racist attacks by the terrorist NSU network in Probsteigasse and Keupstrasse. In his cinematic work he deals with the potential of self-empowerment through the performative camera, alienating effects in the documentary, and strategies of subjectivation. In doing so, he roams through categories of standardization, norms and questions social concepts such as discrimination and exclusion of minorities. His film works are mostly characterized by collaborations and experimental settings. He studied at Universität der Künste, Berlin with Lothar Baumgarten, where he graduated in 2004.

Prof. Christine Goutrié

Prof. Christine Goutrié

Prof. Goutrié is a professor at the Weissensee School of Art and Design in Berlin since 2013 and teaches digital media in the foundation year for students of all degree programs. With her background in computer science, HCI, and interaction design she teaches with great enthusiasm first year students the basic concepts of digital media and encourages them to leave behind all their fears and skepticism towards coding. Her approach to establish inclusive spaces for all students with different experiences and backgrounds always integrates the political and socio-cultural dimension into her teaching of digital and online media. 2000 she became a professor at the University of Magdeburg-Stendal and established the new field of interaction design there. She developed and supervised several design programs, e.g. an online master’s program Cross Media which integrates interaction design, management and journalism as the core fields and uses a wide variety of online teaching methods. 2005/06 she was a guest professor at the UC Berkeley, USA at the Center of Information Technology in the Interest of Society and worked at the Berkeley Design Institute as well as at the computer science department. She was part of the interdisciplinary team of computer scientists and artists of the tele-immersion lab of Ruzena Bajcsi.

Dr. Sarah Hegenbart

Dr. Sarah Hegenbart

Dr. Sarah Hegenbart is lecturer in art history at Technical University in Munich and is currently acting as a substitute for the professorship of art research with a focus on contemporary arts at the Braunschweig University of Art (HBK Braunschweig). Prior to this, she was a fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg in Greifswald, where she pursued the research project “Diagnosing post-truth politics: Dialogical art and Black aesthetics”. Sarah is a member of Die Junge Akademie Mainz and member of the consortium of the Horizon 2020 research project “Art and Research on Transformations of Individuals and Societies”. Sarah completed a PhD on Christoph Schlingensief’s Opera Village Africa in Burkina Faso at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, an M.St. in Ancient Philosophy at the University of Oxford, and a Magister in Philosophy and History of Art at the Humboldt University of Berlin.