In The News

Within the span of one week, RuCCS Director John McGann was mentioned and cited in two New York Times and New Yorker articles on the topic of sense of smell! One feature article in the NYT, "What Can Covid-19 Teach Us About the Mysteries of Smell?" quotes McGann's research on the myth of poor sense of smell in humans via his 2017 paper, "Poor human olfaction is a 19th-century myth." The other New Yorker article, "How to Make Sense of Scents," refers to this same paper and even dubs it a...

Congratulations to RuCCS alumna Malihe Alikhani on receiving a Google exploreCSR Grant! The grant will be used to encourage computing research among underrepresented groups. Alikhani is is now an Assistant Professor at the School of Computing and Information at the University of Pittsburgh. She states, "We will hold workshops and mentoring sessions to empower students to create technologies that best serve their communities and help them succeed in research and graduate studies by fostering an...

Graduate Certificate Student Carolina Flores' paper "Delusional Evidence-Responsiveness" is forthcoming in an edition of the scholarly paper Synthese. In the paper, Flores argues that delusions are evidence-responsive and looks at consequences for long-standing debates on the nature of delusions and at ethical and treatment implications. Flores notes, "Though delusions may seem like a niche topic, I hope that some of what I say here is helpful for thinking about conspiracy theories,...

Cognitive Science graduate student Keith Perkins was selected for the prestigious Neuroscience Scholars Program (NSP) ran by the Society for Neuroscience. Perkins was selected as one of 18 total Fellows nationwide. The NSP is a fellowship for underrepresented and diverse graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in neuroscience which provides resources focused on "career advancement issues, the research process, and cutting-edge scientific content." For more on the program visit the site here.

Dr. Elizabeth Torres, Professor in the Psychology Department and RuCCS, has been personally honored by a Joint Resolution of the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly saluting the excellence of her "groundbreaking research" at Rutgers that has been "essential in shaping initiatives that transform autism medical research and treatments throughout our State." The language of the resolution is remarkable, not only praising Torres' scientific contributions and service as the Director of the New...

Dr. Jerome Williams was a RuCCS Affiliate and Distinguished Professor at Rutgers University. He will be remembered by colleagues for his combination of intelligence, leadership and kindness. You can read more about his impact as a scholar and a champion for inclusion here. Faculty, staff, students, and alumni may post condolences here.

Meredith Whittaker, is the Co-founder and co-director of the AI Now Institute, Minderoo Research Professor at NYU, and Founder of Google's Open Research Group. The talk is taking place via Zoom on February 12 at 12:00 PM.

Kasia Bieszczad, Rutgers Center of Cognitive Science - New Brunswick, (RuCCS) EC member and Assistant Professor of Psychology awarded a $1.7M grant by the NIDCD for her project "Molecular Epigenetic Mechanisms that Transform the Auditory System for Learning and Memory." The aim of this project is to investigate epigenetic neural mechanisms which can ensure meaningful sounds are faithfully and adaptively represented in the adult auditory brain. Bieszczad's proposal was scored in the 4th...

Kristin Dana (RuCCS EC member, ECE Professor) is the PI for the proposal awarded the grant Socially Cognizant Robotics for a Technology Enhanced Society (SOCRATES). The SOCRATES grant proposal was completed by Dana alongside her team of co-PIs, senior personnel, and an external evaluator: Kostas Bekris (Computer Science/RuCCS EC, co-PI) Clinton Andrews (Planning and Public Policy, co-PI) Jacob Feldman (Psychology/RuCCS EC, Cognitive Science, co-PI) Jingang Yi (Mechanical and Aerospace...

Professor John McGann has been announced as the new Director of the Center for Cognitive Science at Rutgers University-New Brunswick (RuCCS). Professor McGann earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Psychology, followed by a doctorate in neuroscience, all from Yale University. He came to Rutgers in 2009 as an Assistant Professor in the Behavioral & Systems Neuroscience section of the Psychology Department, where he established the McGann Laboratory on the Neurobiology of Sensory Cognition. He was...

A study conducted by Jerome Williams (RuCCS Affiliate, Distinguished Professor, and Prudential Chair in Business at Rutgers) and peers argues that Black borrowers face disadvantages even before filing for loans. In the study, the same qualifications and statuses were presented for both the White and Black borrowers. Ultimately, it was White borrowers who were more likely to get an additional line of credit with their loans while Black borrowers weren't even offered additional credit. Read more on...

Rutgers alumna Sarah-Jane Leslie is the Dean of the Graduate School and a Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University. Leslie's research focuses on the gender bias women face in the workplace. She states, "Some fields tend to prize dedication, hard work, and building up your skills. Others tend to focus on whether someone is really smart. Are they brilliant? Do they have 'it'?" In her study, Leslie notes that due to cultural stereotypes, 'brilliance' is often associated with men. Read more on...

During a time of social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, student groups are getting creative in order to connect with others in a remote situation. For many groups and clubs at Rutgers, this has meant relying on social media, virtual events, and e-newsletters to stay busy and keep connecting.

The "Autism Thinks" podcast created by Hannah Varkey is produced by the New Jersey Autism Center of Excellence (NJACE). Episodes discuss connections between neuroscience, technology, and innovation and how they change our perspective on autism, our understanding of our mind, and the world around us. The series covers topics such as autism in minorities, agency, struggles minorities face in academics, the importance of diversity, and more. Interviews include appearances by other Rutgers...

Yoni Friedman graduated last spring from the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers. Friedman has always been intrigued by consciousness of the mind. He states, "I’d look at pictures of the brain and think: how do you go from this mass of fat and chemicals to the ability of people to have these very different but equally rich experiences of the world?" In describing Friedman, RuCCS' Executive Director Sara Pixley says, "He made Rutgers a more cohesive place for many, including myself."

RuCCS Affiliate, Distinguished Professor, and project PI Mariapaola D'Imperio has won a $960,000 grant from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Convergence Accelerator Program. The grant is for the project "Data & AI Methods for Modeling Facial Expressions in Language with Applications to Privacy for the Deaf, ASL Education & Linguistic Research" which began earlier this September and ends in May of 2021. The grant is awarded to D'Imperio along her Co-PIs Dimitris Metaxas (Rutgers...

In the published paper, Ryu describes how heart signals derived from the micro-movements in the inter-beat intervals timing can unambiguously tell us if actions are deliberately intended or spontaneously occurred. Spike in interest on the paper's results has granted for Ryu's work to make the cover of the journal. Read the paper here!

Michmizos' study aimed to understand the way neurons and astrocytes communicate using algorithms inspired by the functioning of your brain. Potentially biased algorithms could backfire on the algorithm's original intent, and instead of gaining profit from an algorithm, worse outcomes may occur as stated by RuCCS Affiliate Professor Jerome Williams in his Algorithmic Bias Webinar for the Marketing Science Institute. Read more on the study in the Tech Xplore article here and check out Michmizos' lecture...

Julien Musolino: Cognitive Scientist and Rutgers Professor in the Department of Psychology, Julien Musolino, received the Chancellor's Award for Impacts in Teaching earlier this year! Mary Rigdon: Handbook of Experimental Game Theory worked on by RuCCS Associate Teaching Professor Mary Rigdon is available for purchase now! Mariapaola D'Imperio: RuCCS EC member and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics, Mariapaola D'Imperio, obtains an EFL International Chair position to give a...

RuCCS has entered into a Cooperative Agreement with the Army Research Lab to conduct joint research on “The Interpretation of Moving Shapes.” The Cooperative Agreement is funded by the Development and Engineering Command of the U.S. Army Research and has granted Rutgers $250,000. The agreement is led by PI Jacob Feldman, Professor in the Department of Psychology at Rutgers.