Below are the Department of Psychology's current doctoral students in our Cognition & Perception and Social & Personality PhD Programs for the 2021-22 school year. They join the program with diverse research interests, backgrounds, and knowledge.
Doctoral Students
Nastaran Arfaei
Website: linkedin.com/in/narfaei
Email: na2481@nyu.edu
2019 Ph.D Admit
M.A. Havard University
Research Lab: Prof. Dora Angelaki
Research interests: I study Navigation and Spatial Representation in the brain with the use of Virtual Reality and Computational Modeling
Marianne Azar
Email: ma6449@nyu.edu
2021 Ph.D Admit
M.A. Psychology of Language, University of Edinburgh
Research Lab: Prof. Alec Marantz (Neuroscience of Language Lab)
Research interests: Arabic Morphology; Bilingualism, Bilingual Language Interaction and Differentiation, Semantics-Morphology Interface, Clinical Applications.
Josie Benitez
Email: josiebenitez@nyu.edu
2020 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Marjorie Rhodes (Conceptual Development and Social Cognition Lab)
Research interests: Broadly, I am interested in the mechanisms underlying Stereotype Development and Transmission in young Children. My current work explores how both Children and Adults’ beliefs about Social Categories may be influenced by features of Parental Language and the use of varying explanatory frameworks, and how these processes may shift across development.
Charlie Burlingham
Website: csb0.github.io
Email: charlie.burlingham@nyu.edu
2016 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. David J. Heeger
Research interests: Visual Perception, Psychophysiology, fMRI, Computer Vision
Brandon Carone
Website: linkedin.com/in/brandonjcarone
Email: bc3189@nyu.edu
2021 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Pablo Ripollés
Research interests: Cognitive Neuroscience of Music, Memory and Learning, Creativity, Neuroplasticity, Neurodegeneration, fMRI
Phoebe Chen
Email: hc2896@nyu.edu
2020 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. David Poeppel
Research interests: Semantic Representation, Interbrain Synchrony, Oscillations
Mrugank Dake
Website: mindemory.github.io
Email: mrugank.dake@nyu.edu
2021 Ph.D Admit
M.S. Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati
Research Lab: Prof. Clayton E Curtis (Clay Space Lab)
Research interests: Cognitive Neuroscience of learning and memory, Data analysis, Machine Learning, Neural Networks
Julien Dirani
Website: sites.google.com/view/juliendirani
Email: julien.dirani@nyu.edu
2019 Ph.D Admit
M.Sc. Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London
Research Lab: Prof. Liina Pylkkänen (Neuroscience of Language Lab)
Research interests: Neuroscience of Language, Concepts, Categories, Neuroimaging
Aysun Duyar
Website: linkedin.com/in/aysun-duyar
Email: aysunduyar@gmail.com
2019 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Marisa Carrasco
Research interests: Attention, Eye Movements, Visual Perception
Marissa Evans
Website: linkedin.com/in/marissa-evans-6655b18b
Email: marissa.evans@nyu.edu
2020 Ph.D Admit
M.A. New York University
Research Lab: Prof. Michael Landy (The Landy Lab for Vision and Action)
Research interests: Visual Motor Confidence, Multisensory Integration
Rania Ezzo
Website: linkedin.com/in/rania-ezzo-9146766a
Email: rania.ezzo@nyu.edu
2020 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Bas Rokers, Prof. Marisa Carrasco, Prof. Jon Winawer
Research interests: Visual Perception, with a focus on motion processing & perceptual anisotropies using psychophysical and neuroimaging techniques
Antonio Fernandez
Website: bit.ly/ScholarGoogle_AntonioFernandez
Email: antonio.fernandez@nyu.edu
2016 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Marisa Carrasco
Research interests: Visual Perception, Visual Neuroscience, Attention
Graham Flick
Website: wp.nyu.edu/neurolinglab/people/lab-members/graham-flick
Email: graham.flick@nyu.edu
2018 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Liina Pylkkänen (Neurolinguistics Lab)
Research interests: Cognitive Neuroscience, Language, Memory, Neuroimaging
Jiyeong Ha
Email: jiyeong.ha@nyu.edu
2021 Ph.D Admit
M.A. Yonsei University
Research Lab: Prof. Jonathan Winawer
Research interests: Neural Pathways underlying Human Visual Perception
Danyang Han
Email: danyang.han@nyu.edu
2018 Ph.D Admit
M.A. New York University
Research Lab: Prof. Karen Adolph (Infant Action Lab)
Research interests: Motor Development, Infant Learning, Errors
Fangfang Hong
Website: nyuactionlab.com/people
Email: fh862@nyu.edu
2017 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Michael Landy
Research interests: Multisensory Perception, Neural Computation
Christina Hospodar
Email: christina.hospodar@nyu.edu
2018 Ph.D Admit
M.A. Kinesiology, Oregon State University
Research Lab: Prof. Karen Adolph (Infant Action Lab)
Research interests: Infant Motor Development, specifically how infants adapt walking patterns to variations in their body and environment
Luke Huszar
Email: lukehuszar@gmail.com
2018 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Marisa Carrasco
Research interests: The subjective aspects of Perception, with a focus on Visual Appearance, Visual Attention, Psychophysics, Computational Modeling
Brianna Kaplan
Email: brianna.kaplan@nyu.edu
2018 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Karen Adolph (Infant Action Lab)
Research interests: Motor and Social Development, learning to use everyday objects
Mert Kobas
Website: researchgate.net/profile/Mert-Kobas
Email: mk7922@nyu.edu
2021 Ph.D Admit
M.A. Koç University
Research Lab: Prof. Karen Adolph (Infant Action Lab)
Research interests: Motor Development, Language Development, Developmental Cascades
Yuna Kwak
Email: yuna.kwak@nyu.edu
2019 Ph.D Admit
M.A. Korea University
Research Lab: Prof. Clayton E Curtis
Research interests: Neural representation of Visual Working Memory
Marco Lai
Email: cl5564@nyu.edu
2020 Ph.D Admit
M.A. National Taiwan University
Research Lab: Prof. Liina Pylkkänen
Research interests: Neurolinguistics, Language Development
Hsing-Hao Lee
Email: hsinghaolee@nyu.edu
2021 Ph.D Admit
M.A. National Taiwan University
Research Lab: Prof. Marisa Carrasco
Research interests: Visual Attention, Consciousness, Cognitive Control
Luhe Li
Email: luhe.li@nyu.edu
2021 Ph.D Admit
M.A. The University of Tokyo
Research Lab: Prof. Michael Landy
Research interests: Multisensory integration, Time perception, Perceptual inference
Xiang Li
Email: thirdfloorshadow@gmail.com
2018 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Wei Ji Ma
Research interests: Collaborative Planning, Approximate Inference
Pat Little
Email: pat.little@nyu.edu
2020 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Todd Gureckis
Research interests: Perception, Physical Reasoning
Francesco Mantegna
Email: fm1672@nyu.edu
2019 Ph.D Admit
M.Sc. University of Trento
Research Lab: Prof. David Poeppel
Research interests: Sensorimotor Coordination, Efference Copies, Audiomotor Transformations, Speech Imagery
Sarah Master
Email: sm4937@nyu.edu
2020 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Clayton E Curtis
Research interests: Working Memory, Cognitive Control, Meta-Cognition. I'm interested in how people choose to use their cognitive resources.
Suhail Matar
Website: suhailmatar.com
Email: matar@nyu.edu
2016 Ph.D Admit
M.Sc. Technion
Research Lab: Prof. Alec Marantz (Neuroscience of Language Lab)
Research interests: Neural basis of Language Comprehension, predictive processing in language, processing non-sequential information in language
Aline-Priscillia Messi
Email: alinepriscillia.messi@gmail.com
2021 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Liina Pylkkänen (Neurolinguistics Lab)
Research interests: Concepts and Conceptualization, Dynamic Network Approaches to Cognition, Cognitive Neuroscience of Language, Semantics
Kate Nussenbaum
Website: katenuss.com
Email: katenuss@nyu.edu
2017 Ph.D Admit
M.A. University of Oxford
Research Lab: Prof. Catherine Alexandra Hartley
Research interests: Development of Learning, Memory, and Decision-Making
Helena Palmieri
Email: hp808@nyu.edu
2019 Ph.D Admit
M.A. New York University
Research Lab: Prof. Marisa Carrasco
Research interests: Vision Science with a focus on Attention and the Oculomotor System.
Maria Pombo
Website: mariapombo.netlify.app
Email: mp5561@nyu.edu
2020 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Denis Pelli
Research interests: Beauty Perception, Aesthetic Value, Applied Aesthetics
Simran Purokayastha
Website: linkedin.com/in/simranpurokayastha
Email: simranpurokayastha@nyu.edu
2018 Ph.D Admit
M.A. University of Edinburgh
Research Lab: Prof. Marisa Carrasco
Research interests: Attention, Visual Asymmetries, Performance Fields, Alzheimer's Disease, Biomarkers of Neurodegeneration
Omri Raccah
Website: twitter.com/omriraccah
Email: or409@nyu.edu
2018 Ph.D Admit
B.Sc. The University of California, Los Angeles
Research Lab: Prof. David Poeppel
Research interests: Memory and Learning, Auditory Sequence Processing, Philosophy of Mind, Human Intracranial Electrophysiology
Ajay Subramanian
Website: ajaysub110.github.io
Email: ajay.subramanian@nyu.edu
2021 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Denis Pelli
Research interests: Deep Learning, Vision Science
Ekin Tünçok
Website: linkedin.com/in/ekin-tünçok-628529110
Email: ekin.tuncok@nyu.edu
2020 Ph.D Admit
M.A. Maastricht University
Research Lab: Prof. Marisa Carrasco, Prof. Jonathan Winawer
Research interests: Visual Perception, Spatial Attention, Computational Modeling of Visual Encoding using Functional Neuroimaging
Michelle Wang
Email: michelle.wang@nyu.edu
2019 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Marjorie Rhodes (Conceptual Development and Social Cognition Lab)
Research interests: Broadly, I am interested in understanding the Conceptual Representations and Sociopsychological Processes that underlie the development of Gender Disparities, as well as other group differences. I am also interested in how individual experiences shape these Representations and Processes.
Shaoming Wang
Email: shaoming@nyu.edu
2019 Ph.D Admit
M.A. Psychology, New York University
Research Lab: Prof. Bob Rehder (Concepts and Causality Lab)
Research interests: Categorization and Induction, Concept Generation
Puti Wen
Email: pw1246@nyu.edu
2019 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Michael Landy, Prof. Bas Rokers
Research interests: 3D Motion Perception
Shutian Xue
Website: researchgate.net/profile/Shutian-Xue
Email: shutian.xue@nyu.edu
2020 Ph.D Admit
M.A. New York University
Research Lab: Prof. Marisa Carrasco
Research interests: Visual Performance Field
Zih-Yun Yan
Email: zyy219@nyu.edu
2019 Ph.D Admit
M.A. University of Pennsylvania
Research Lab: Prof. Paul Glimcher
Research interests: Decision Making under risk and uncertainty
Brian Yin
Website: brianyin.me
Email: bny212@nyu.edu
2021 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Bob Rehder (Concepts and Causality Lab)
Research interests: Concepts, Knowledge Representation, Causal Modeling
Ying Zhou
Email: yz5725@nyu.edu
2019 Ph.D Admit
M.A. Zhejiang University
Research Lab: Prof. Clayton E Curtis, Prof. Daryl Fougnie
Research interests: Human Cognition and Neuroscience, with a focus on Working Memory and Attention
Fiona Adjei Boateng
Website: linkedin.com/feed
Email: fab311@nyu.edu
2019 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Madeline Heilman, Prof. Eric Knowles
Research interests: Gender Differences in perceived leadership effectiveness in the workplace
Samantha Bean
Email: srb972@nyu.edu
2020 Ph.D Admit
M.A. Arizona State University
Research Lab: Prof. Emily Balcetis (Social Perception Action and Motivation 'SPAM' Lab)
Research interests: I am broadly interested in how Individual Level Differences, such as differences in Visual Attention, can influence decision-making in legal contexts.
Jeffrey Berg
Website: jeffberg.github.io
Email: bergj@nyu.edu
2016 Ph.D Admit
M.A. New York University
Research Lab: Prof. David Amodio (Social Neuroscience Lab)
Research interests: Impression Formation through reinforcement learning, Social Bias Reproduction and Transmission through artificial intelligence systems, Machine Learning approaches to social psychological questions
Michael Berkebile-Weinberg
Website: linkedin.com/in/mike-berk-wein
Email: mberk@nyu.edu
2018 Ph.D Admit
M.A. San Diego State University
Research Lab: Prof. David Amodio
Research interests: Intergroup Relations, Stereotyping, Dehumanization, Natural Language Processing
Jeannine Alana Bertin
Email: jab9641@nyu.edu
2020 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. David Amodio
Research interests: Systems of Oppression, Social Hierarchies, and their relationship with Social Cognition, with a focus on stereotypes
Maryam Bin Meshar
Website: sites.google.com/nyu.edu/tropelab
Email: mbm511@nyu.edu
2019 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Yaacov Trope
Research interests: My research explores the Psychological Mechanisms that shape Social Projection, Social Learning, and Mental States Inferences. I’m interested in how people perceive similarities with others across distances. I'm also interested in understanding the cognitive underpinnings of Mental States Inferences.
Riana Brown
Email: riana.brown@nyu.edu
2017 Ph.D Admit
M.A. VU University Amsterdam
Research Lab: Prof. Maureen Craig (DaSP Lab)
Research interests: Social Inequality, Intersectionality, Privilege, Stigma, Prejudice, Stereotyping
John Andrew Chwe
Website: johnchwe.com
Email: jhc637@nyu.edu
2019 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Jon Freeman
Research interests: Social Categorization, Representation, Stereotyping, Social Vision
Oana Dumitru
Website: linkedin.com/in/oanaddumitru
Email: oana.dumitru@nyu.edu
2018 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Tessa West (West Interpersonal Perception Lab)
Research interests: Role of Social Hierarchies in dyadic and group interactions, with a focus on how newcomers become integrated into existing teams
Hannah Eareckson
Website: linkedin.com/in/heareckson
Email: hbe217@nyu.edu
2019 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Madeline Heilman
Research interests: Broadly - Gender Stereotypes, Intersectional Stereotypes, Cross-Cultural Gender Norms. Specifically - Reactions to individuals who violate gender norms in organizations.
Nick Fendinger
Email: nfendinger@nyu.edu
2021 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Eric Knowles (Politics and Intergroup Relations Lab)
Research interests: I am primarily interested in understanding how Social Class influences our motivation and ability to infer the internal states of others (e.g., Theory of Mind) and how Social Group identities impact perceptions of and attitudes toward Societal Inequality.
Shahrzad Goudarzi
Website: researchgate.net/profile/Shahrzad-Goudarzi
Email: sg3499@nyu.edu
2016 Ph.D Admit
M.A. New York University
Research Lab: Prof. Eric Knowles, Prof. Maureen Craig, Prof. John Jost
Research interests: Justice, Politics, Socioeconomic Inequality, Ideology
Elizabeth Harris
Website: elizabethannharris.com
Email: eah561@nyu.edu
2017 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Jay Van Bavel
Research interests: Social Psychology, Political Psychology, Social Cognition, Partisanship, with a focus on the effect of partisan identity on belief in Misinformation
Ali Javeed
Website: alijaveed.com
Email: amj7869@nyu.edu
2021 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Jay Van Bavel (Social Identity and Morality Lab)
Research interests: Moral Psychology and Affective Science in the context of collective action examining topics such as Emotion Regulation, Moralization, Intergroup Conflict, Extremism, and Polarization
SunYoung Kim
Email: kimsunyoung@nyu.edu
2019 Ph.D Admit
M.A. SungKyunKwan University
Research Lab: Prof. Peter M Gollwitzer, Prof. Gabriele Oettingen (Motivation Lab)
Research interests: Self-Regulation and Motivation, Group Dynamics, and application of Self-Regulatory Strategies (e.g. Mental Contrasting) for promoting behavioral change in interpersonal/group contexts
Michelle M. Lee
Email: Michelle.MLee@nyu.edu
2018 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Maureen Craig (Diversity and Social Processes Lab)
Research interests: Allyship, Coalition-Building, responses to information about Racial Inequality, and how Racial Minorities manage their Identities when stereotyped as privileged
Rachel Leshin
Email: rachel.leshin@nyu.edu
2018 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Marjorie Rhodes (Conceptual Development and Social Cognition Lab)
Research interests: Development of Social Categories (e.g. Gender, Race, Status) across Childhood, Socio-Cultural and Ecological influences on Social-Cognitive Development
Usman Liaquat
Email: UL243@nyu.edu
2017 Ph.D Admit
M.A. New York University
Research Lab: Prof. John Jost (Social Justice Lab)
Research interests: I'm generally interested in how Stereotypes about various Social Groups influence perceivers' thoughts and behavior in a wide array of domains.
Ethan Ludwin-Peery
Email: elp327@nyu.edu
2016 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Yaacov Trope, Prof. Todd Gureckis
Research interests: Abstraction, Value, Commonsense Reasoning, Intuitive Physics
Xiao Ma
Email: xm2104@nyu.edu
2021 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Peter M Gollwitzer (Motivation Lab)
Research interests: I am interested in investigating how Self-Regulation, Mindfulness, Meaning in Life, and Social Relationships underlie individual differences in resilience and well-being outcomes.
Mao Mogami
Website: linkedin.com/in/maomogami118
Email: mao.mogami@nyu.edu
2017 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Eric Knowles (Politics and Intergroup Relations Lab)
Research interests: Interested in Intergroup Relations and Political Psychology. I am particularly interested in the extent to which people consider a history of oppression and power dynamics between Social Groups when they make current-day social judgments.
Elizabeth (Liz) Mutter
Email: erm462@nyu.edu
2016 Ph.D Admit
M.A. New York University
Research Lab: Prof. Peter M Gollwitzer, Prof. Gabriele Oettingen (Motivation Lab)
Research interests: When and why Situational Constraints are supportive versus oppressive, and how Young Adults make Identity-Related Decisions
Ilayda Orhan
Email: io2051@nyu.edu
2021 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Maureen Craig (Diversity and Social Processes Lab)
Research interests: Intergroup Relations, Understanding different Social Groups' motivations in upholding current Power Structures, Progress towards a more just Society, Conflict Resolution, How to expand the ‘Us’
Jennie Qu-Lee
Website: jenniequlee.github.io
Email: jennie.qulee@nyu.edu
2018 Ph.D Admit
M.A. The University of Chicago
Research Lab: Prof. Emily Balcetis
Research interests: Intergroup Decision-Making, Eye-Tracking Technology
Eduardo Javier Rivera Pichardo
Email: erp295@nyu.edu
2018 Ph.D Admit
M.A. Political Philosophy, Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Research Lab: Prof. John Jost, Prof. Eric Knowles (Social Justice Lab; Politics & Intergroup Relations Lab)
Research interests: Social-psychological consequences of Colonialism/Coloniality including its effects on Intergroup Relations, Ideological Formation, Acculturation, and Collective Memories
Claire Robertson
Website: jayvanbavel.com/people
Email: c.robertson@nyu.edu
2019 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Jay Van Bavel (Social Identity and Morality Lab)
Research interests: Moral Reasoning, Political Polarization, Online Communication
Anni Sternisko
Website: linkedin.com/in/anni-sternisko-199b66a8
Email: anni.sternisko@gmail.com
2016 Ph.D Admit
M.A. New York University
Research Lab: Prof. Jay Van Bavel (Social Identity and Morality Lab)
Research interests: Broadly interested in Psychological Processes related to people’s World Views and Construal of Reality. Primarily focuses research on Conspiracy Theory Beliefs and their consequences for society. Also studying Political Ideology, Political Action, and Moral Decision-Making.
Melissa Vega
Website: researchgate.net/profile/Melissa-Vega-6
Email: mv1691@nyu.edu
2020 Ph.D Admit
M.A. General Psychology, New York University
Research Lab: Prof. Eric Knowles, Prof. Jamie Napier (Politics and Intergroup Relation Lab; Gender and Intergroup Relations Lab at NYU Abu Dhabi)
Research interests: Broadly interested in the interplay between Social Identities, Environmental Cues, and Ideology, as well as the effects of said interplay on attitudes towards diversity and group-based Social Inequality. Particularly interested in how these relationships play out among Middle Eastern populations and the U.S. Hispanic/Latino population.
Kalman Victor
Email: ksv2012@nyu.edu
2021 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Yaacov Trope
Research interests: Construal of Knowledge, Psycholinguistics, Social Cognition, Interpersonal Perception, Goal Pursuit
Ashley Berkebile-Weinberg
Website: linkedin.com/in/ashley-berkebile-weinberg-20084733
Email: alw571@nyu.edu
2019 Ph.D Admit
Research Lab: Prof. Maureen Craig, Prof. Tessa West (Diversity and Social Processes Lab; Interpersonal Perception Lab)
Research interests: Intergroup Interactions and Relations, including interracial and intraminority friendships and race-related discussions, along with relevant perceptual, categorical, and group processes