spotlight
Frank Tong has been elected to the Society of Experimental Psychologist (SEP)
Jan. 7, 2026—Congratulations to Frank Tong on being elected a fellow of the Society of Experimental Psychologists (SEP). https://www.sepsych.org/ The Society of Experimentalists was founded by Edward Bradford Titchener in 1904. Titchener’s design for his “Experimentalists” was that it be an ongoing workshop, with “members visiting labs, studying apparatus, and hearing and commenting on reports of ongoing...
Geoff Woodman named 2025 Distinguished Alumnus Award Winner
Dec. 16, 2025—Geoff Woodman, PhD Professor of Psychology, E. Bronson Ingram Chair of Neuroscience, Vanderbilt University From the nomination letter: After earning his undergraduate and doctoral degrees in psychology from the University of Iowa working with Steve Luck (then at Iowa), Geoff joined Vanderbilt as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology with Jeff Schall and Marvin Chun (when...
Conor Smithson successfully defends dissertation
Nov. 19, 2025—Conor Smithson from The Object Perception lab successfully defended his dissertation titled “The Structure and Correlates of Domain-general Object Recognition Ability” on 11/5, under the supervision of Dr. Isabel Gauthier. This work uses structural equation modeling to advance our understanding of the relations between a high-level visual ability for subordinate-level object recognition and a number of other...
Graduate Program in Psychology ranked 8th in the Nation in US News & World Report
Sep. 26, 2025—The Graduate Program in Psychological Sciences at Vanderbilt has cracked the top Ten of Doctoral Programs in Psychology in the 2025 US News & World Report survey. The Graduate Program ranks #8, tied with other schools such as the University of Pennsylvania and Northwestern University. The program has enjoyed a remarkable ascent in the rankings...
Allie Adamis: Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Recipient
Sep. 11, 2025—Congratulations to Allie Adamis who received the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) from NIMH. The award is to enable promising predoctoral students to obtain individualized, mentored research training from outstanding faculty sponsors while conducting dissertation research in scientific health-related fields relevant to the missions of the NIMH.
Jordan Gunn successfully defends dissertation
Aug. 27, 2025—Jordan Gunn passed his PhD dissertation defense under the direction of Sean Polyn, PhD, on August 19th, 2025. Congratulations, Dr. Gunn! His thesis, “Same Item, Distinct Contexts: Episode-Specific Reinstatement in Free and Serial Recall” makes substantial contributions to our understanding of human memory. This work examines (among other things) how repeated experiences are stored in memory:...
Yihan (Sophy) Xiong wins Vivien Casagrande Neuroscience Travel Award
May. 9, 2025—Congratulations to Sophy Xiong, a graduate student in André Bastos’ lab, for being a co-winner of the Vivien Casagrande Neuroscience Travel Award, on the basis of her research on neuronal oscillatory mechanisms underlying attention and awareness. The Vivien Casagrande Neuroscience Travel Award is given in recognition of outstanding research by a graduate student or post-doctoral scholar to support their travel for presenting their research at a conference. This award honors...
Gabrielle Reimann successfully defends dissertation
May. 9, 2025—Gabrielle Reimann, under the direction of Professor Antonia Kaczkurkin, PhD, has successfully defended her dissertation! Congratulations Gabby! Delineating Neurobiological Subtypes Underlying Psychopathology: A Machine Learning Approach Traditionally, symptom-based classifications define mental health diagnoses. However, this approach can oversimplify clinical presentations, and these diagnoses often do not correspond with biological markers or meaningful clinical outcomes. A...
Allie Adamis wins Vanderbilt Award for Doctoral Discovery
Apr. 29, 2025—Congratulations Allie Adamis Allie has won the Vanderbilt Award for Doctoral Discovery. The College of Arts and Science Vanderbilt Award for Doctoral Discovery (VADD), previously named the Summer Research Award (SRA) program, is designed to help graduate students with outstanding potential to accelerate progress on their research. VADDs provide funding to support student research at...
Melina Mueller wins Quesenberry Award
Apr. 24, 2025—Melina Mueller wins the Quesenbery Award The Lisa M. Quesenberry Scholarship was established by Irvin and Mary Ann Quesenberry and Kathryn Quesenberry to memorialize the accomplishments of their daughter and sister, Lisa M. Quesenberry. The scholarship is designed to provide research or study awards to motivated graduate students studying psychology at Vanderbilt University. Congratulations Melina!