Associate Professor, Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology
PGR Director for School of Psychology
What is your research background and current field of research?
I am currently an Associate Professor at the Centre for Human Brain Health (CHBH) and School of Psychology. My research addresses the fundamental question of the “adaptive brain” by studying the cognitive, computational, and neurobiological basis of (social) learning and decision-making in health and disease (i.e. Computational Psychiatry). My academic training spans multiple countries: I did my postdoc in Austria, PhD in Germany, master's in Spain, and bachelor's in China. See also my faculty profile page.
Which BEAR Services have been most helpful to you in your research?
The Research Data Store (RDS) is fantastic for storing and managing research data. I also use BlueBEAR to run computational modelling with the Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach, which usually takes X times longer on a PC (2 < X < 10). Last, I enjoy the ample and free (!) training opportunities offered by BEAR Carpentries.
How widespread do you think BEAR Services are known in your School and how do you plan to spread the word?
RDS is generally known across the School of Psychology. BlueBEAR is fairly well-known as most of the brain-related analyses are computationally heavy, but this is less so within the School of Psychology. Given my role as the School PGR Director, I have been promoting BEAR and other related services within our PGRs. I have also been advocating BEAR in my MSc-level module "Proposing Research in Psychology".
How can researchers in your School/College contact you?
My office is located in the Centre for Human Brain Health (CHBH; G24 on the Campus map) - feel free to drop by. Alternatively, I can be reached via email: l.zhang.13@bham.ac.uk.
What's an interesting fact about you?
I am a road cycling enthusiast - I managed to climb Alpe d'Huez, and once cycled from Hamburg to Berlin (300+km) in 14 hours. I love travelling, and I have been to 180+ cities.