Professor Matthew Apps PhD

BSc.(Hons.) Psychology,

MSc. Psychological Research Methods,

PhD. in Cognitive Neuroscience

Professor Apps is an award winning cognitive computational neuroscientist. He obtained a First-class BSc. in Psychology from Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), before receiving a ESRC 1+3 scholarship to complete an MSc (with Distinction) at Reading University and a PhD at RHUL, under the supervision of Professor Narender Ramnani.

He undertook postdoctoral positions first under the supervision of Professor Manos Tsakiris at RHUL and then moving to the University of Oxford with Professor Masud Husain. In 2015 Professor Apps was awarded a BBSRC Future Leader Fellowship at the University of Oxford. He subsequently started the MSN lab on a 5-year ~£1.2m BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship in 2018 as well as becoming a Senior Associate Research Fellow at Christ Church, University of Oxford. He joined the Centre for Human Brain Health, Institute of Mental Health and School of Psychology at University of Birmingham as a Senior Research Fellow (≈Associate Professor) in summer 2020. In 2024 he was appointed Professor of Cognitive Computational Neuroscience.

He has received multiple awards for his research including the European Society for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (ESCAN) Young Scientist Award (2016), the Society for Social Neuroscience Early Career Award (2018), a University of Oxford Recognition of Excellence (2019) and the British Association for Cognitive Neuroscience early career award (2021)

Professor Apps currently contributes to teaching on the Masters courses in the CHBH and School of Psychology, as well as on 3^rd year undergraduate courses.

Professor Apps is keen to hear from potential PhD students interested in understanding the psychological and neural mechanisms underlying motivation, effort, apathy, fatigue, cognitive control, decision-making or other areas of cognitive computational neuroscience. Please send him a brief email with CV and reason for interest in the MSN lab to arrange a meeting to discuss funding opportunities.

Professor Apps’ research examines what makes people motivated, why some people in the typical population are more or less motivated than others, and why motivation can become significantly impaired in neurological (e.g. Parkinson’s Disease) and psychiatric conditions. His work uses an array of tools including computational modelling, brain imaging (fMRI/MEG), brain stimulation, and psychopharmacological approaches to understand the brain mechanisms underlying how people decide whether to engage in behaviours or not and applies these approaches to understand symptoms such as fatigue and apathy.

The lab currently has approximately £3m funding from a European Research Council Consolidator grant, a Wellcome Trust Discovery Award, a Jacobs Foundation Fellowship, and grants from the BBSRC.

Awards

o             University of Oxford Recognition of Excellence (2019)

o             Society for Social Neuroscience Early Career Award (2018)

o             Christ Church college Senior Associate Research Fellowship (2018-2023)

o             University Research Lecturer honorary title (2017)

o             European Society for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (ESCAN) Young Scientist Award (2016)

o             Society for Neuroscience Professional Development Award (2016)

o             Fulford Junior Research Fellowship at Somerville College, Oxford (2014-2016)

o             OHBM Trainee Award  (2009 & 2015)

 

Responsibilities

o            Editorial Board member at Nature Publishing Group, Scientific Reports (2017 - present)

o             Board member for the Society for Social Neuroscience (2019 – present)