Research Interests
Open to PhD applications in:
- The measurement of auditory perception in young children
- Early precursors to the development of language or literacy
- Trajectories of neural development for speech and language processing in infancy and early childhood
Public outreach & key achievements
- "I'm a scientist get me out of here!" participant and finalist (2011, Welcome Trust Funded)
- Engaged with school children through social media to promote their interest in scientific topics aligned to the Key Stage 3 science curriculum.
- News articles of research published by Science Daily (June 2011), The Wall Street Journal Online (July 2011) and the Association for Psychological Science Blog (Nov 2011).
- British Educational Research Association: 1 of 40 landmark studies in the last 40 years
- British Psychological Society (Chartered Psychologist, CPsychol, and Associate Fellow AFBPsS)
- Member of British Association of Cognitive Neuroscience
- Member of European Society for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
Research students
| DClinPsy area | An Investigation into the Nature and Impact of Language and Communication Needs of Looked After and Adopted Children |
| Name | Darren Maguire |
| Years of study | 2018-2021 |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| PhD area | Capturing the Teaching and Learning of Struggling Readers in the Classroom |
| Name | Maike Schermer (part-time) |
| Years of study | 2014-2023 |
| Country | Netherlands |
Alumni: Where are they now
| PhD area | The Role of Speech Processing in the Phonological Awareness of Poor Readers |
| Name | Patrick Stark |
| Years of study | 2015 |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| Current Position | Research Fellow, School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, Queen’s University Belfast |
| PhD area | Investigating the Nature of Auditory Predictors of Reading Development: Learning, Maturation and Behaviour |
| Name | Ciara Laverty |
| Years of study | 2018 |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| Current Position | Research Specialist, The Lego Foundation |
| PhD area | An Investigation into Hemispheric Lateralisation of Different Acoustic Rates during Infancy and its Relationship with Language Ability |
| Name | Rebecca McKelvey |
| Years of study | 2013-2019 |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| Current Position | Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency |
| PhD area | Estimating Auditory Discrimination Thresholds in Preschool Children |
| Name | Nicola Gillen |
| Years of study | 2014-2019 |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| Current Position | Research Assistant, Department of Physiology, Anatomy & Genetics, University of Oxford |