I welcome enquiries from prospective PhD students working on topics related to my research interests. My research is primarily about animal minds and comparative psychology. Examples of topics I am interested in include:
I also have more general interests in the philosophy of mind and cognitive science (for example, the nature and function of episodic memory), the philosophy of biology, and artificial intelligence from a cognitive science perspective. For example, I am interested in whether and to what extent current AI systems realise or model biological cognition. I am not able to supervise AI-related projects which lack a substantial cognitive science dimension (e.g. how AI will impact the future of work - on that topic, see my excellent colleague Kate Vredenburgh).
If you are interested in pursuing a PhD project with me on one a topic relating to my research, please get in touch. Please come to me with a project idea rather than for a project idea - it is important that your PhD research is your own.
At undergrad and masters level, I currently co-teach Animal Minds and Animal Ethics (PH241 and PH441).
Students can find my 9 Rules for Writing Philosophy here.
- Are some forms of thinking (e.g. mental time travel, theory of mind, causal cognition, numerical cognition, logical reasoning etc...) uniquely human?
- How should we think about cognitive capacities in an evolutionary context? For example, are there genuine cases of convergent cognitive evolution? Can we identify cognitive homologies?
- What can we know about animals' thoughts or feelings based on their behaviour? Are there some questions about animals' minds behavioural science can't answer?
- Does the science of animal cognition face distinctive metaphysical, epistemological or methodological problems? If so, how should they be addressed?
- What are the ethical and welfare implications of research in animal cognition?
I also have more general interests in the philosophy of mind and cognitive science (for example, the nature and function of episodic memory), the philosophy of biology, and artificial intelligence from a cognitive science perspective. For example, I am interested in whether and to what extent current AI systems realise or model biological cognition. I am not able to supervise AI-related projects which lack a substantial cognitive science dimension (e.g. how AI will impact the future of work - on that topic, see my excellent colleague Kate Vredenburgh).
If you are interested in pursuing a PhD project with me on one a topic relating to my research, please get in touch. Please come to me with a project idea rather than for a project idea - it is important that your PhD research is your own.
At undergrad and masters level, I currently co-teach Animal Minds and Animal Ethics (PH241 and PH441).
Students can find my 9 Rules for Writing Philosophy here.