PhD Students

Bettina Gutsche

Reductionism and Levels of Analysis

gutsche@students.uni-mainz.de

Bettina Gutsche is working on a theory of reductionism with a specific focus on mind sciences, applying the concept of levels of analysis to case studies from neuroscience. She received her MA in philosophy in Leipzig in 2005, where she is also preparing for her diploma in psychology.

She started her PhD in December 2007, financed by a grant from Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.

Aleksandra Mroczko

Synaesthesia and the Unity of Consciousness

Mroczka@uni-mainz.de

Synaesthesia, also described as a “union of the senses”, is a rare condition in which real sensory experiences in one modality induce sensory experiences in another modality. Such multidimensional phenomenal experiences are the focus of Aleksandra Mroczko’s research. Using examples from her own empirical studies on grapheme-colour synaesthesia - conducted with Dr. Danko Nikolic of the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, – she aims to develop a conceptually robust philosophical understanding of the unity of consciousness. Aleksandra started her PhD in June 2007, financed by a grant from Barbara-Wengeler-Stiftung. She obtained her Magister Degree from the University of Szczecin (Poland).

Adrian J. T. Smith

Feeling and Knowing Oneself as a Physical Agent

adrian.j.t.smith@gmail.com

Adrian Smith is working on bodily experience and bodily self knowledge, aiming to provide a unitary account that is both philosophically potent and empirically sensitive. Having received his Master's Degree from the University of Edinburgh in 2007, he started his PhD with Professor Metzinger in November that year. He is fortunate enough to be financed as an "Early Stage Researcher" by DISCOS until to 2010, and intermittently by the CNCC as an affiliate of CONTACT.

Jennifer Windt

Dreaming, Consciousness, and Cognition: Towards an Interdisciplinary Theory

windt@uni-mainz.de

Jennifer M. Windt is working on a philosophical dissertation on dreaming, consciousness, and cognition, financed by a grant from the Barbara-Wengeler-Stiftung. She studied philosophy and medieval and modern history at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz and received her Master's degree in 2006. In addition to her philosophical/theoretical work, she is collaborating with several interdisciplinary researchers within the European Platform for Life Sciences, Mind Sciences and the Humanities, sponsored by the Volkswagen Stiftung, and is actively involved in empirical work, including a sleep laboratory study, on bodily experiences in the dream state.

Verena Gottschling's 2002 thesis

"Läßt sich eine piktorialistische Theorie bildhaften Vorstellens verteidigen?"

appeared as a monograph in 2003:

Bilder im Geiste. Die Imagery-Debatte

Verena Gottschling is now director of the Cognitive Science Program and assistant professor at the Department of Philosophy at York University in Toronto, Canada.

Department of Philosophy
York University S428
Ross Building / Office: S Ross 444
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M3J 1P3

Saku Hara's 2006 thesis

"Rational Animals: A Neurophilosophical Theorie of Rational Agency"

is under preparation for publication as a monograph.

Saku Hara is now Global COE Associate Professor at the Brain Science Institute at Tamagawa University in Tokyo, Japan.

Global COE Associate Professor
Tamagawa University
Brain Science Institute
6-1-1 Tamagawa Gakuen, Machida,
Tokyo, Japan 194-8610
Tel: +81-42-739-8405
Fax: +81-42-739-7221