Ben studied psychology at JLU and neuroscience at UCL (PhD with Geraint Rees, postdocs with Sam Schwarzkopf and Marty Sereno). In London, he specialised in brain imaging, while his family grew from n=2 to n=5. Back in Giessen, he studied individual eye movements with Karl Gegenfurtner, was awarded an ERC Starting Grant in 2019 and in 2023 appointed Research Prof (W2) for Experimental Psychology and Individual Perception. Ben was lucky enough to have great mentors and strives to pass on the joy of science to those working with him.

Apart from research, Ben likes climbing, reading to his kids, laughing with friends and falling asleep while his wife plays the piano. Check out his CV or Google Scholar for more. 

Petra originally completed interdisciplinary bachelor and master programs in humanities and philosophy of science at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen (Czech Republic). She then finished an additional MSc in Early Childhood Research at Leipzig University. Her thesis research for this program was in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences and supervised by Dr. Jacob Bellmund. In 2021, she started her PhD at JLU with a focus on individual differences in saccadic eye movements and visual representations in the ventral stream.

In her free time, Petra likes to explore and learn new things. She enjoys making music, spending time in nature, doing sports, or just being with friends.  

Max graduated from JLU in 2019 with Bachelor and Master degrees in psychology. His Master projects (yes, plural) with Dimitris Voudouris, Katja Fiehler and Jutta Billino focused on somatosensory perception and age-related changes in sensorimotor  control. Additionally, he completed the predocotral program (PreProPsych) in visual neuroscience under the supervision of Karl Gegenfurtner. He currently works on the neuroscience and social consequences of individual gaze behavior. 

Max likes to spend his free time outdoors. When he isn't hiking, skiing, slacklining or surfskating, he follows the ups and downs (mostly downs) of his favourite soccer team.

Diana studied psychology at the University of Bielefeld and interdisciplinary neuroscience at the Goethe University Frankfurt. She was particularly interested in the visual perception of objects and wrote her master's thesis in the Scene Grammar Lab, supervised by Prof. Melissa Võ and Tim Lauer. At JLU, she now explores individual differences in visual perception and their correlates in ventral brain areas. 

Escaping the office, Diana enjoys hiking, yoga, drawing, and spending time with her family and friends. 

Marcel spent his graduate and post-graduate education in the beautiful Kingdom of the Netherlands, where he studied psychology at Tilburg University and completed a research master in behavioral science (psychology) at Radboud University, Nijmegen. In 2020, he started his PhD at JLU, focussing on individual differences in visual attention, including special populations like children, patients and so-called super-recognizers. 

In his spare time Marcel likes making music, traveling, spending time with his family and friends and doing sports.   

Public engagement pays off! Karin first met Ben and Marcel during a talk they gave at a Museum - and ended up joining the lab as study nurse (in 2023). Karin is a qualified nurse and brings order to our creative chaos: She helps with data acquisition, stimulus anotation and participant managment.