Who got that job?

Stephan Boehm
RCUK academic fellow, Bangor University

Advertised in The Times Higher , April 29, 2005

Stephan Boehm arrived at Bangor University six weeks ago from the US to take up his post as Research Councils UK academic fellow at Bangor University's School of Psychology.

Dr Boehm said it was no accident that he came to Bangor. "I knew there were a few people here who were well-appreciated in the field, but when I came for interview, I found many more than I expected," he said.

"Bangor is a well-kept secret, and I did not expect to find a university of such quality outside London or Cambridge. In the US, you can get such quality only by going to Harvard or Berkeley universities."

The quality of Bangor was its main selling point but not the only one. "I was applying for several positions, but Bangor was the most welcoming. I had interviews over two days, which gave me a chance to talk to people and get an impression of the environment," Dr Boehm said.

Dr Boehm is a specialist in long-term memory and has worked in psychology for ten years. His most recent work has been on an aspect of memory called priming that involves studying brain waves using electroencephalograms (EEG).

"Consider seeing the face of someone like Tony Blair, then seeing the face again weeks later," Dr Boehm said.

"You recognise the face, but you don't necessarily remember where you last saw him. The brain has undergone a fundamental change after you first saw the face. We are looking at what it is that is different."