What is the topic of your PhD project and what does your work look like in practice?
My PhD project is on tactile localization and mapping. I am studying the computations that our brains has to make when mapping touch applied to our body to space. These days I am trying to create simplified mathematical models of tactile localization in 2D space and simulate these models.
What has your career path been so far and how did you come to your current position?
In 2020 I graduated from computer science at Bilkent University, near the end of my bachelor’s degree I became interested in computational cognitive neuroscience and started to work in a computational cognitive neuroscience lab at Bilkent University, where I also did my master’s degree in neuroscience. I mainly focused on vision and biological motion perception using computational models and MVPA in my master’s. However, as I neared the completion of my master's, my interests shifted to somatosensory perception and action. This new position perfectly aligns with my interests.
What does your perfect weekend look like?
For me, the ideal weekend is about time. It starts with a good sleep, maybe a relaxed breakfast. I like to do the things I like to do but can’t make time for during the week, like reading, tidying up, watching some films, exercising, or practicing guitar, without the rush. I find that I don’t feel like rushing the perfect weekend.
What is your favorite book and why?
From the ones that I’ve red recently my favorite book is “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin. The main characters were well written, the relationship between the characters was complex and evolving throughout the book, and the narrative was so good and emotional. The book is also very much about video games and video game design, so I found that combination to be very interesting.