Dr Rocco Chiou

Rocco received a Stepping Stone Fellowship, funded by the ISSF, which provided him with the foundation to win a Sir Henry Wellcome Fellowship.

My academic career started in Macquarie University in Sydney Australia, where I did my PhD on synaesthesia and multisensory perception. After completing my PhD, I went on to work briefly at the University of New South Wales, exploring the sensory representation of colour and motion

In 2014, I received a Stepping Stone Fellowship, funded by the Institutional Strategic Support Fund (ISSF) scheme of the Wellcome Trust, which brought me to the UK to collaborate with Prof Matthew Lambon Ralph.

As its name suitably describes, the ISSF provided the foundation for me to subsequently win a Sir Henry Wellcome Fellowship to support my 4-year projects on studying the mechanisms that underpin perceiving and knowing about visual environment.

At the moment I'm based jointly at the Vision Science Lab at Harvard University and the Neuroscience and Aphasia Research Unit at The University of Manchester. I work with Dr Talia Konkle and Professor Matthew Lambon Ralph on the mechanisms of high-level vision, such as how semantic knowledge affects the neural processing of object recognition.

The ISSF is a fantastic scheme for early career researchers to start developing their career as an independent researcher, and become competitive to apply for grants offered by external funding bodies, such as the MRC, British Academy, or Wellcome Trust. I would encourage any young researcher to apply to the ISSF award, join us, and bring your talents and experiences to The University of Manchester.