Prof Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky
Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience
School of Psychology
College of Education, Behavioural and Social Science
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.
Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky is Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and Head of the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory within the Australian Research Centre for Interactive and Virtual Environments (IVE).
Ina joined UniSA in 2014 from the University of Marburg, Germany. Prior to her appointment as Professor of Neurolinguistics in Marburg, she headed the Max Planck Research Group "Neurotypology" at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany.
Ina is passionate about understanding how the human brain processes language – an interest that she first developed due to her bilingual upbringing, after having moved to Australia from Germany at the age of 7. She has championed the perspective that, in order to truly understand how the human brain processes language, we need to take into account the full diversity of the world's 7000 languages. Her research is further inspired by the recognition that language – like all human cognitive abilities – is deeply rooted in neurobiology and basic mechanisms of information processing in the brain.
With a prolific research program reflected in over 90 publications in refereed international journals, over 20 book chapters and 4 monographs / edited volumes, Ina has secured more than AU$4 million in competitive grant funding. Her research has been honoured with a number of prizes, including the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize (awarded by the German Research Foundation and German Federal Ministry of Education and Research), the most prestigious scientific prize for young researchers in Germany.
My research focuses on the neurobiology of language, the way in which language is implemented by the brain. Specifically, I am developing a model of language processing (eADM) that aspires towards neurobiological plausibility. The eADM is singular in that it draws upon neurobiological design principles gleaned from animal models as well as on functional insights from cross-linguistic comparisons: with approximately 7000 living languages but only one human brain to process them, generalisations in the midst of this diversity presumably reflect underlying organisational principles that can inform neurobiological models. I conduct research using electroencepahlography (EEG), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and behavioural techniques (e.g. eye-tracking).,To find out more about my research and further research in Cognitive Neuroscience at UniSA, please also visit the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory website.
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How free is free?: word order in Australian Indigenous languages, ARC - Discovery Projects, 01/01/2021 - 31/03/2026
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Illuminating the neural basis of Mindchamps Music using electroencephalography (EEG), MindChamps Early Learning Australia Pty Ltd, 01/08/2023 - 31/12/2024
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Using language to predict cognitive outcomes in old age, ARC - Future Fellowship, 01/01/2017 - 31/12/2021
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HPRnet - Enhancing human performance in complex environments, Defence Science and Technology Group, 23/03/2017 - 23/05/2021
Courses I teach
- BEHL 1024 Foundations in Cognitive Neuroscience (2025)
- BEHL 2023 Data Science for Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology (2025)
- BEHL 3028 Psychology Research Experience (2025)
- BEHL 1024 Foundations in Cognitive Neuroscience (2024)
- BEHL 2023 Data Science for Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology (2024)
- BEHL 3028 Psychology Research Experience (2024)
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Principal Supervisor | - | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Annaliese Anesbury |
| 2024 | Principal Supervisor | - | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mrs Maya Al Safadi |
| 2023 | Co-Supervisor | - | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Soroush Masoumzadeh |
| 2022 | Co-Supervisor | - | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Vina Thanabalan |
| 2017 | Principal Supervisor | - | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Daniel Rogers |
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