Jascha Achterberg giving a lecture on computational neuroscience

Combining knowledge in neuroscience and computational theory with a passion for discovery, development and teaching.

My research

As a PhD student at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, I study the connection of biological and artificial intelligence. Using large scale electrophysiological, neuroimaging, and behavioural data, recorded in humans and non-human primates, I work out which features underlie highly functional brains to translate them into neuroscience-inspired artificial neural networks (NeuroAI). With this I hope to understand the general principles underlying computation in biological and artificial networks. To achieve this very interdisciplinary goal, I am supervised by John Duncan (Cambridge) and Matthew Botvinick (Google DeepMind). My research is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through a Gates Cambridge Scholarship. In addition, I am a part of the NeuroAI research team at Intel Labs.


Teaching

I give small group seminars (Cambridge "Supervisions") for second year undergraduates who study Cognitive Neuroscience as part of their degree in Natural Sciences, Psychological & Behavioural Sciences or Philosophy at Cambridge. In addition I supervise students who want to pursue a computational research project as part of their studies in Neuroscience.


Entrepreneurship

Alongside my basic research, I am working with my colleague Danyal Akarca to translate our models and findings from computational neuroscience to improve mental health diagnostics and treatment. Through our project Psynergy Mental Health we collaborate with the NHS and Cambridge Enterprise to make our solutions available to the public. 


Life at St John's College

At Cambridge I am a member of St John’s College. I have been Vice-President of the Graduate Student Society (SBR) of St John’s. I row for college as part of the Lady Margaret Boat Club and have been part of the 2021 first men’s boat and our successful row at Henley Royal Regatta. If there is any spare time left, I love playing the guitar or the trumpet.

To learn more about me and my past work, have a look at my profiles below: