Our people

Julia Bahnmuller

Julia Bahnmueller

Lecturer in Mathematical Cognition

Julia Bahnmueller studied psychology at the University of Tuebingen, Germany, where she received her PhD in 2018. Her research interests are in the fields of behavioural and neural underpinnings of numerical processing and learning, as well as the development and training of numerical and mathematical competencies. She is particularly interested in how and when language might shape the way we process numbers. Julia is also a trained dyscalculia therapist allowing her to both put her theoretical knowledge into practice and to feed research and teaching with questions and input resulting from the work with children, learning therapists, instructors and parents.

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Jonathan Causton

Jonathan Causton

Centre Manager

Jonathan is responsible for the day to day operations of the Centre. Having graduated in Finance at Nottingham Trent University, by profession Jonathan is an accountant having spent his early career for 10 years in local and central government finance. For the last 10 years he has worked in higher education in the midlands, including The University of Nottingham. He has a wealth of experience having worked in university research support roles including pre and post award for international and UK grants, contracts, academic consultancy, REF policy, research and business development, project manager and operations manager roles. He has also worked in large university faculties in operations and management roles. Having also been vice-chair of governors at a Nottinghamshire primary school he also adds value to the Centre by bringing governance and primary school education experience.

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Ouhao Chen

Ouhao Chen

Lecturer in Mathematical Cognition

Ouhao is a Lecturer. His research aims to understand the cognitive processes involved in education, focusing on the role of working memory in learning and teaching mathematics. His work has been widely published in educational psychology journals. In 2017 he was the finalist of Dean’s Research Awards for the Best Higher Degree Research Publication, University of New South Wales, Australia.

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Krzysztof Cipora

Krzysztof Cipora

Lecturer in Mathematical Cognition

Krzysztof Cipora completed his PhD at Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland in 2016, and subsequently worked as a postdoc at the Department of Psychology, University of Tuebingen, Germany. His work focuses on the relationship between elementary number processing and mathematics skills, and on mathematics anxiety, its measurement and its relation to mathematics achievement. He has also investigated numerical cognition in the indigenous Amazon tribe Tsimane’. Apart from scientific outlets, he has also published several papers on numerical cognition aimed for teachers and the general public.

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Petro Erasmus

Visiting academic

Dr Erasmus completed her Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Psychology at the University of Pretoria in 2013, and the Masters Degree in Guidance and Counselling (2003) at the University of Pretoria (cum laude), a Masters in Education (specializing in Guidance and Counselling from the University of South Africa (2007), as well as a Masters Degree in School Guidance and Counselling (2006, UniSA). She also completed an Honours Degree specializing in Educational Management at the University of South Africa (1990). She is registered as an Educational Psychologist with the Health Professions Council of South Africa. She has a private practice in Mafikeng (Child, Family Guidance and Development Centre) since 2007 and a Remedial Centre since 1992. She works extensively in the Mafikeng community and was the project leader for the Bullying project which won the prize of community project of the year in 2015. She is one of the founder members of the NEURADA Research project aimed at research relating to neurodevelopmental disorders (Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia and Dyscalculia). She is also involved in the WHO Caregiver Skills Training Project and works closely with Centre of Autism Research in Africa (CARA). She is the creator of Maths WHARTELS – an educational series of products including a board game, puppets, maths apparatus, storybook and Whartels application aimed at improving mahts achievement using Play.

Natalie Flint

Natalie Flint

Postdoctoral Research Associate, CEML

Natalie is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Centre for Early Mathematics Learning.

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Colin Foster

Colin Foster

Reader in Mathematics Education

Colin is a Reader in Mathematics Education and the Director of the º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ Mathematics Education Network. His research interests focus on the learning and teaching of mathematics in ways that support students’ conceptual understanding. He is particularly interested in the design of classroom tasks that enable students to develop the necessary fluency in mathematical processes that will support them in solving mathematical problems. He is a Fellow of the International Society for Design and Development in Education and the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology.

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Tom Francome

Tom Francome

Senior Enterprise Fellow

Tom’s role in the Centre is to work to integrate basic research, academic scholarship and practical experience. He completed his mathematics degree at the University of Birmingham where he stayed to complete teacher training in secondary mathematics. Tom taught mathematics in schools and worked for many years as a Head of Mathematics and Head of Faculty winning the TES Award for ‘Maths Team of the Year 2015’. In 2016 he contributed lesson materials for the EEF funded project on Best Practice in Mixed-Attainment Teaching. This work was awarded the 2016 BCF-BERA Routledge Curriculum Journal Prize. Tom was previously a lecturer in secondary mathematics education at the University of Birmingham. Tom is interested in all aspects of educational research but in particular equitable approaches to teaching mathematics and the development of expertise. Tom is currently conducting PhD research into the nature of practising in mathematics.

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Camilla Gilmore

Camilla Gilmore

Professor in Mathematical Cognition

Camilla Gilmore is a Professor in Mathematical Cognition and co-director of the Centre. Her research is focused on understanding how mathematics skills develop with particular attention to early years development. This work aims to identify cognitive and environmental factors that influence mathematics learning and to understand why some children have difficulties learning mathematics. She holds a Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellowship from the Royal Society and was awarded the 2020 Experimental Psychology Society Prize Lecture.

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Matthew Inglis

Matthew Inglis

Professor of Mathematical Cognition

Matthew Inglis is a Professor of Mathematical Cognition and co-director of the Centre. His research aims to understand the cognitive processes involved in numerical thinking, logical reasoning, and mathematical practice. His work has been widely published across both psychology and education journals. From 2010 to 2015 he held a Royal Society Worshipful Company of Actuaries Research Fellowship, in 2014 he was awarded the Selden Prize by the Mathematical Association of America, and in 2017 he was named the Times Higher Education Outstanding Research Supervisor of the Year.

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Ella James-Brabham

Ella James-Brabham

Research Associate

I completed my BSc in Psychology at the University of Leeds in 2017. I went onto receive ESRC (1+3) funding, completing my MA in Social Research Methods at the University of Sheffield in 2018. Following this, I began my PhD at the University of Sheffield, exploring cognitive and home learning environment mechanisms by which socioeconomic status impacts early maths ability. I am due to submit my PhD in early 2022. 
 
I joined The Centre for Mathematical Cognition in November 2021 to work with Dr Francesco Sella and Professor Tim Jay on their Nuffield funded project to design and evaluate a novel board game to improve early numerical skills. 
 
Fiona Leedham

Fiona Leedham

Partnership Development Manager, CEML

Fiona is the Partnership Development Manager in the Centre for Early Mathematics Learning.

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Hugo Lortie-Forgues

Hugo Lortie-Forgues

Senior Lecturer in Mathematical Cognition

Before joining the Centre, Hugues (Hugo) conducted research at the University of York, at the University of Quebec Montreal (Canada), and at Carnegie Mellon University (US). His primary research focuses on mathematics education, in particular how children and adults learn arithmetic involving fractions and decimals. Another major goal of his research is to improve how educational interventions are evaluated and how their impact is communicated to non-specialists.

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Priti Meredith

Priti Meredith

Centre Manager, CEML

Priti is the Centre Manager for the Centre for Early Mathematics Learning.

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Manisha Mistry

Marketing Officer

Manisha is the Marketing Officer for the Centre for Mathematical Cognition. Manisha has a background in journalism, with 6 years experience in content creating and working with the media. She has worked for the School of Science for almost 10 years in various roles including student administration, internal communications and more recently undergraduate, postgraduate, research and enterprise marketing for the School. Manisha will play a key role in CMC marketing, utilising her experience and knowledge to raise the profile of the centre and its activities. 

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Korbinian Moeller

Korbinian Moeller

Professor of Mathematical Cognition

Korbinian Moeller is a Professor of Mathematical Cognition. His research interests focus on the cognitive and neuronal underpinnings of mathematical abilities with a focus on their development and acquisition (e.g., through game-based approaches). His work has been broadly published in psychological, neuroscientific, and educational journals. With his team he developed the award-winning game Crabs & Turtles fostering children’s computational thinking. Prior to joining º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ, Korbinian worked at the Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, and was a professor at the University of Tübingen.

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Kinga Morsanyi

Kinga Morsanyi

Senior Lecturer in Mathematical Cognition

Kinga Morsanyi is a Senior Lecturer. Her research concerns the development of mathematical abilities and mathematics anxiety, and the contribution of reasoning and metacognitive processes to mathematics performance. She is also interested in how affective states influence mathematical abilities and people’s reasoning skills and decisions, and how mathematics and reasoning skills can be improved by training. She also has an interest in atypical development (in particular, dyscalculia and autism). Prior to joining the Centre, Kinga worked at Queens’ University Belfast.

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Aatif Patel

Technical Tutor

Aatif is the technical tutor for the Centre. His role concerns the provision of support and the development of technical resources for research. He has experience from similar roles and also includes voluntary support in local and national initiatives on mental health, sport and interprofessional education. He has been recognised for supporting research and improving partnerships.

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Francesco Sella

Francesco Sella

Lecturer in Mathematical Cognition

Francesco’s research focuses on understanding the cognitive mechanisms involved in the acquisition of numerical skills in typically and atypically developing individuals. He is also interested in the design of cognitive and educational interventions to improve mathematical learning. His research has explored several topics related to mathematical cognition, mainly published in psychology and neuroscience journals.

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Chris Shore

Senior Enterprise Fellow

Chris Shore has been teaching Mathematics for 25 years. He is currently Director of Maths across the Lionheart Academy Trust, a Specialist Leader of Education (SLE) and helps lead the East Midlands South Maths Hub, one of the network of 37 Department for Education funded Maths Hubs in England. In his classroom practice, he always aims to develop deep conceptual understanding along with procedural fluency.

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Hanna Weiers

Hanna Weiers

Postdoctoral Research Associate, CEML

Hanna is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Centre for Early Mathematics Learning.

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Beth Woollacott

Beth Woollacott

Postdoctoral Research Associate, CEML

Beth is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Centre for Early Mathematics Learning.

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Franz Wortha

Franz Wortha

Postdoctoral Research Associate, CEML

Franz is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Centre for Early Mathematics Learning.

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Silke Wortha

Research Fellow

Silke is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Mathematical Cognition.

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Iro-Xenidou-Dervou

Iro Xenidou-Dervou

Senior Lecturer in Mathematical Cognition

Iro is a Senior Lecturer in Mathematical Cognition. She completed her undergraduate studies at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece (BSc in Psychology), her masters at Leiden University in the Netherlands (Research MSc in Developmental Psychology) and her PhD in Psychology and Education (with Cum Laude distinction) at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Her research aims at understanding individual differences in children’s mathematics achievement and the cognitive processes involved in mathematics learning. She has been junior assistant coordinator of the EARLI Special Interest Group on Neuroscience and Education, and her work has been published in both psychology and education journals.

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Bobo Kai Yin Chan

Megan Foulkes

My research is looking at manipulative use in the early years. Specifically, I am interested in different manipulative features (e.g., bright colours, textures, shapes) and how these influence children’s learning and performance. I am also interested in the extent to which evidence and recommendations from current research align with practitioners’ views and experiences when using manipulatives in more naturalistic classroom settings. 

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Tanya Gleadlow

I started my studies at º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ DME after receiving a 1+3 collaborative studentship from the ESRC Midlands Graduate School DTP, during which I obtained an MSc in Social Science Research with a specialism in Education. I am aiming to evaluate and develop a data science curriculum to increase motivation and ambition for further study and careers in Computing and STEM.

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Alina Kalnina-Kalnaraja

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Husnain Muhammad

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Caroline Peters

My research focuses on how maths manipulatives can help reduce maths anxiety as well as develop deeper understandings of the concepts being taught. 

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Serena Rossi

My research interests are related to the field of numerical cognition, working memory and emotional aspects related to academic achievement, including specific test forms of anxiety in school age children.

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Alison Roulstone

Tuya Sa

My research area is to investigate the nature of aesthetic dimension in both mathematicians and students' mathematical experience, to develop an in-depth and consistent theoretical framework of the impact of aesthetic in seeking mathematical understanding.

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Usama Saad

Usama Saad

I did my teacher training in the Further Education sector where I worked as a lecturer of maths. I joined º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ in October 2020 after completing MSc Psychology in Education at the University of York. I am interested in the relation between language and maths and what are the difficulties faced by EAL learners when they study maths in English speaking educational settings.

Research: My current research is investigating the difficulties faced by EAL learners when they solve mathematical word problems.

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Waqas Sarfraz

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Jemma Sherwood

Katie Smith

In 2018, I completed a joint honours undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Linguistics at the University of York. I stayed in York and completed my masters in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience in 2019. In January 2021, I started studying at º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ. I am interested in language and mathematics; specifically, how different language systems can influence mathematical education.

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Georgois Thoma

Georgios' research interests are in video gaming, problem-solving and fractions.

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Theresa Wege

Theresa Wege

I’m a first year PhD student and postgraduate teaching assistant at the Mathematics Education Centre.

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