Dr. Fırat Soylu

Associate Professor of Educational Psychology and Neuroscience
Program Coordinator, Educational Neuroscience BS Program
​Department of Educational Studies, College of Education,The University of Alabama

---

---

I am an associate professor of educational psychology and neuroscience at the University of Alabama. My research focuses on mathematical cognition, embodied cognition, structural and functional correlates of learning and cognition in the brain, and implications of neuroscience studies for education. I use behavioral, MRI, EEG, and computational modeling methods in my research. Being a dad to three kids, I also consider myself an “action researcher.”

Short Bio

A native of Ankara, Turkey, after graduating from TED Ankara High School, I received a BS degree in computer education and instructional technology, and took graduate courses in cognitive science at the Middle East Technical University. I completed my dissertation on the embodiment of arithmetic processing in the Cognitive Neuroimaging Lab, and received a dual PhD in Instructional Systems Technology and Cognitive Science from Indiana University, Bloomington in 2011. Following that, I was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Connected Learning and Computer Based Modeling at Northwestern University for three years.

In 2014, I started working as an assistant professor of educational psychology and neuroscience in the Department of Educational Studies, at the University of Alabama. While at UA, I have led the development of the Educational Neuroscience PhD Concentration and the Educational Neuroscience BSc program (http://edneuro.ua.edu). I also direct the ELDEN Lab, where I mentor undergraduate and graduate students across different programs and collaborate with colleagues at UA and other institutions.