This is the latest of an ongoing series of interviews with people involved with our new Open Access journal, Experimental Results – a forum for short research papers from experimental disciplines across Science, Technology and Medicine, providing authors with an outlet for rapid publication of small chunks of research findings with maximum visibility.

Can you tell us a bit about your background, and what your current research is focused on?

I graduated in Psychology, majoring in Cognitive Science. As a postgraduate, I focused on Psychophysics and Psychophysical Methods, a field where Experimental Psychology, Mathematical Psychology, and Statistics intersect. My PhD dissertation was on Bayesian estimation of sensory thresholds and I have been attached to Psychophysics ever since. I currently work on the development and empirical testing of probabilistic models of unidimensional perceptual processes, especially on time perception. In addition, I develop, test, and refine psychophysical methods to study those processes.

What has been your biggest challenge/greatest achievement in your career so far?
It does not look very exciting, but I feel l that the biggest challenge that I have faced thus far was being able to communicate the relevance of the problems I work on. These problems pertain to basic research whereas the media often focus too strongly on the immediate applicability of results. This can hamper the progress of long-term basic research programs by making them less appealing to young researchers and by attracting fewer resources. I am not denying the necessity and social impact of short-term applied results, but most crucial technological and health improvements stem from basic-science contributions made decades ago. Those programs must continue to nurture future technical developments and applications. We, as researchers, are responsible for persuading funding agencies and the general public of the importance of basic research.

Why did you decide to become an Editorial Board Member?
I was given the chance to join the project and I found it to be a quite stimulating opportunity to make science move forward in a way that I think it makes a lot of sense nowadays. I could not miss that chance.

How will Experimental Results benefit your research field?
There is a lot of potential and I am sure that the future will be more fertile than I can imagine now.
Psychology is a relatively young science that still lacks a solid theoretical background in many subareas. In the current publishing environment, many novel empirical findings remain hidden unless researchers can put forward a relatively broad explanatory framework. In contrast, Experimental Results allows presenting findings that are relevant and though provoking but lack a cohesive theoretical corpus behind them. This availability can help theorists and modelers think about current research problems from a different perspective. The field would benefit as a result.
In addition, this journal can also foster a healthy replication culture and other good practices in psychological research as it offers an outlet to present replication studies and negative results. From a more practical point of view, I am sure that Experimental Results will help save resources if only because it can prevent researchers from carrying out studies that are known to lead to a dead end.

What excites you about Experimental Results?
I like its innovative approach and I think it bridges a gap not only in how science is currently communicated, but also in how it is done. It is a big step towards making science more collaborative while acknowledging authorship and promoting research integrity.

Find out more about the journal, or submit your research here