Jean-Paul
What year are you in school?
Senior '12
What Fellowship did you get and what does it involve?
The fellowship received was a Fulbright grant.The plan is to use the Fulbright award to travel to Lausanne, Switzerland to work with Dr. Olaf Blanke, the director of the Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale of Lausanne (EPFL). The EPFL is also home to the Brain Mind Institute, which is one of the largest institutes in the world studying brain sciences. My work will concern questions relating to how we come to form a mental representation of our bodily self, and how can this mechanism be disrupted in the case of out-of-body experience. This lab uses some of the most sophisticated techniques allowed by today’s technology, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, transcranial magnetic stimulation, electroencephalography, and the use of virtual reality.
How has Gustavus prepared you for this experience?
Through help and mentoring from people like Tim Robinson, Lauren Hecht, and Jan Wotton, I was not only able to do research here at my home institutions, but also at larger institutions with additional technical equipment. The great strength of Gustavus lies in the people that form the community, and if you realize that, and then are able to form strong connections with those with whom you share an interest, you are really going to enhance your educational possibilities here.
Alisa has been of vital importance not only because she kept me on track with deadlines, but she also brings great insight about the whole process. Alisa understood from the very first moment that she and I had to embark together on a learning process. She was definitely ready to go through that process with me and I think we both know that that was reflected in the final draft of the proposal.