Konrad Kording

Kording obtained both a diploma degree and a PhD in physics at ETH Zurich in 1997 and 2001, respectively. He then worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Collegium Helveticum in Zurich and at University College London, followed by a Heisenberg Fellow position at MIT.[1] He joined the faculty at Northwestern University and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago where he was a professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation, physiology, and applied mathematics.[2] In 2017, he joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania with joint appointments in the Department of Neuroscience and Department of Bioengineering.[1]

Konrad Kording's research combines experimental methods with the application of computational principles. The main principle of his work is the idea of normative models and in particular Bayesian statistics. Some of his most controversial work is work on predicting the future success of scientists, leading to a calculator predicting the h-index 10 years into the future. His experimental work addresses motor learning and motor control, relating these phenomena to Bayesian ideas. Most recently, he has focused on methods of analyzing neural data and methods for obtaining large neural datasets (see Brain Initiative).