Professor Ute B Leonards

My work falls into two areas: cognitive neurosciences and humanoid robotics. What unifies my work is its focus on human vision. Why vision? Because what we see guides our movements, shapes our experiences and thoughts, influences how we interact with others, and ultimately defines who we are. Who we are defines what we see and how we see it.

I have a long history of working with neurologists, neuropsychologists, psychiatrists and roboticists to explore the mechanisms underlying visual perception, action and interaction in the context of a person’s individual characteristics and the environment they live in. 

More recently, and my main research area, I have been collaborating closely with colleagues in biomechanics, computer vision, civil engineering and humanities to understand how patterns in the visual environment impact our movements, health and wellbeing.

Links within Bristol

• BRACE Charity
• Bristol Neuroscience
• Bristol Health Partners and Health Integration Teams
• Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL)
• Bristol Vision Institute(BVI)
• Cabot Institute
• Clinical & Academic Network for Translational Research & Education in Neuropsychology(CANTREN)
• Clinical Research and Imaging Centre (CRIC)
• Dr Priscilla Heard, University of the West of England
• NeuroEducational research network (NEnet)
• Steve Maslin, Schumacher Institute
• UKCRIC

Collaborations outside Bristol

• Professor Hiroshi Ashida (Kyoto University, Japan)
• Professor Todd Handy (University of British Columbia, Canada)
• Professor Klaus Oberauer (University of Zurich, Switzerland)
• Dr Alex Shepherd (Birkbeck, UK)
• Professor Arnold Wilkins (University of Essex, UK)
• Professor Johannes Zanker (Royal Holloway University of London, UK)
• Professor Daniele Zavagno (Università di Milano-Bicocca, Italy)