Phivos Phylactou

Research, Science Communication, Teaching, & More

About me

Hi, I am Phivos!

If you met me outside of Cyprus, you probably know me as Phibo. In any case, check out this brief clip from the sitcom Friends, if you want to make sure that you remember my name or that you pronounce it correctly.

I am an experimental psychologist interested in cognitive neuroscience. In short, I spend most of my time bringing people into a lab, having them play weird, boring, video games, while zapping their brain using magnetic pulses, with a machine called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulator (TMS).

TMS is a safe, non-invasive, and reliable tool for brain stimulation. I use it to understand how the brain processes visual information. You can read more on that here.

Sometimes, I also like to record people’s eyes, using a very precise camera, commonly known as an eye-tracker, while they’re playing these boring games. With the eye-tracker, I can measure where the eye is looking or how the pupil size is changing with amazing temporal precision, of up to a thousand measures a second!

In general, I am excited to understand how we make sense of the world around us. How does our brain process and store information? For example, why does the selfie on the right side of this website look so weird?

Can you make sense of it?

If you are curious about what is going on, you can click here to watch my TEDx talk, where I explain what is happening!

Biosketch

I am currently a Post-Doctoral Associate at the School of Physical Therapy, University of Western Ontario, conducting my research at the Gray Centre for Mobility and Activity at Parkwood Institute.

I obtained my BSc in Psychology, from Frederick University in 2019, where I graduated as the Valedictorian. My graduation address can be found here (in Greek). In 2023, I received my PhD from the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences at the Cyprus University of Technology, where I worked in the Brain and Cognitive Science Lab.

My background in psychology made me curious about the neuroscientific basis of cognitive processes. Therefore, I am keen on investigating the neurologically healthy or damaged brain to discover basic neuroscientific evidence about perception, memory, and attention, with the use of non-invasive brain stimulation techniques, eye-tracking, brain imaging, and behavioral experiments. I also promote science communication and open science practices.

What I do

Check out the tabs below to get familiar with a few things that I do in my every day life.

This can give you an indication of how we can collaborate.

Please feel free to contact me to establish a collaboration, clarify something you saw here (or elsewhere), or to simply say hi!

Research

Research:

Most of my work life is dedicated to scientific research.

You can check out the Projects section to find out the details of my work!

Or, have a look at the list of my publications, if you don’t already have an overwhelming “to read” list!

Science Communication

Science Communication:

I am also very keen on promoting science communication.

I have delivered various science communication workshops to scientists, for numerous organisations such as the Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation. You can check out this youtube video as an example from an online workshop.

Another example of my passion for science communication, is found in my TEDx talk, which was given in my hometown, Limassol, as part of a TEDx youth event.

A more recent example can be found in this research sprint, where I present my main work as a postdoc at Western, in just 2 minutes.

Non-formal education

Non-formal education:

I’ve had the opportunity to deliver plenty of lectures & trainings.

Either as part of university teaching, as an invited speaker, or during other events (e.g., Erasmus+ projects)

One of my favorite approach for teaching, involves non-formal education methods. As a matter of fact, I try to embrace such methods in almost all of my teachings.

Non-formal education is an interactive, fun, and creative way to transfer knowledge.

Here’s one of my favorite workshops, which I delivered in Germany for Young Friends of the Earth, Europe, in 2019.

Teaching

Teaching:

Sharing knowledge and expertise is one of the most fulfilling experiences in my academic journey so far.

Luckily, I was privileged enough to take on a lot of teaching opportunities, as an invited lecturer, a teaching assistant, and as a lecturer.

This has helped me develop my own teaching philosophy & style.

Currently, I am a visiting lecturer at Frederick University, in Cyprus, where I teach Psychology of Learning and Developmental Psychology to nursery students.

Other courses that I have been involved in, during my teaching assistanships at the Cyprus University of Technology, include Cognitive Neuroscience, Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation, Research Methods, and Statistics.

My teaching, is strongly influenced by my non-formal education expertise, as well as by my passion with science communication.