Nicole Ruta

Nicole is a trained psychologist with a background in cognitive neuroscience, psychological rehabilitation and neurobiology. She is dedicated to multidisciplinary research and she worked with experts in fine art, computer engineering, graphic coding and neurobiology.

Nicole's PhD thesis studied visual perception in far peripheral visual space and its artistic representations. She is currently involved in a multidisciplinary project with Brendan Wolfe (School of Divinity) and Dhanraj Vishwanath (School of Psychology and Neuroscience) investigating the psychological implications of the addition of text in religious images.

Nicole’s main research interests involve aesthetic experience, art history, space perception, affective connotations of visual properties and their applications in architecture and design.

Between 2015 and 2020 Nicole joined the Fovography research team, composed of Prof Robert Pepperell and Alistair Burleigh, at Cardiff Metropolitan University. She lead the user end technology validation and testing programme at Fovotec. Nicole's role involved integrating scientific investigation and creative practice to develop an innovative imaging technology based on human vision.

During her doctoral studies, Nicole was involved in a successful Wellcome Trust Seed Award investigating the relationship between the artistic manipulation of images and mindfulness practice.