Graduate Students

Name Position Research Area Email Bio
Aloysius Tok Yee Fun PhD Student aloysius.tok@u.nus.edu My research interest lies in the intersection between AI and Psychology, with a particular focus on human-AI interaction and trust. Prior to my doctoral studies, I earned my Master's degree at NUS through the CDP and subsequently worked on an interdisciplinary project focused on AI, ethics, and smart city technologies.
Alyssa Indrajaya PhD Student Cognitive Psychology alyssa.indrajaya@u.nus.edu What makes a better learning experience? My research interests are learning, memory and metacognition. I am interested in the beliefs and perceptions of different learning enhancement strategies as well as using them combat test anxiety and improve focus in our ever-changing society.
Anna Heng PhD Student Cognitive Psychology anna_heng@u.nus.edu I am interested in psycholinguistics. In particular, I am undertaking research on word recognition in Chinese.
Ariel Lee PhD Student Social Psychology E0771168@u.nus.edu Interested in academic identity and motivation in minority students.
Carine Liew PhD Student Clinical Psychology e1385621@u.nus.edu I am undertaking a PhD with a focus on Clinical Psychology. I am interested in the development and treatment of psychopathology. I am a registered Clinical Psychologist and have been working with children and adults in the past decade.
Clarabelle Tan Qian Ling Masters Student Developmental Psychology e0970486@u.nus.edu My current research interest pertains to developmental and social phenomena regarding adolescents, for instances their social relationships or their coping mechanisms, and its impact on these individuals. From there, I would like to implement strategies or lesson curriculums that can provide guidance to these adolescents to improve their developmental outcomes.
Dai Meng PhD Student Developmental Psychology daimeng@u.nus.edu My research interest is in investigating the development of moral behaviors in young children, applying both behavioral and neurobiological methods. In addition, I explore the cognitive factors that contribute to the development of moral behavior, including Theory of Mind and Executive Function.
Eelama Devi Paraniruva Singhan PhD Student e0966396@u.nus.edu I am pursuing my PhD under the supervision of Dr Ryan Hong. I joined this programme with the aim of gaining a more nuanced understanding and in-depth knowledge of relationships between personality and psychopathology and with the hope that this research informs interventions for the vulnerable population in our society. Broadly speaking, I am interested in exploring associations between dispositional traits and social-cognitive processes and their additive effects on psychopathology. I am also interested in are elucidating etiological processes that are involved in the development of psychopathology including substance use or exploring transdiagnostic pathways and cognitive vulnerabilities in relation to internalizing symptoms. In my free time, I love reading thrillers and spending time with my loved ones.
Gayathri Devendaran Naidu Masters Student Cognitive Psychology e0969314@u.nus.edu Hello! My current research investigates the comparative efficacy of distinct learning strategies and explores how feedback mechanisms influence cognitive processing and knowledge retention. Aside from that, I also have an interest in clinical psychology! In my free time, I enjoy hiking, cafe-hopping, watching K-dramas and doom scrolling on TikTok 🙂
Genevieve Fong PhD Student Comparative Psychology (Animal welfare and behaviour) genevieve.fong@u.nus.edu From my previous experiences in zoo research and education, my research interests broadly lie in animal welfare, behaviour and reintroductions.
Under the supervision of Dr Elias Garcia-Pelegrin, I hope to explore comparative psychology further (e.g. animal cognition, emotion, personality) and tie these findings in with animal welfare and improve husbandry practices.
Haneul Chun (Esther) PhD Student Developmental Psychology haneulchun@u.nus.edu I am passionate about exploring the intricacies of parent-adolescent socialization processes and developing effective parent-targeted interventions to alleviate teenage social anxiety and address mental health challenges. By integrating perspectives from developmental and clinical psychology, I aim to enhance our understanding of how family dynamics influence adolescent well-being and to create practical solutions that support the healthier development of adolescents.
Heng Si Ying, Claire Masters Student Social Psychology e0968307@u.nus.edu My research interest mainly lies in Industrial and Organisational Psychology. I am particularly interested in group and workplace dynamics, such as how team attributes may interact to affect individuals’ attitudes, behaviours, and work outcomes.
Hyungjun (Jun) Park PhD Student Quantitative Psychology e0437677@u.nus.edu Hi, I am Jun - the name is pronounced like the month June. I research about how to make sense of incomplete psychological data, under the supervision of Prof Mike Cheung. I try to figure out how to improve upon the methods there already are. I am always looking for friends to discuss about research methods and badminton.
Inge Uli Wiswanti PhD Student Developmental Psychology e1583434@u.nus.edu What drives children to bend the truth for the sake of others? I am intrigued by the moral decisions children make, especially when it involves navigating complex social situations, like telling a prosocial lie. My research explores children's moral development, focusing on how Indonesian school-aged children respond to moral dilemmas. I am particularly interested in why they choose to lie to benefit others, what factors shape these choices, and how such behaviors influences their moral development.

I am a registered psychologist with a Master's in Educational Psychology, and I have spent several years working directly with children in both clinical and educational settings. I am currently pursuing my PhD under the supervision of A/P Ding Xiao Pan
Joanne Chua PhD Student Clinical Psychology psycsaj@nus.edu.sg I am undertaking a PhD with a focus on Clinical Psychology, specifically on competency-based training and supervision.
Joanne Lim Masters Student Personality Psychology Joanne.Lim@u.nus.edu Primary research interest: dark traits, other personality traits, including how they tie in with other fields of psychology, and the corresponding cognitive processes in relation to intrapersonal feelings and behaviours.
Secondary research interest: psychological scale construction
Joy Tong PhD Student joytong@u.nus.edu My research interest lies in the social cognitive underpinnings of cross-race face perception. Specifically, I an interested in how group categorisations, motivation, intergroup emotions and biases could contribute to our ability to recognise faces from other races.
Joyce Lum Ka Wei Masters Student Social Psychology e1144062@u.nus.edu One of my lifelong projects is exploring psychological insights that enhance societal well-being, with emotions at the heart of human experience. Currently, I focus on emotions —studying social and cognitive factors, appraisal structures, and their impact on cognition, motivation, and well-being. I'm also passionate about mastering statistical techniques for robust data analysis.

Beyond research, I embrace slow living —finding joy in music, arts, nature, philosophical reflections on life, the art of coffee brewing and tasting, volunteering in mental health settings, and cherishing moments with loved ones.
Justina Tan Masters Student Clinical and Translational Science justina.tan@u.nus.edu Hello! I am a Master's student under the Concurrent Degree Programme (CDP), with a second major in social work. My research interests include developmental and cultural factors contributing to mental health issues. Additionally, I am interested in clinical and translational work and hope to conduct research that impacts real lives. In my free time, I enjoy singing, watching anime, and exploring food spots in Singapore.
Khoo Ee Wan PhD Student Social Psychology khoo.eewan@u.nus.edu I have a Masters in Industrial and Organisational Psychology, and my current research interest lies in the pursuit of learning and development goals, especially how our social/organisational context influences this.
Kong Yuwei PhD Student Social Psychology e1023888@u.nus.edu I am interested in explaining cultural differences from the perspective of culture and history and exploring complex systems through network analysis. People's attitude toward nature is what I focus on now.
Lee Russell PhD Student Educational Psychology psylr@nus.edu.sg With a passion for education and teaching, I am interested in a range of topics that relate to student learning and the learning process. In particular, certain areas I have explored in the past are: the curiosity-effort relationship in the context of learning, student self-regulation in higher education and individual factors that affect online learning success. I also have an interest in how language affects knowledge acquisition/understanding and the effect of different grading systems on student motivation and performance. In my free time, I indulge in a variety of hobbies that I will never have enough time for, including but not limited to writing, video production, card games and mixing alcohol.
Lee Sze Chi PhD Student Quantitative and Clinical Psychology sze.chi@u.nus.edu I am broadly interested in using statistical models to better understand the relationship of symptoms across psychological disorders, as well as predicting the risk of developing disorders
Leong Utek PhD Student Personality Psychology e0771165@u.nus.edu Broadly, I am interested in advancing healthcare research through the study of personality and individual differences. I am particularly interested in the relationship between personality and treatment adherence in Singapore.
Li Binghui PhD Student Clinical Psychology binghui.li@u.nus.edu I am currently a research masters student supervised by Dr Kean Hsu. My research interest lies in the broad field of clinical psychology, with a specific focus on the cognitive mechanisms underlying anxiety and mood disorders. By studying the underlying mechanisms of depression and anxiety, I am also interested in potential development of novel intervention targeting these mechanisms to improve people's mental health state. In my spare time, I enjoy singing, swimming, and video games especially sandbox games.
Li Yumeng PhD Student yumeng.li@u.nus.edu Hi! I am currently pursuing my PhD degree under the supervision of Dr Cynthia Siew. Before joining the PhD program, I conducted several research projects on compound word processing and the perceptual learning of degraded speech. Now, I am focusing on using network analysis to study cognitive structures, particularly the mental lexicon in Chinese.
Li Zheng (Charlie) PhD Student Social Psychology e0983458@u.nus.edu I am pursuing my PhD under the supervision of Dr Michelle See. I am interested in cross-cultural differences in the processes of attitude formation and attitude change. Specifically, my research attempts to examine whether interpersonal and intrapersonal factors can have different influences on people’s attitudes in different cultures.
Liang Tian PhD Student Clinical Psychology e0235123@u.nus.edu Liang Tian is a first year PhD student in clinical psychology under Dr Nur Hani Zainal. Her research interests mainly revolve around affective regulation and well-being, and how lifestyle factors, like sleep, may be associated with mental and physical health.

She is passionate about the advent of wearable devices, digital health, and machine learning/AI. This is because rich insight obtained from free-living affect and physiological data have immense potential to inform tailored interventions on stress buffering, resilience building, and performance boosting across adulthood.

Outside of the lab, Liang Tian takes care of her own well-being by learning new languages and sports (currently Italian and Underwater Hockey), spending time with her favourite people and cats, and taking long nature walks and runs. She tries hard not to think about this self-referential paragraph written in the third person.
Lin Junqi PhD Student Developmental Psychology junqi.lin@u.nus.edu My research interests are to explore the family and sociocultural factors that could enhance children’s emotional and learning development. Specifically, I am interested in the longitudinal effects of parenting practices and parent-child interactions on children’s motivation, social adjustment, and academic performance. Finally, I would like to propose interventions and education programs to promote optimal parenting and positive child development.
Liu Yongshi PhD Student Clinical Psychology e1521321@u.nus.edu My research interests lie in modifiable risk factors for emotional disorders and in how cognitive processes interact with emotion regulation. I aim to optimize targeted interventions to enhance coping strategies, strengthen resilience, and improve well-being. I am also passionate about exploring these topics through technology-based approaches.
Mah Cai Jun, Terence PhD Student e0310083@u.nus.edu My current research interests lie in understanding the complex processes underlying fatigue and motivation. What causes cognitive and emotional fatigue, and how do we recover from it? Outside of research, I have a long-standing interest in Korean culture and board games, and love to spend time reflecting on various questions about life and people!
Mao Anqi PhD Student Cognitive Psychology, Social Psychology mao.anqi@u.nus.edu My research primarily focuses on social perception, specifically on how people extract information from others' faces, actions, and language during social interactions. I am also interested in using computational models to predict human behavior in social dynamics.
Mao Yiyue (Maggie) PhD Student Clinical and  Social Psychology e1583576@u.nus.edu I am a PhD student in Psychology at NUS, supervised by Dr. Adela Isvoranu. My research focuses on cross-cultural psychology and aims to understand psychopathology through scientifically grounded yet culturally responsive frameworks. I am also interested in psychological assessment and the adaptation of measurement tools across diverse populations.
Nadyanna M. Majeed PhD Student Quantitative Psychology nadyanna@u.nus.edu I am a PhD student in Quantitative Psychology at NUS, supervised by Prof Mike Cheung. Previously, I obtained my MPhil and BSocSc(Hons) in Psychology from SMU where I focused on social/personality and cognitive psychology, especially in relation to stress. Currently, I am primarily an applied statistician/research methodologist, where I frequently collaborate with researchers in various fields to ensure they can get the answers to their research questions. In my free time, I enjoy coding/programming, making music, and advocating for animal welfare.
Ong Hee Seng PhD Student Social Psychology heeseng.ong@u.nus.edu My research interest lies in social psychology, especially on national identity, inter-group relation and social cognition. Currently, I am pursing the master's program under the supervision of A/P Jia Lile.
Ong Jiehan (Jamie) PhD Student Clinical Psychology e0776001@u.nus.edu I am undertaking a PhD with a focus on Clinical Psychology, specifically on parental factors and adolescent mental health. I am a registered Clinical Psychologist and have been working with children and adolescents in the past decade.
Qian Yichen PhD Student Cognitive neuroscience e0966377@u.nus.edu I am interested in the brain mechanisms supporting our working memory, visual attention and consciousness.
Qian Zongyu PhD Student Cognitive Psychology e0771160@u.nus.edu Hi, I am Zongyu. My broad research area is cognitive psychology, especially psycholinguistics. Before commencing my doctoral studies, I got some research experience in cognitive neural mechanisms in spoken word production during my Master’s study. Currently, I am pursuing my PhD under the supervision of Associate Professor Winston Goh. My research interest is mental processes underlying speech perception and spoken word recognition. In my free time, I enjoy taking photos and shooting videos to record every second in my life.
Rashida Khudiyeva PhD Student Cognitive Psychology rashidak@u.nus.edu My research interests include how cognitive and instructional factors shape learning, particularly under conditions of complexity and competing demands. I'm curious about how learners engage with strategies in real time, and how subtle shifts in structure or mindset can significantly influence understanding and retention. Outside of research, I read and write science fiction, play chess, and practice piano, pursuits that continue to deepen my curiosity about how the mind processes memory, surprise, and complexity.
Sherard Tan Masters Student Clinical Psychology e0957763@u.nus.edu Hi! I am a Master's student under the Concurrent Degree Programme (CDP). I am generally interested in all areas of clinical psychology, with a special focus on developmental or transdiagnostic factors leading to mental health challenges. I am also interested in interventions designed to address these factors, and hope to help improve treatment for mental health challenges through research. In my free time, I enjoy reading, running, and playing music.
Sherinne Clarissa PhD Student Developmental and Clinical Psychology sherinne.clarissa@u.nus.edu I am currently pursuing my PhD under the supervision of A/P Ryan Hong. My research interests lie at the intersection of developmental and clinical psychology, with a focus on understanding how parents’ personality traits shape their parenting styles and how different parenting styles influence children’s emotion regulation abilities and contribute to the development of symptoms of anxiety and depression. Through this work, I aim to contribute to a deeper understanding of the pathways linking parental characteristics to child mental health outcomes, with potential implications for prevention and intervention strategies.
Shi Yuqing PhD Student Social Cognition yuqing.shi@u.nus.edu My current research focuses on how conceptual knowledge influences trait inferences and the organization of trait space during the dynamic process of impression formation. I am also interested in clinical neuroscience, particularly related to social functioning deficits.
Tabitha Chua Masters Student Cognitive Psychology e0758738@u.nus.edu Hello! I'm pursuing a Masters under the supervision of Dr Steven Pan. My current research focuses on learning strategies and cognition, namely examining the effectiveness of prequestioning and the role of feedback on metacognitive judgements. Aside from that, I enjoy reading, spending money on fancy electric guitars and losing my queen in an online game of chess.
Tanita Giri PhD Student Comparative Cognition (Reptiles) tanita.g@u.nus.edu Hello, I'm Tanita, and I'm pursuing my PhD studies under the Animal Behaviour and Cognition lab in the Department of Psychology, under the supervision of Dr. Elias Garcia-Pelegrin. My research interests lie in understanding the cognitive abilities of non-human animals and how these insights can inform our understanding of the evolution of complex cognition in humans. Particularly, I would like to explore deeper into reptile cognition, examining cognitive functions in reptiles that have traditionally been associated with more widely studied and cognitively complex taxa such as primates and birds.
Tan Jun Liang Jonathan PhD Student e0771163@u.nus.edu My research interest lies in behavioural addiction, particularly gaming disorder. I am interested in exploring the influence of personality and psychological processes on the development and maintenance of problematic gaming, as well as the possible interventions to mitigate it.
Tan Yia Chin PhD Student Social Psychology yiachin@u.nus.edu Yia Chin's general research interest lies in the area of goal pursuit. Particularly, she is interested in investigating the underlying processes and factors that help or hinder people in pursuing their long-term goals. Long-term goals are fraught with obstacles and setbacks, and at best, lose their novelty after some time. How can we help people to maintain a sustained dedication towards their goals, navigate around obstacles and bounce back from failures? She hopes to contribute to a better understanding in this area, so that psychology as a field is better equipped to come up with more effective advice or interventions to facilitate people in achieving their desired goals in life. When taking breaks, Yia Chin enjoys decorating the whiteboard (in the graduate students' room) with character drawings from the PHD Comics and taking comfort that graduate students across the world are all in this "together".
Tang Rui PhD Student Social Psychology rui.tang32@u.nus.edu I'm interested in goal disengagment, specially the interepersonal influence on people in action crisis.
Violet Yang Juan Hun Masters Student Clinical Psychology vy_@u.nus.edu Hello, I'm Violet! I'm currently studying for a Master's under the Concurrent Degree Programme, with Dr. Kean Hsu as my supervisor. My current research interest lies in music therapy, particularly the use of music as a non-invasive intervention for reducing fear responses. I hope to eventually work on music therapy interventions for treating various different disorders such as anxiety, PTSD, phobias, ADHD and autism. Outside of my academic life, I make horrorsynth metal music under the artist name VYLT. I love electric guitar, riddles, spiders, DnD, and horror movies!
Wang Xu PhD Student Social psychology e1521318@u.nus.edu Growth mindsets have been found to benefit students' learning and well-being, especially among those who are academically at risk. I am interested in understanding the heterogeneity of mindsets and motivations in Eastern educational settings. By identifying the optimal conditions under which mindsets/motivations work best, I aspire to promote equity through my research in psychology. I support equitable access to research. If you would like a copy of my study, feel free to contact me at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Xu-Wang-342. Outside of work, I enjoy traveling, photographing, and spending time alone or with friends.
Xing Liangyu PhD Student Social Psychology liangyu.xing@u.nus.edu My research interest is in how to achieve goals more effectively by blending motivation with creativity. I often wonder why some people are so driven to pursue their goals with such energy and whether creative individuals are better at reaching their objectives.
Xue Chunyun (Corrine) PhD Student Comparative Psychology/ Evolutionary Anthropology cxue.corrine@u.nus.edu As humans, we excel at socialising in everyday contexts, whether it’s reading a friend's gaze, sharing feelings and ideas verbally or in writing, and bonding with others both in person and through digital platforms. We receive these social signals and act on them to maintain relationships. While the evolutionary advantages of being social are well-known, the origins of our socio-cognitive abilities remain unclear. My work aims to explore the socio-cognitive abilities of our close relatives, nonhuman primates (NHPs), using novel experimental paradigms and quantitative approaches. Through this research, I hope to contribute significantly to our broader understanding of these faculties.
Yao Ruitong Masters Student Cognitive Neuroscience ruitong_yao@u.nus.edu I am working under the supervision of Assistant Professor Camilo Libedinsky. My research focuses on the function of the rostral part of the dorsal premotor cortex.
Yin Shihan Masters Student Cognitive Psychology yinshihan@u.nus.edu I am currently pursuing my Master's degree under the supervision of Dr Colin Palmer. My research interests lie in perceptual learning, specifically in gaze perception and the learnability of eye contact from others. In my spare time, I like playing basketball and video games 🙂
Yu Liwen PhD Student Developmental Psychology e0966388@u.nus.edu I am interested in the mechanisms behind children's lying behaviour and would like to explore how to promote honesty.
Yu Runquan PhD Student Social Psychology runquan.michael@u.nus.edu I am broadly interested in social, affective, and cognitive neuroscience. I am particularly interested in human social interactions, with a focus on emotion, personality traits, and behavioral/physiological responses.
Zhao Zehui (Jessica) PhD Student Cognitive Psychology zehuiz.03@u.nus.edu Hi, I’m Zehui (you can also call me Jessica). I’m broadly interested in how the brain understands the world, particularly through social perception and interaction. I want to explore how we pick up and use visual and emotional cues to infer others’ mental states, and how we attribute animacy or consciousness to both real people and virtual agents. Ultimately, I aim to understand how humans construct models of others, of the self, and of consciousness itself.