"NOMIS is all about enabling outstanding talent to take on high-risk research."
- Georg Heinrich “Heini” Thyssen, NOMIS Founder

2016 NOMIS Distinguished Scientists

NOMIS Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Awards (NOMIS Awards) are presented to pioneering scientists and scholars who, through their innovative, groundbreaking research, have made a significant contribution to their respective fields and who inspire the world around them. Their bold ideas and unique approaches involve interdisciplinary collaboration and apply a broad range of methods, building bridges across the boundaries of disciplines. NOMIS Awards enable these exceptional, established scientists to continue exploring unconventional and uncharted research paths, thereby opening up new research fields and collaborations.

Manos Tsakiris is the inaugural 2016 NOMIS Awardee. He is professor of psychology in the Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London (London, England). He led the Body and Image in Arts and Sciences (BIAS) project and is currently director of the Centre for the Politics of Feelings.

Tsakiris was born in Greece. He received a BSc in psychology at Panteion University (Athens), an MSc in philosophy and at King’s College (London, UK) and an MSc in cognitive neuropsychology at University College London (UCL; London) before completing his PhD in psychology and cognitive neurosciences at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL, in 2006. In 2007 he joined the Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London. He is the recipient of the 2014 Young Mind and Brain Prize and the 22nd Experimental Psychology Society Prize.

Tsakiris’ research is highly interdisciplinary and uses a wide range of methods to investigate the neurocognitive mechanisms that shape the experience of embodiment and self-identity. As part of the BIAS project, he addressed timely research questions at the intersection of the sciences and humanities with a particular focus on the biological mechanisms and cultural factors that shape our relationships to other people in a culture powered by images.