2022 Young Explorers

Research conducted by a postdoctoral student often determines the trajectory of their academic career; the opportunity to pursue high-risk questions at this stage is rare, and failures can quickly stifle career prospects. It is therefore imperative that promising young researchers receive support at this crucial phase. To extend this critical support to early-career scientists, the NOMIS Foundation and Science/AAAS established a partnership in the form of the NOMIS & Science Young Explorer Award.

Bill Thompson

Assistant professor

University of California, Berkeley

Bill Thompson is the grand prize winner of the 2022 NOMIS & Science Young Explorer Award. He is assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

Thompson received an undergraduate degree from Sheffield Hallam University and a PhD from the University of Edinburgh. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Princeton University, he started his lab in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2022. His research examines the computational processes that support human reasoning, creativity, and language. His research on emerging experimental methods that combine cognitive-behavioral studies with machine learning algorithms to trace how knowledge is transmitted between people is detailed in his award-winning essay “An ever-evolving mind.”