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Benedikt Ehinger

Current job: Tenure-track professor Computational Cognitive Science, University of Stuttgart

Graduation in Osnabrück: 2012 (B.Sc.), 2014 (MSc), 2018 (PhD)

My professional pathway

I was most of the time in Osnabrück. Being a scientist is something I really enjoyed doing and that I was good at, so I chose (in some sense) the minimal effort path, and continued doing science. After graduating, I didn't really move out of Osnabrück for my PostDoc at the Donders (Nijmegen). This was because a new challenge appeared in my life at the end of the PhD: my first kid. So, while working part-time in the Netherlands, I of course was super happy that I got an offer in Stuttgart to just continue doing science. So here I am now 16 years after starting cognitive science - still doing science :)

My CogSci student experience

Why is Cognitive Science in Osnabrück a great place to study?
Diversity of thoughts and people. A strong and close knitted community - and so much curiosity!

What did you specialise in during your studies?
The visual sense, and especially in combination with EEG and eyetracking methods. But I always had a very broad interest, so sometimes I also took classes in ethics, biochemistry etc.
 
Which skills from your degree programme have helped you the most in your professional life?I think the strong  multi-disciplinary nature of cognitive science in itself. It is super helpful to just know some bits of every topic - it allows you to connect to many other research domains. And, because it is en vogue right now, all neural networks, AI, reinforcement learning and machine learning classes I took.

My advice for you

If you want to stay in science, the numbers are against you. For many, it will not work out with a permanent position. To stay sane and not to worry* too much, I always told myself "I will stop, once it is not fun anymore". That is, once the pressure and stress of finding a job and moving will be too strong, I will do something else. Because, honestly, with a CogSci skill set and a bit of programming background, (I told myself) I'll be able to find a fun job somewhere else, too.

*(this works semi successful)