People – BioMotion Lab Team

Nikolaus Troje

Canada Research Chair in Reality Research

Department of Biology
Centre for Vision Research

Overview

BioMotion Lab is directed by Dr. Troje. He received his PhD in Biology from the Albert Ludwigs University in Freiburg, Germany, in 1994. Subsequently, he moved to the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen. From 1997 until 1999, he spent two years as a Visiting Professor at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario. In 1999 he won the Volkswagen Foundation Young Researchers Award and founded BioMotionLab at Ruhr University. In 2003 he re-joined Queen’s University and in 2018 he moved from there to York University in Toronto.

Affiliations at York University

At York University, his affiliations include the Centre for Vision Research, Biology, and graduate programs in Biology, Psychology, and EECS. He is also a core member of VISTA and of Connected Minds.

Awards & Honours

Dr. Troje's notable awards include: Feodor-Lynen Fellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship from NSERC, and the lifetime achievement Humboldt Research Award.

Research Interests

His main research interest is focused on questions concerning the nature of perceptual representations. How can a stream of noisy nerve-cell excitations become a coherent, predictable perception of “reality”?

Download Dr. Troje’s full CV and list of publications here.

Kristen is a PhD student in the Department of Psychology at York University, specializing in the Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science stream. She is also pursuing a Graduate Diploma in Neuroscience and is supported by the VISTA program and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship. Prior to joining York University and the Biomotion Lab, she completed an MSc and BSc (Honours) in Psychology at Trent University. Kristen’s research focuses on social gaze behaviour during face-to-face and computer-mediated communication, with a particular interest in how interaction over different communication media affects dynamic eye contact and related physiological responses.

Nicholas Logan is a York University graduate from the Lassonde School of Engineering with a BA in Computer Science and minor in Music (2018-2022). He currently works in the BioMotion Lab, initially beginning as a research assistant (Apr-Sep 2023) and now Masters student (Sep 2023-present). His work in the lab extends to preservation of deictic consistency in depth through motion parallax, demonstrated in an avatar-based communication platform initially developed as MPDepth. He now works on improving data acquisition quality from Apple's TrueDepth cameras for low cost face tracking. Additionally, he leads an international indie game development studio specializing in revitalized arcade style games, founded in 2020.

Eileen Dadashi is a York University graduate from the Biomedical Science program, with a minor in Psychology (2019–2023). She currently works in the BioMotion Lab, as a research assistant and will be joining as a Masters student in September 2025. She also serves as a Research Assistant at North York General Hospital, contributing to patient‑focused studies with responsibilities in data collection, management, and ethical oversight. Previously, she has worked in neurosurgical research at St. Michael’s Hospital, gaining extensive experience in clinical research settings.

Noor Albaity is beginning the MA Psychology (Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science) program under the supervision of Dr. Troje in September. She is currently working as a research assistant, facilitating data collection at the BioMotion Lab over the summer.