I completed my Bachelor of Science in Psychology (BSc) at Leiden University in 2015, followed by a Master of Science in Psychological Research Methods (MSc) at the University of Edinburgh in 2017. I did my doctorate degree at the University of Essex from 2017 until 2021 on the topic of age differences in risk-taking behaviour, for which I was supervised by Professor Miroslav Sirota and Dr Alasdair Clarke.

I have held postdoctoral positions at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Strathclyde before commencing my current position as Assistant Professor at Heriot-Watt University.

My main research aim is to further our understanding of how healthy ageing occurs and how to best facilitate this.

To that end, I am interested in how healthy ageing affects cognitive processes such as learning and decision-making. For example, whether older adult risk-taking behaviour is due to age-related changes in personality (e.g., risk preference) and/or cognition (e.g., numeracy, working memory, processing speed), and whether collaborating with another person can be more beneficial to the learning performance of older adults (and under what circumstances). 

In addition to the above, I am interested in making research as reproducible and transparent as possible and conducting research in accordance with open science principles, such as publishing in the Registered Report format and sharing project data and code.

If you'd like to read more about my research or any upcoming papers and presentations, please check my website: https://www.wolfekelly.com/.