Prof. Dr. Dr. Dominik R. Bach

Prof. Dr. Dr. Dominik R. Bach has been Hertz Chair for Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience at the Transdisciplinary Research Area “Life and Health” of the University of Bonn since April 2022. He obtained his diploma (MSc) in psychology in 2002 from Technical University of Berlin, and graduated from Charité (medical school of Humboldt University Berlin) in 2004. In 2005, he received his Dr. med. from Charité, and in 2008 a Dr. phil. (PhD) in psychology from Technical University of Berlin. He undertook clinical training at University of Bern (Switzerland) and at the Charité, and was certified as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist in 2012. Prompted by his interest in theoretical neuroscience, he studied mathematics, and received an BSc and an MSc in Maths from Open University (UK) and FernUniversität Hagen (Germany) in 2014 and 2021, respectively. He undertook postdoctoral research at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and the Berlin School of Mind and Brain, and was appointed assistant professor at University of Zurich in 2013. In 2019, he took up a position as principal research fellow at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, where he was promoted to full professor for cognitive-computational and clinical neuroscience in 2021. In 2022, Prof. Dominik Bach moved to University of Bonn and remains an honorary professor at UCL.

His motivation is to understand the computing architecture of the mind and brain. Science is still uncertain how exactly the brain transforms its sensory environment into actions. His research aims at an abstract, mathematical characterisation of these operations. He analyses human behaviour in extreme situations to investigate the limitations - and thus the functioning - of brain mechanisms. By unpacking what underlies irrational behaviour in the face of threat, he is also seeks to develop novel treatments for psychiatric conditions, such as anxiety disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Prof. Bach has received several awards, including the Robert Bing Prize of the Swiss Academy for Medical Sciences for his pioneering work on the neurobiological mechanisms of anxiety and fear memory, and the Pfizer Research Prize for excellent research. He is currently the recipient of an ERC Consolidator Grant (2019-2025), and has obtain Research Grants from Swiss National Science Foundation, and the UK funders ESRC and BBSRC.