Nicholas Rawlins (born 1949) is a British

experimental psychologist Experimental psychology refers to work done by those who apply experimental methods to psychological study and the underlying processes. Experimental psychologists employ human participants and animal subjects to study a great many topics, in ...

, and one of the pro-vice-chancellor and vice-president of

The Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter granted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is the territory's second-oldest university a ...

Life

Born in 1949, he is the only son of Sir John Rawlins and the grandson of Stuart Rawlins. He was educated at Westbury House School and

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

before reading for a BA in Psychology, Physiology and Philosophy at

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

. He was awarded first class honours in 1971. He subsequently studied for a

D.Phil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

at Oxford under the supervision of Jeffrey Gray. He was married to the philosopher

Susan Hurley Susan Lynn Hurley (September 16, 1954 – August 16, 2007) was appointed professor in the department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick in 1994, professor of philosophy at Bristol University from 2006 and the fir ...

from 1986 until her death on 16 August 2007. Rawlins is Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Behavioural Neuroscience at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

. His research interests include

animal learning Animal cognition encompasses the mental capacities of non-human animals including insect cognition. The study of animal conditioning and learning used in this field was developed from comparative psychology. It has also been strongly influence ...

and memory, brain mechanisms of memory storage, animal models of

psychosis Psychosis is a condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations, among other features. Additional symptoms are incoherent speech and behavior ...

, attentional deficits in

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social wi ...

, functional magnetic resonance imaging studies of pain in humans, and behavioural phenotyping of genetically modified mice. Rawlins was a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of University College, Oxford, from 1983 until the end of 2007, when he moved to a Professorial Fellowship at

Wolfson College, Oxford Wolfson College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Located in north Oxford along the River Cherwell, Wolfson is an all-graduate college with around sixty governing body fellows, in addition to both research an ...

. He retains his link with University College as an Emeritus Fellow. He was appointed as Oxford University's Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Development and External Affairs on 23 June 2010. In 2018, Rawlins became Master of

Morningside College Morningside University is a private university affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Sioux City, Iowa. Founded in 1894 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, Morningside University has 21 buildings on a campus in Sioux City (ar ...

of the

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter granted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is the territory's second-oldest university a ...

. In August 2021, he was appointed as one of the Pro-Vice-Chancellors of the University.

Works

His most cited paper is entitled "Place navigation impaired in rats with hippocampal lesions", published in ''Nature'' in 1982 jointly with

Richard G. Morris Richard Graham Michael Morris, (born 27 June 1948), is a British neuroscientist. He is known for developing the Morris water navigation task, for proposing the concept of synaptic tagging (along with Uwe Frey), and for his work on the function ...

, Paul Garrud, and John O'Keefe, which had been cited 3,691 times by January 2015 according to the Web of Science.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rawlins, Nicholas 1949 births Living people British psychologists Alumni of University College, Oxford Fellows of University College, Oxford Fellows of Wolfson College, Oxford English psychologists Pro-Vice-Chancellors of the University of Oxford