Ana Clemente

Postdoctoral researcher in cognitive neuroscience, Universitat de Barcelona
Ana Clemente is a cognitive scientist and professional musician, combining her artistic and scientific facets in a mutually enriching way. She has an M.Mus. in solo performance (awarded a Humboldt-Wardwell Stipendium from the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung) at the Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf, an M.Phil. in art history at the University of La Laguna, an M.Sci. (with a graduate scholarship from the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte) and a Ph.D. (awarded a La Caixa INPhINIT fellowship) in human evolution and cognition at the University of the Balearic Islands. Ana is the recipient of the Frank Barron Award 2022 from the Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, Division 10 of the American Psychological Association (APA) for her doctoral thesis on aesthetic sensitivity (excellent cum laude).

Accomplished soloist and conductor, Ana has worked with leading figures such as Claudio Abbado, Martha Argerich, and Berliner Philharmonic Wind Quintet, recording for BBC Proms, EMI, Generalli, and RTVE, and has won musical prizes (e.g., Young Performers, Youth in Concert) and scholarships from prestigious institutions (e.g., Fundación Ibermúsica; Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte; Asociación de Artistas, Intérpretes o Ejecutantes de España). In addition, she was an associate professor at music conservatories for more than a decade, teaching at undergraduate and graduate levels and holding the positions of head of department, adjunct secretary, head of Erasmus program, and board member of the Bureau of international relations.

Since February 2020, Ana is a visiting researcher at the Queen Mary University of London (supported by Kungliga Musikaliska Akademin and Tobias Norlind Samfundet). In Autumn 2020, she was a visiting researcher at the Royal Institute of Technology KTH Stockholm (Short Term Scientific Mission endowed by NordicSMC). Since January 2022, Ana is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Learning from Reward Group in the Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, and the Cognition and Brain Plasticity Unit, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL).

Ana has published papers in high-impact peer-reviewed journals (e.g., Behavior Research Methods, Brain and Cognition, British Journal of Psychology, Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts) and presented her research at top international conferences (e.g., ICMPC-ESCOM, Neuromusic, ICON, RPPW, CMMR, VSAC, VSS, IAEA). Since 2018, she is a regular reviewer for scientific journals (e.g., Behavior Research Methods, Empirical Studies of the Arts, Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts) and international conferences (ISMIR). Since January 2022, Ana is consulting editor for Musicae Scientiae and a member of the scientific committee of the Iberian Conference on Perception. Ana has been invited to give lectures and seminars at institutions like the Queen Mary University of London, Royal Institute of Technology KTH Stockholm, Royal Academy of Music KMH Stockholm, University of St Andrews, and the University of Cambridge.