
Lab members

PhD – Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences, Florida Atlantic University (1995). I am interested in human cognition as arising from interactions with others, situated in the world. I think that at the heart of cognitive phenomena (and of building successful explanations of them) lies the problem of the relation between dynamic and symbolic aspects of cognition. I study human language as a particularly good manifestation of this problem, trying to employ three approaches that seem most promising: ecological psychology, dynamical systems and semiotics.
raczasze@psych.uw.edu.pl

Julian Zubek
I have a background in computer science and machine learning (MEng – Warsaw University of Technology, 2012, PhD – Institute of Computer Science, Polish Academy of Sciences, 2017), but I was always drawn towards social sciences. I work with computational models and advanced techniques for analysis of experimental data (also in dynamical context, where data consists of long time series). My research interests include emergence of communication, study of unstructured interaction, categorization, complexity of human cognition.
j.zubek@uw.edu.pl
Konrad Zieliński
Cognitive Science MA Student. Konrad’s scientific interests concern human communication, speech, and the application of newest technologies to counter disabilities. He is a leader of Uhura project aimed at the restoration of natural interaction after laryngectomy and a leader and co-creator of MedTech Students UW, which is a learned student society for scientific collaboration between Warsaw University and Warsaw Medical University on specific health challenges.
konrad.zielinski@psych.uw.edu.pl

I’m a PhD student at the Interdisciplinary Doctoral School, UW, supervised by prof. Joanna Rączaszek-Leonardi and prof. Marcin Miłkowski (Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, PAS). I’m interested predominantly in mind & cognition from the 4E perspective, with a special focus on the predictive processing (aka active inference, aka free energy principle) framework and on the issue of emergence and evolution of life and mind. My areas of interest include philosophy of cognitive science, philosophy of biology, philosophy of science in general, consciousness studies, dynamical systems theory, information theory.
w.rorot@uw.edu.pl

Borys Jastrzębski
Doctoral candidate in psychology and philosophy at the Interdisciplinary Doctoral School and HILL at the University of Warsaw. I graduated from the University of Warsaw, Central European University and the College of Europe. Previously, I worked in philosophy and bioinformatics. For my dissertation, I study the emergence of regular, conventional communicable signs from a multi-disciplinary and multi-scale perspective.
borys.jastrzebski@psych.uw.edu.pl

Ewa Nagórska
A former Cognitive Science student, she’s currently preparing her Master Thesis about experiencing changes in time perception while reading. As a president of Student Association of Neurobiology at University of Warsaw, she focused on promoting and popularizing neurosciences. Previously, she worked in Nencki Institute, studying changes in evoked potentials in rats’ brains. She’s a huge fan of uniting humanities and mathematics, as well as integrating social and life sciences.
ewa.nagorska@psych.uw.edu.pl

Kasia Skowrońska
I’m a PhD student at the Interdisciplinary Doctoral School (University of Warsaw), with a background in linguistics and cognitive science. My research interests include social cognition, experimental semiotics, and the pragmatic approach to language study. I’m also interested in the intersection of art and science.
My doctoral research focuses on the emergence of communication.
katarzyna.skowronska@psych.uw.edu.pl

Antonina Jamrozik
I’m a PhD student under the supervision of prof. Justyna Grudzińska-Zawadowska at the Department of Philosophy, University of Warsaw. My interests lie at the intersection of formal semantics and philosophy of language, with the focus on issues such as anaphora, ambiguity and questions. I joined HILL in the role of lab manager.
antonina.jamrozik@psych.uw.edu.pl

Joanna Komorowska-Mach
I am educated in philosophy and psychology. I work as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Warsaw. My research interests cover philosophy of mind, epistemology, philosophy of science, methodology and cognitive psychology. I am interested in pragmatic aspects of communication, especially concerning expressing and discussing one’s own mental states. I am also a psychotherapist in training and a proud mother of three.
j.komorowska-mach@uw.edu.pl

Krzysztof Główka
I have a background in both computer science and cognitive science. Now I’m particularly interested in approaches to language that empirically examine its ecological and action-grounded aspects, where I believe the largest discoveries are still ahead of us. At HILL, I work on some theoretical aspects of reconciling the ecological and symbolic perspectives on language, as well as evolutionary models of language emergence. My other scientific interests include artificial intelligence, natural language processing and complexity-theoretic approaches.
krz.glowka@gmail.com

Ada Biernacka
MA Student of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology (MISH UW). Researcher and user experience (UX) designer in Demant Technology Centre. Through the collaboration with HILL she comes to believe that working hands-on within interdisciplinary teams allows tackling even the most difficult problems.
adrianna.biergem@gmail.com
Collaborators

Yanna Popova
Dr Yanna Popova (DPhil, Oxford) has been educated in linguistics, philosophy and the arts. She works on the applications of the enactive approach in cognitive science to art, language, narrative, time experience, and creativity. Her research is interdisciplinary and she pursues questions that are best approached through a combination of empirical investigation with theoretical, mainly philosophical and psychological, considerations.

Katharina Rohlfing
Prof. Katharina Rohlfing is a renowned researcher in the domain of language development and human-robot interaction. She received her Ph.D. in Linguistics from the Bielefeld University, Germany and worked as a DAAD and DFG Fellow at the San Diego State University, the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. From 2008 to 2015, she headed the Emergentist Semantics Group within the Center of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology, Bielefeld University. She is currently Professor of Psycholinguistics at Paderborn University, where she is a Project Leader in the Transregional Collaborative Research Centre 318 „Constructing Explainability”.

Sarah Bro Trasmundi
Sarah Bro Trasmundi (PhD, University of Southern Denmark) is a researcher at the Centre for Literature, Cognition & Emotions (University of Oslo). Cognitive ethnographer, who combines ethnography with the theory of radical embodied cognition. Her research is focused on examining human activities such as reading, emergency medicine, dance, and psychotherapy.

Kristian Tylén
Kristian Tylén is a professor at the School of Communication and Culture – Cognitive Science at Aarhus University. His research focuses on understanding the intricacies of human psychology, the dynamics of communication, and the complexities of language, exploring how these elements interact and evolve over time.
He is the Principal Investigator of The Evolution of Early Symbolic Behavior project, which aims to establish a novel integrative framework for investigating early symbolic evolution.

Agnieszka Dębska
Agnieszka Dębska (PhD) is a neurobiology researcher working in the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology. She’s a part of the Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, run by Prof. Katarzyna Jednoróg. In her scientific endavours she focuses on the questions of literacy and dyslexia in a neurobiological approach. In 2024, she has earned her habilitation.
Join our team. Feel free to contact us.
Joanna Rączaszek-Leonardi
raczasze[at]psych.uw.edu.pl
Joanna Rączaszek-Leonardi
raczasze[at]psych.uw.edu.pl