Michiel van Elk, PhD
Associate Professor, Leiden University
Michiel holds an MA in philosophy and MScs in biological psychology and psychology of religion (Utrecht, Amsterdam, Nijmegen), and a cum laude PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from the Donders Institute. He worked at UCSB (2010), EPFL as a Marie Curie fellow (2010–2012), Stanford as a Fulbright Scholar (2017), NIAS (2019–2020), and the University of Amsterdam (2013–2020). Since 2020 he is Associate Professor at Leiden University, where he leads the PRSM Lab, supported by grants from the John Templeton Foundation, NWO, and the BIAL Foundation. He has published 100+ peer-reviewed papers (e.g., Nature Human Behavior, Cortex, Scientific Reports, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews) and several popular books on the baby brain, the evolution of religion, ecstatic experiences, and psychedelics. His research targets altered states of consciousness using self-reports, interviews, expectancy manipulations, neuroimaging, psychophysiology, and pharmacological challenges.
Conflicts of Interest: I don' have any conflicts of interest to declare. My projects got funded through the John Templeton Foundation, Norrsken Mind, BIAL Foundation and NWO. I am board member of OPEN Foundation.