Kevin Lam

Kevin has been Coordinator since 2017 and is an IMPRS for Language Sciences alumnus from the 2010 Cohort.

In 2004, he left Malaysia >>foodie tip<< for Canada to pursue a B.A. (Hons) in psychology, where he first learnt of psycholinguistics. He then set his sights on an M.Sc. in cognitive neuroscience (psycholinguistics track) at Radboud University, with generous funding from Nuffic.

He further developed his interests in the language sciences by undertaking a doctoral programme as a Donders TopTalent grant recipient under the supervision of Prof. dr. Ton Dijkstra and Dr. Shirley-Ann Rueschemeyer at the Donders Centre for Cognition, and in collaboration with Dr. Marcel Bastiaansen.

During his doctoral studies, he developed a greater interest in promoting collaborations across departments and institutes through his IMPRS involvement and other opportunities at Radboud University. Doing so made him realise his passion for making a positive impact on others, helping his peers and colleagues find ways to engage with others, optimise their workflow and continually improve their skill sets.

Today, Kevin strives to make a lasting impact on the IMPRS community by encouraging a culture of engagement and giving through his actions. He listens to the needs of its members, stimulates self-direction and encourages leadership, and helps members develop their potential to create fulfilling careers within and beyond academia. He also works continuously to strengthen ties between alumni and current members. 

He believes that doctoral training in this day and age should not only produce leaders within the scientific community, but also leaders that will listen to and engage with all levels of society.

Alongside his duties as Coordinator, Kevin is also involved in the Data Protection Committee, and is helping the team behind the MPI TalkLing trilingual blog in the background. He is currently working on an equal opportunities initiative to help under-represented groups become competitive doctoral applicants, together with our HR staff and the General Administration at the Max Planck Society Headquarters in Munich.

In the past 2 years or so, he was involved in the MPI's Diversity Working Group to work towards implementing an institute-wide diversity policy. At present, he is supporting young scientists in their efforts to make a lasting impact via the MPI Sustainability Working Group.

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