Contact
Faculty of Education - International Initiatives
- nmady@ualberta.ca
Overview
Area of Study / Keywords
Curiosity Intrinsic Motivation Reinforcement Learning
About
My research explores the translation of psychological constructs between psychology and artificial intelligence (AI), focused on forms of intrinsic motivation, particularly curiosity. I draw on disciplines that study human motivation, learning, and behaviour (specifically psychology, neuroscience, behavioural economics, marketing, and philosophy), to offer new theoretical perspectives on these constructs while building foundations to benefit AI algorithms.
Research Students
Currently accepting undergraduate students for research project supervision.
I'm happy to work with students of all backgrounds, needing only interest in research topics that I'm currently working with. I am open to supervising independent undergraduate research projects (e.g., for course credit, independent study, or honors theses). Please note that I do not currently have pre-funded research assistant positions available. If you are specifically seeking a paid position, we would need to collaborate on external funding or fellowship applications well in advance, which requires significant runway. When contacting me, please confirm whether you are seeking a paid position, course credit, or have a different situation. At the moment, I am especially looking for a student to support a scoping review in progress on computational models of individual interest (the psychological construct). I may not have capacity for students who wish to lead more independently designed projects at the moment, but I hope to again soon, so check back again.