My Bachelor’s degree was in Cognitive Science from UCLA (1992), after which I completed a PhD in Psychology at Princeton University with Prof Anne Treisman (1998). After postdoctoral work at MIT with Prof Nancy Kanwisher (1998-2000), I was appointed Lecturer in the School of Psychology at Bangor University. In 2010 I was promoted to Professor. From 2008-17, I served as Deputy Head of College (Research) for the College of Health and Behavioural Sciences, and for academic year 17/18 I was acting Dean of the College. As chair of the School’s MRI Steering Group, I oversaw the tender and selection process for our new 3T system, which was installed in October 2019. From September 2020 I have been associate Pro-Vice Chancellor for research at Bangor University.  From July 2025 I have been Head of Psychology at Bangor.

Contact me: p.downing@bangor.ac.uk; CV is here.

Originally from Bulgaria, Deyan moved to North Wales in 2019 to study at Bangor University. After completing BSc Psychology with Neuropsychology in 2022, he was awarded a competitive 1+3 studentship from the Welsh Graduate School for the Social Sciences to complete in Bangor University. He graduated with an MSc Psychological Research in 2023 and is currently working towards a PhD.

Deyan’s main research interests include social perception and social cognition more generally. His PhD is focused on the representations of different social perceptual categories (such as age, sex, gender., etc), both neurally and conceptually, and how they contribute towards face, body and whole-person perception.

Deyan’s main hobbies include Mechanical Keyboards and discovering different Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and their uses. In his free time, he also enjoys making statistics and research memes, playing board games and computer games (particularly Virtual Reality titles), and exploring concrete jungles.

Email: dym19lhs@bangor.ac.uk

Twitter: @DeianMitev

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deyan-mitev/

I graduated with a BSc in Psychology from Emory University in 2022. Subsequently, I embarked on a role as a lab manager and research assistant in the Dilks lab at the same institution. My journey has recently led me to Bangor University, where I am engaged as a research assistant within Dr. Paul Downing's lab.

My research interests are centered on the intersection of cognitive representations and processes, particularly in how they shape our behaviors and conscious experiences. I am currently delving into the potential mechanisms that underpin action recognition in humans and exploring the broader context of how actions are processed by our minds and brains.

When I'm not delving into research, I like to spend my time by working out, playing video games, watching movies and shows, traveling, or just kicking back with friends and family.