Nathalie Giroud, Prof. Dr.
- Ausserordentliche Professorin
Associate Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience
Director, NeuroComm Lab
Nathalie Giroud is an Associate Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich and the University of Zurich, where she directs the NeuroComm Lab. Her research seeks to understand how the brain enables human communication by integrating neuroscience, psychiatry, computational linguistics, artificial intelligence, and digital technologies. She investigates communication within the individual brain, between interacting brains, and through dynamic interactions between the brain and the body, with the goal of developing objective biomarkers, personalized interventions, and next-generation neurotechnology for communication disorders and brain health.
Biography
Nathalie Giroud received her PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology from the University of Zurich in 2016, graduating summa cum laude and as part of the International Max Planck Research School The Life Course: Evolutionary and Ontogenetic Dynamics. She subsequently held research positions at the University of Zurich, the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA), Concordia University in Montréal, and the Speech Signal Processing Group at the University of Zurich. In 2020, she was awarded a Swiss National Science Foundation Professorship to investigate the effects of hearing impairment on language, cognition, and the brain. Since 2025, she has been Associate Professor of the Neurosciences of Communication, Language, and Cognition at the University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich.
Leadership and Scientific Service
Nathalie Giroud is Co-Director of the University of Zurich Competence Center Language & Medicine. She is a Principal Investigator within the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Evolving Language, where she leads the development of hyperscanning methods for studying human communication. She also serves as Faculty Member of the International Max Planck Research School The Life Course, the Neuroscience Center Zurich (ZNZ), and the editorial board of Aging Brain. She is a member of the Research Committee and the Committee for Professorships ad personam at the Medical Faculty at the University of Zurich.
Selected achievements
- Associate Professor of the Neurosciences of Communication, Language & Cognition, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich
- Founder and Director, NeuroCommLab
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Member of the Medical Directorate, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich
- Co-Director, UZH Competence Center Language & Medicine
- Principal Investigator, NCCR Evolving Language
- Swiss National Science Foundation Professorship
- More than CHF 3 million in competitive research funding as Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator
- Faculty Member, International Max Planck Research School The Life Course
- Faculty Member, Neuroscience Center Zurich (ZNZ)
- Global Future Council Fellow, World Economic Forum
- Vontobel Award for Research on Age(ing) (2017 & 2025)