Meet Nilosmita Banerjee

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nilosmita Banerjee. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Nilosmita, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

That’s a very interesting and rather difficult question to answer. Finding one’s purpose is often a continuous, lifelong process, and it has been for me as well. However, I believe my purpose found me at a very young age, for which I remain grateful.

I have always been academically inclined, so it was no surprise to me or those around me that I would pursue academia and scientific research. The clarity of pursuing the study of human cognition and psychology however, dawned on me after completing high school. I was first introduced to this field during my higher secondary education. Even though I was only learning the fundamentals of human psychology, at 16, I realised that this field could help me study one of the most complex systems in the known cosmos—the human brain and the cognition and the behavior it gives rise to.

Understanding that human behavior encompasses aspects like personal and collective experiences, decision-making, learning processes, and memory formation etc., helped me estimate that studying human psychology and cognition could empower me with the knowledge to understand these systems and help people practically. This realization was so moving and exhilarating that I knew I wanted to pursue this professionally for the rest of my life.

As I advanced in my education, specializing in cognitive and experimental psychology and neuroscience, my initial perception became stronger and clearer. Now, with nearly 14 years of professional study of psychology (out of which the last 3 years have been spent researching as a training scientist and pursuing my PhD in cognitive and experimental psychology), I can confidently say that my decision was spot on. This professional training has not only deepened my understanding of human cognition and behavior but also allowed me to contribute to the scientific research in these fields making it a full circle to me.

In essence, my purpose found me through an academic field, and I was quick to realize how intellectually rewarding it would be and the potential benefits it could offer to both me and those around me.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I was born in a small township near Calcutta in West Bengal, India, and raised in Mumbai, where I completed my schooling and higher secondary education. I studied psychology during higher secondary training and was awarded a gold medal for my outstanding performance by the National Government, which was recognized by national newspapers like The Times of India, Hindustan Times, and Mumbai Mirror.

After high school, I moved to the UK to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Psychology at the University of Sheffield, supported by a faculty of science merit scholarship. I received rigorous training in various sub-fields of psychology and scientific methods during this time. I continued my studies with a Master of Science in Cognitive Computational Neuroscience from the same university in 2019, supported by an International Merit and Faculty of Psychology Alumni Merit Scholarship. During my undergraduate studies, I developed an interest in studying human decision-making, which was further refined during my master’s degree, focusing on investigating risky decision-making in addictive behaviors. This focus informed the subject matter of my PhD research.

Currently, I am a PhD researcher and training scientist in the field of Cognitive and Experimental Psychology at the Université libre de Bruxelles and a visiting researcher at the University of Ghent in Belgium. In my research, I assess the expression of loss-chasing, an impaired form of risky decision-making behavior that leads to the continuation, persistence, and intensification of gambling following losses, in the context of gambling addiction. I specifically study this phenomenon in the context of real online gambling behavior. The goal of my scientific work is to understand the key behavioral markers via which loss-chasing is expressed. This will allow me to understand the psychological mechanisms underlying this phenomenon and predict the early onset of gambling addiction in my future research work. Considering the societal benefits that the outcomes of this research can have, I was awarded the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique Doctoral Fellowship under the FRESH category by the national scientific research funding body FNRS in Belgium to pursue my doctoral research.

Beyond research, I am passionate about disseminating psychological knowledge through my YouTube channel, Brainpsychlopedia. The channel has nearly 5,000 subscribers, over 270,000 views, and has reached nearly 2.2 million accounts on YouTube in the last three years since its release. It was also shortlisted as one of the top 15 cognitive psychology channels by Feedspot in 2023 and 2024. The channel provides educational content on cognitive psychology, aiming to make educational content and information in these fields accessible to a broad audience. Recently, I launched The Brainpsychlopedia Podcast to further discuss psychological theories, research, and their implications in daily life. This podcast aims to bridge the gap between scientific research and public understanding.

In essence, my work integrates scientific research and public education, striving to make psychology accessible and beneficial to both academic and general audiences.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Well, looking back the three most important qualities or skills that I think was very crucial and impactful in my journey were resilience, open-mindedness and a proactive stance to constantly keep learning new things and be up for challenges!

As a scientist, you need to be resilient because learning about new things and researching about novel scientific questions is a very humbling process. We are constantly subject to critical feedback, constructive criticism and peer-review from the larger scientific community at multiple stages of scientific research process as well as face failures in our experiments, all of which one has to take on as a challenge and work through it with grit and resilience. Furthermore, being open-minded for a scientist is a must. As I said, doing science is a very humbling process. The more you know, the more you don’t. Being open-minded is one of the first principles they teach us when we train to become scientists. You have to remain open to the possibility that your reasoning can be challenged and changed. You need to be receptive of alternative explanations and theories and that’s where being open-minded comes handy. Finally, as a scientist we are constantly learning new things. I often find myself learning new topics in statistics and picking up new skills like coding to better my analytical skills in research. So we are forever learning new things. This dynamic nature of the field makes it essential for us to have a proactive stance to constantly keep learning new things and be up for challenges!

So for anyone looking forward to a career in academia and sciences, be resilient, be open-minded, be ready to learn new things and take on challenges!

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?

I’m glad you asked that. My parents and my sister have been the bedrock of my life, unwavering in their support from the very beginning and continuing to be so today. They have spared no effort, whether financial, emotional, or otherwise, to back all my ambitious plans and dreams every step of the way. They never once deterred me from pursuing what I was most passionate about; instead, they embraced and nurtured my aspirations wholeheartedly, shielding me from any concerns about the practicalities of achieving them.

My father, a Mechanical Engineer, and my mother, a teacher and homemaker, initially unfamiliar with psychology, nonetheless devoted themselves tirelessly to ensuring I received the best international education in my chosen field. My mother even sacrificed her own professional career to devote all her time to my academic growth and support me as I prepared for my career in academia. Witnessing her selflessness and my father’s relentless dedication to securing my financial stability during my student life in the UK has been truly inspiring.

Today, as I stand financially independent, I find immense fulfilment in beginning to repay their boundless love and sacrifices, albeit knowing that I can never fully repay them for their unwavering support, patience, perseverance, and love. Their courage and devotion have shaped who I am and continue to inspire me every day. The same goes out to my elder sister who has been instrumental in being a source of strength and motivation through the years, helping me overcome numerous challenges during my journey. I truly could not have made it this far without their support.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

N/A

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Where do you get your resilience from?

Resilience is often the x-factor that differentiates between mild and wild success. The stories of

Productivity
Beating Burnout

Often the key to having massive impact is the ability to keep going when others

Leadership Development
Finding Your Why

Not knowing why you are going wherever it is that you are going sounds silly,