MINDTECH LAB
COGITO EPISTEMOLOGY RESEARCH CENTRE

MindTech Lab

Navigating the Neural Frontier: embedding ethics and epistemology in neurotechnology

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2026–2028

Principal Investigator: J. Adam Carter (Co-Director, Philosophy)

Co-Director (Neuroscience): Simon Hanslmayr

Co-Investigators: Emma C. Gordon, Christoph Kelp, Mona Simion (Oxford), Monika Harvey, Daniele Faccio, Lars Muckli

Postdoctoral researchers: Auke Montessori (Philosophy), Eleonora Marcantoni (Neuroscience); two further appointments to follow

Partners: Glasgow Centre for Neurotechnology; KnowledgeLab, University of Oxford; Clarity Technologies; Kernel

Funding: UKRI Cross Research Council Responsive Mode scheme (GBP 1.2 million)

Project website: https://www.mindtech-research.com

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Overview

MindTech is an inter-university, interdisciplinary research lab bringing together philosophers, neuroscientists and physicists from the University of Glasgow and the University of Oxford. Neurotechnologies that read from and write to the brain, from memory enhancement by brain stimulation to new brain–computer interfaces, are likely to be feasible within five to ten years. The lab asks what they will do to human cognition, autonomy, authenticity and responsibility, and how they might change our susceptibility to manipulation, and it builds the ethical and epistemological norms into the research itself rather than adding them afterwards.

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Aims

The project develops three frameworks: a theory of neurotechnology-mediated trust, a model of neuro-authenticity, and an epistemic risk assessment tool. These feed directly into two neurotechnology streams in the Glasgow Centre for Neurotechnology, memory enhancement through brain stimulation and the design of new brain–computer interfaces. The longer aim is to seed two new subdisciplines, neuroethical engineering and neuroepistemological engineering, through white papers, guidelines developed with industry partners, and a neurophilosophical engineering curriculum piloted through summer schools and a master's-level course.

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News

The grant was announced in March 2026 and the lab launched in April 2026 with four postdoctoral posts across philosophy and neuroscience. Read the University announcement