Léon Franzen, PhD

Group Leader – PASTA

Preterm-to-Adolescent Specifically Tailored Assessment

Clinician Scientist, Postdoctoral Researcher & PI

Education
2010 – 2014 BA, Corporate Management & Economics (focus decision-making), Zeppelin University, Friedrichshafen (Germany)
2014 – 2015 MSc, Research Methods in Psychological Science, University of Glasgow (Scotland)
2015 – 2018 PhD, Psychology / Neuroscience, University of Glasgow (Scotland)

Professional Experience
2009 – 2023 Assistent to the CEO, Drahtesel Bonn, Management, HR and Communications, Bonn (Germany)
2015 – 2017 Teaching and Research Assistant, Psychology, University of Glasgow (Scotland)
2016 – 2018 Research Collaboration, Eye Movements in Dyslexia, Concordia Vision Labs, Concordia University Montreal (Canada)
2019 – present External Collaborator, Neuroscience & Psychology, Philiastides Lab for Multimodal Neuroimaging of Decision Making, University of Glasgow (Scotland)
2019 – 2021 Horizon Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychology & Marketing, Lab for Sensory Research, Concordia University Montreal (Canada)
2020 Lecturer in Advanced Statistics, Concordia University Montreal (Canada)
2021 – present External Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychology, Concordia Vision Labs, Concordia University Montreal (Canada)
2021 – 2022 Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychology, Auditory Cognition Lab, University of Lübeck (Germany)
2022 – present Guest Researcher, Psychology, Auditory Cognition Lab, University of Lübeck, Lübeck (Germany)
2022 – present Clinician Scientist, Translational Psychiatry & Baltic Early Treatment Service (BEATS), University of Lübeck & University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein (Germany)

Léon Franzen is a cognitive neuroscientist who is investigating biopsychosocial and computational methods for tailoring early detection and intervention of mental health disorders in adolescents and young adults to specific at-risk populations (e.g., preterms, psychosis).

As part of this work, he keeps working on neurally informed modelling of visual and auditory perceptual decisions in clinical (schizophrenia, psychosis) and subclinical (dyslexia, schizotypy) groups. He asks what are the modality specific and supramodal computations the brain performs to master everyday perceptual decisions, such as identifying a human face or voice. 

Techniques he uses include EEG, eye-tracking, pupillometry, virtual reality (VR), GSR, behavioral modelling of response times and AI. I am collaborating with
the Universities of Glasgow, Basel, Leeds, Athens, McGill Uni and Concordia University Montreal

Keywords: Cognitive neuroscience, computational psychiatry, early detection and intervention, electroencephalography (EEG), eye movements, dyslexia, memory

1. Schröpfer, F., …, Borgwardt, S., Franzen, L. (2026). The Impact of Premature Birth and Low Birth Weight on Motor, Visual, and Cognitive Skills and Mental Health in Adolescence: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. doi: 10.1007/s00787-025-02937-w

2. Franzen, L., Eickhoff, S., Andreou, C., Delis, I., Erb, J., Kreitewolf, J., Lange, C., Lencer, R., Schmitt, L.-M., Schewe, H., Kloosterman, N., Tune, S., Borgwardt, S., & Obleser, J. (2025, July 3). Prior information shapes perceptual evidence accumulation dynamics differentially in psychosis. doi: 10.1101/2025.07.03.662942v1

3. Stark, Z., Elalouf, K., Soldano, V., Franzen, L. & Johnson, A. P. (2025). Validation and reliability of the dyslexia adult checklist in screening for dyslexia. Dyslexia; doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/dys.1797

4. Gagné, N. and Franzen, L. (2023). How to Run Behavioural Experiments Online: Best Practice Suggestions for Cognitive Psychology and Neuroscience. Swiss Psychology Open: The Official Journal of the Swiss Psychological Society, 3(1), 1. doi: 10.5334/spo.34

5. Eickhoff S., Franzen L., Korda A., Rogg H., Trulley V.-N., Borgwardt S., & Avram M. (2022). The basal forebrain cholinergic nuclei and their relevance to schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 1437. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.909961

Grants

• Grant for medical junior scientists – for the project Preterm-to-Adolescent Specifically Tailored Assessment (PASTA; Role: PI; University of Lübeck, 94,000€, 2024 – 2026)

Scholar- and Fellowships

• Horizon Postdoctoral Fellowship (Concordia University, 2019 – 2021)
• Concordia University SEED funding (2017)
• Martin Niemöller Scholarship (University of Glasgow, 2017)
• Research grant for thesis projects (Zeppelin University, 2013)
• Baden-Württemberg-Scholarship for Students (Baden-Württemberg Foundation, 2012)

Awards and Distinctions

• Early Career Award 2025 (Gießen International Schizophrenia Symposium; GISS)
• Open Science Award 2024 – for the project “Best practice guideline for successful behavioural studies online” (awarded by the University of Lübeck)
• Early Career Award 2024 (Schizophrenia International Research Society; SIRS)
• Invitation to design workshops on teaching to neurodiverse students (2020 – present)
• Winner Scottish Institute for Enterprise Fresh Ideas Competition (October 2017)
• MSc with Distinction (University of Glasgow; 2015)

Mobility, Conference, and Travel Awards

• Best poster award (Gießen International Schizophrenia Symposium, 2023)
• Best poster award (CuttingEEG Symposium, Glasgow, 2017)
• Guarantors of Brain Travel Award (2017)
• College of Science and Engineering Mobility Scholarship (University of Glasgow, 2016)
• Conference bursaries and awards (School of Graduate Studies, Centre for Sensory Studies, Experimental Pscyhology Society, PsyPAG)