István Winkler

István Winkler is a Professor of Psychology and Director of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology at the Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He holds dual degrees in Psychology (Eötvös Loránd University) and Engineering (Budapest University of Technology), with a PhD from the University of Helsinki (1993) and a Doctor of Academy (DSc) from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (2005).

His research focuses on auditory perception, neurocognitive mechanisms of speech and language processing, and multi-speaker scene analysis. Notable contributions include studies on sensory memory, attentional processes, and early language development predictors. He leads the Sound and Speech Perception Research Group and has held visiting positions at the University of Leipzig and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Winkler has secured over 20 major grants, including EU Framework Programme projects (SCANDLE, EmCAP) and Hungarian National Research Fund initiatives. His awards include the Samuel Sutton Award (1995) for ERP research and the Kardos Lajos Award (2004, 2015) for psychological contributions. He serves on editorial boards of Magyar Pszichológiai Szemle and the Journal of Psychology, and chairs committees at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

He has advised numerous international collaborations, including the CogNovo Marie Curie ITN and the SCANDLE acoustic scene analysis project. His work bridges cognitive neuroscience, engineering, and computational modeling to understand human auditory processing in complex environments.