Martin Alois Rohrmeier

Martin Alois Rohrmeier is an Associate Professor at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), affiliated with the College of Humanities and the Digital and Cognitive Musicology Lab (DCML). He holds multiple leadership roles, including Director of the Doctoral Program in Digital Humanities and member of the Doctoral School Committee. His academic presence spans teaching in Digital Humanities, Humanities and Social Sciences, and specialized music courses.

• Associate Professor, Digital and Cognitive Musicology Lab (DCML), EPFL
• Director, Doctoral Program in Digital Humanities, EPFL
• Member, Doctoral School Committee, EPFL
• Teaching roles in SODH, SHS, and EDDH programs

His research lies at the intersection of music, cognition, and computation. He investigates the structural foundations of music—particularly harmony, rhythm, melody, and form—through computational modeling and cognitive science. His work explores how humans perceive, produce, and understand music by building models that simulate cognitive processes.

The recent publications reflect a strong focus on modeling tonal harmony, rhythmic expectations, musical closure, and key perception. These studies combine corpus analysis of large music datasets with cognitive and probabilistic modeling, contributing to both music theory and cognitive science. His research trends emphasize empirical validation of theoretical constructs using computational tools and large-scale data.

Rohrmeier actively supervises PhD students in digital musicology and cognitive modeling. His leadership in the Doctoral Program in Digital Humanities underscores his commitment to interdisciplinary training and research advancement in the field.

• PhD Students: Borsodi-Benson Marina Barbara, Guan Xinyi, Meng Shuxin, Ren Zeng, Wang Xiaoxuan
• Past PhD Students: Cecchetti Gabriele, Finkensiep Christoph, Harasim Daniel, Hentschel Johannes, Moss Fabian Claude

He teaches courses such as Digital Musicology and Musical Theory and Creativity, which integrate theoretical instruction with hands-on projects, fostering both analytical and creative skills in students.

The Digital and Cognitive Musicology Lab (DCML) at EPFL serves as the central research environment, promoting interdisciplinary collaboration between musicologists, cognitive scientists, computer scientists, and engineers to advance the scientific understanding of music.