My research is interdisciplinary, spanning social and sociopolitical psychology, cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and the scientific study of religion. I use a range of approaches to study human behaviour within complex social and cultural environments.
My background is similarly interdisciplinary. My doctoral research was in experimental cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience, focusing on memory suppression and event-related potentials (ERPs). My subsequent work has included contemplative neuroscience, large-scale longitudinal social research, and forensic neuroscience.
My current and developing research is increasingly brought together through Biruni Lab.
Biruni* Lab
Biruni Lab is the interdisciplinary research lab I lead, bringing together my research projects, students, and collaborations across psychology, neuroscience, and the scientific study of religion.
Current Projects
Current Projects
Muslim Diversity Study (MDS)
A national longitudinal study examining diversity among Muslims in New Zealand, including identity, religiosity, discrimination, wellbeing, resilience, flourishing, and social attitudes.
A national longitudinal study examining diversity among Muslims in New Zealand, including identity, religiosity, discrimination, wellbeing, resilience, flourishing, and social attitudes.
Deprivation and charitable behaviour
An undergraduate research project examining the relationship between deprivation and charitable behaviour.
An undergraduate research project examining the relationship between deprivation and charitable behaviour.
Lie Detection Myths Across Borders
An international collaborative project examining criminal justice students’ beliefs and misconceptions about lie detection. The study compares these beliefs across countries, investigating the extent to which common assumptions about deception and its detection are shared across different educational and cultural contexts.
This project is being conducted in collaboration with researchers in Australia.
An international collaborative project examining criminal justice students’ beliefs and misconceptions about lie detection. The study compares these beliefs across countries, investigating the extent to which common assumptions about deception and its detection are shared across different educational and cultural contexts.
This project is being conducted in collaboration with researchers in Australia.
Developing Research
New projects are being developed across experimental social psychology, cognitive psychology, and cognitive neuroscience, including research on religion and social behaviour, trust and cooperation, and the neural processes associated with religion and contemplative practices.
New projects are being developed across experimental social psychology, cognitive psychology, and cognitive neuroscience, including research on religion and social behaviour, trust and cooperation, and the neural processes associated with religion and contemplative practices.
People
Biruni Lab currently includes two research students.
Qasim Badri — Deprivation and charitable behaviour
[Student name] — [project/research area]
[Student name] — [project/research area]
Collaborations
New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (NZAVS)
I am a member of the NZAVS research group. My work with NZAVS includes research on religion, prejudice, intergroup relations, and minority experiences. The Muslim Diversity Study was established in collaboration with NZAVS and uses its longitudinal research infrastructure.
New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (NZAVS)
I am a member of the NZAVS research group. My work with NZAVS includes research on religion, prejudice, intergroup relations, and minority experiences. The Muslim Diversity Study was established in collaboration with NZAVS and uses its longitudinal research infrastructure.
Memory Control Consortium
I am part of an international multisite registered replication of the Think/No-Think effect, building on my doctoral research in memory suppression and experimental cognitive psychology.
Previous Research
My earlier research provides much of the experimental and neuroscientific foundation for the work I now bring together through Biruni Lab.
I am part of an international multisite registered replication of the Think/No-Think effect, building on my doctoral research in memory suppression and experimental cognitive psychology.
Previous Research
My earlier research provides much of the experimental and neuroscientific foundation for the work I now bring together through Biruni Lab.
Memory suppression and cognitive control — My doctoral research used the Think/No-Think paradigm to investigate the intentional suppression of unwanted memories, including its relationship with individual differences and event-related potentials.
Contemplative neuroscience — My postdoctoral work used cognitive neuroscience approaches, including EEG/ERP, to investigate meditation and related contemplative practices.
Forensic brainwave analysis — Earlier research examined EEG-based approaches to memory detection, including Brain Fingerprinting and its susceptibility to countermeasures.
Other previous research has included micronutrients and mental health following the Christchurch mosque attacks and student financial stress and fees-free tertiary education.
Methods and Students
Our research is question-driven and draws on methods including longitudinal population data, surveys, behavioural experiments, cognitive paradigms, and EEG/ERP.
Students interested in working with Biruni Lab should have, or be willing to develop, strong quantitative research skills, including statistical analysis and reproducible research practices. Specific methodological requirements depend on the project.
Current Projects
- Muslim Diversity Study (MDS): longitudinal research on identity, discrimination, wellbeing, and social attitudes among Muslims in New Zealand
- Memory Control Consortium: multisite registered replication of the Think/No-Think paradigm
- EEG and contemplative practices: resting-state microstates and neural dynamics
- Forensic neuroscience and AI: advancing methods for memory detection
Tools
I work primarily in R (Positron, Quarto) with GitHub-based reproducible workflows, alongside MATLAB and Python for specialised analyses.
I work primarily in R (Positron, Quarto) with GitHub-based reproducible workflows, alongside MATLAB and Python for specialised analyses.
*Why Biruni?
The lab is named after Abu Rayhan al-Biruni (973–c. 1050), whose scholarship crossed disciplinary boundaries and combined observation, measurement, comparison, and critical inquiry. His wide-ranging investigation of the natural world, human societies, cultures, and religions provides an intellectual inspiration for the lab's interdisciplinary and empirical approach.
The name also has personal significance for me. Al-Biruni represents part of the intellectual heritage of the wider region from which I come. Naming the lab after him connects that heritage with my contemporary research and helps bring his scholarly legacy to the attention of new generations of students and researchers.
Biruni Lab is currently based at the University of Otago in Aotearoa New Zealand but is conceived as a continuing research lab rather than an institution-specific initiative.