Sam Vandermeulen

I hold a master’s degree in theoretical and experimental psychology from Ghent University. During a research internship at the Department of Data Analysis (Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, UGent), I developed a strong interest in theoretical statistics and methodology, particularly with Monte Carlo simulations to study empirical power. I further expanded this work in my master’s thesis by applying these methods to serial mediation models, an increasingly popular framework across scientific disciplines.

Recently, as of 2026, I started my PhD at the AIMS research group under the supervision of Prof. Van Schependom and Prof. D’Haeseleer. My work focuses on optimizing transcranial direct current stimulation to enhance cerebral blood flow in individuals with multiple sclerosis. This project also provides valuable hands-on experience with experimental design and data collection in neuroscience, offering important insight into the practical constraints and requirements of experimental research. Together, this forms a strong foundation for my long-term goal of contributing to methodological and statistical advances in experimental neuroscience.

With a strong commitment to academia, I aspire to pursue a career focused on research in applied statistics and experimental design. My goal is to contribute to the advancement of experimental neuroscience by developing rigorous analytical frameworks and reproducible methodologies that improve the replicability of scientific results.