Usha Goswami facts for kids

Usha Claire Goswami is a famous scientist born on February 21, 1960. She is a professor at the University of Cambridge in England. She studies how children's brains develop and learn. She is also the director of a special center called the Centre for Neuroscience in Education.

Professor Goswami got her Ph.D. (a high-level degree) from the University of Oxford. Her main work is in a field called educational neuroscience. This field looks at how the brain learns, especially reading. She has done a lot of research on how children learn to read and why some children have dyslexia.

Early Life and School Days

Usha Goswami was born on February 21, 1960. She went to the University of Oxford and studied how people think and learn. After that, she got a teaching certificate from the University of London. This allowed her to become a primary school teacher.

In 1987, she earned her Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Oxford. Her research focused on how children learn to read and spell. She looked at how they use "analogy," which means using what they already know to figure out new words.

Her Work and Discoveries

Professor Goswami has worked at several important universities. She was a researcher at Merton College, Oxford in the late 1980s. She also spent time at the University of Illinois in the United States. From 1990 to 1997, she taught at the University of Cambridge.

Later, she became a professor at University College London. In 2003, she returned to the University of Cambridge. Today, she leads the Centre for Neuroscience in Education. Here, she continues her important research.

Studying the Brain

At the Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Professor Goswami uses special tools. These tools help her study how children's brains work. One tool is called EEG. It measures the electrical activity in the brain. Another tool is fNIRS. This tool looks at how blood flows in the brain.

Her current research projects include:

• Understanding the brain in children with dyslexia.
• Studying how the brain handles speech and language problems.
• Looking at how brain rhythms help with movement.

Understanding Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that mainly affects reading and spelling. It means the brain processes sounds and language a bit differently. Professor Goswami's research suggests that dyslexia is more about how the brain hears language. It is not just a problem with seeing words.

She found that when we hear words, the sound waves create a rhythm. Our brains usually match these sound rhythms with their own brain rhythms. For children with dyslexia, this matching process might not work as smoothly.

Professor Goswami is exploring new ways to help children with dyslexia. She is researching if reading poetry, nursery rhymes, or singing can help. The rhythm in these activities might help children connect sounds to language. This could help them catch up before they start reading.

Awards and Recognitions

Usha Goswami has received many awards for her important work. Early in her career, she won the British Psychology Society Spearman Medal. She also received the Norman Geschwind-Rodin Prize for her dyslexia research. She was given research fellowships from important groups in the USA, Germany, and the UK.

She has also served on many important committees. These include groups working on national education and literacy projects. In 2013, she became a Fellow of the British Academy. This honor is given to top scholars for their excellent research.

In 2019, Professor Goswami won the Yidan Prize for Education Research. This award recognized her amazing work in understanding brain function. Her discoveries help educators create better ways to teach children with dyslexia and special needs.

In 2021, she was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). This is a special honor from the British government for her services to educational research. She was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in May 2021. This is a very high honor for scientists.