Torsten Reimer, PhD
Director of the College of Liberal Arts Research Academy (CLARA) and of the Communication and Cognition Lab
Professor of Communication, by courtesy of Psychological Sciences
Phone: (765) 496-2765
E-mail: treimer@purdue.edu
College of Liberal Arts
Dr. Torsten Reimer directs the Communication and Cognition Lab in the College of Liberal Arts (CLA). Current projects of the lab focus on the role of AI in decision making, the adoption of new technologies, and human-machine interactions (e.g., interactions with Alexa). Research studies in the lab utilize a variety of social scientific methods, including experiments with human participants as well as computational methods and agent-based simulations. Dr Reimer?s research program has the overarching goal to develop and test theories about the interplay of communication and decision making in socio-technological contexts.
Dr. Reimer obtained a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the Free University of Berlin and a Habilitation degree in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Basel in Switzerland. Before moving to the US, he worked as a research scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin (Germany). For his research and teaching, he received several awards including the College of Psychology's Award for Excellence in Research from the University of Basel in Switzerland, the Golden Anniversary Monograph Award from the National Communication Association, and the Dennis Gouran Award from the Group Communication Division of NCA. Dr. Reimer served on the Board of Directors of INGRoup and served as chair of the Group Communication as well as the Social Cognition Division of the National Communication Association. In 2021-2023, he was selected for the Ann and Charles Redding Faculty Scholar Award of the Brian Lamb School, which is given to a tenured faculty member in recognition of research productivity and impact. In 2023, Dr. Reimer was appointed associate editor of the APA journal Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice.
Dr. Reimer has collaborated on a variety of NSF-funded grants with Purdue faculty across the colleges of engineering, science, business, and health and human sciences. Since summer 2024, he has been directing the newly founded College of Liberal Arts Research Academy (CLARA). CLARA has the main goal to facilitate and support research endeavors in CLA and to leverage interdisciplinary initiatives of CLA faculty involving cross-college activities.