Are you interested in the importance of spatial thinking for STEM? The CoGDeV lab (University of Surrey, UK) would love to host an MSCA postdoctoral fellow.

At the Cognition, Genes and Developmental Variability (CoGDeV) lab we run projects related to spatial thinking as a mechanism to support STEM learning. Spatial thinking is the ability to understand the spatial properties of objects including size and location, and to visualise objects and problems in the mind. Spatial abilities in childhood predict adult expertise in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) (Wai et al., 2009) and meta-analyses demonstrate that spatial training is effective in improving spatial and mathematics performance (Hawes et al., 2022). Yet, the UK STEM skills shortage amounts to >£1.5bn in losses annually and the importance of spatial abilities for the future workforce is increasing across careers (Royal Society, 2024). Paradoxically, spatial reasoning remains underemphasised in the English National Curriculum, particularly when compared to the importance placed on literacy and number skills. Furthermore, the National Curriculum is not working for all children, the most ‘left behind’ groups being children from disadvantaged backgrounds and children with SEND (Metcalfe & Davison, 2025). Work in our lab recognises the importance of better understanding spatial-STEM associations, and of improving the nation’s spatial abilities. We are extremely keen to host MSCA postdoctoral fellows with a shared research interest in spatial thinking and/or neurodevelopmental conditions. Current questions we are interested in are (but not limited to): How generalisable is the spatial-STEM association for the diversity of children in the classroom? How generalisable is the spatial-STEM association to countries in the global south? Drawing on our successful training programmes (e.g., Farran et al., 2025), can we co-produce a spatialised mathematics curriculum with teachers? If you are interested in conducting research at the CoGDeV lab, please contact Prof Farran with your CV and an outline of your proposed research.