Laura Cram | School of Social and Political Science

Professor Laura Cram

Professor of Neuropolitics and Director of NRLabs Neuropolitics Research

Laura.Cram@ed.ac.uk

+44 (0)131 651 5571

Room 2 02, Flat 2F2

18 Buccleuch Place

Edinburgh

EH8 9LD

Profile
Publications

Research interests

Data & Digital European Union Studies Governance & Democracy Nationalism and political action

Neuropolitics of identity, neuropolitics of public policy, neuropolitical research, experimental research, fMRI studies, neuro-physiological studies, biometric studies, behavioural games, identity triggers, national identity, symbols, European public policy, European identity.

Research projects and research group activities:

Laura's lab, NRLabs neuropolitics research, uses experimental approaches, including fMRI brain scanning, survey experiments, behavioural games, face-emotion coding, eye-tracking, physiological hormone testing and social computational analysis to get ‘under the hood’ of political attitudes, identities and behaviours, examining, for example, the meaning and effect of identity(ies) in multi-level polities.

Current and past projects include:

EPSRC IAAA Measuring frontline police officers’ physiological and behavioural responses to data provision in context (L Cram (PI), Robin Hill, Sara Dalzel Job, Constantinos Kyritsopoulos), 1/2/24-28/7/24

VW Stiftung Extraordinary Project (Roepstorff A, Cram, L, Tsakiris, M, Pauen, M. Kasprowicz, D), The (trans)formation of a European sense of solidarity: Visceral politics and social belonging in a comparative European context 1/1/20 – 31/10/25

SFC Covid Beacon Project (L Cram PI with industry partners ICR and M&C Saatchi World services) COVID recovery project International Perceptions of Scotland Jan -July 2021

ESRC Brexit Priority (L Cram PI and A Moore) Citizens’ Expectations on Brexit Outcomes: 'Fact' Transmission and Persuasive Power in a Digital World (1 April 2017 – 31 September 2019 

Europe Fellowship Economic and Social Research Council (L Cram (PI)) ‘The European Union in the Public Imagination: Maximising the Impact of Transdisciplinary Insights’ 1 June 2015 – 31 July 2016.

Wellcome Trust ’Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Lifecourse Influences on Brain Health and Disease' (J. Wardlaw (P.I), L.Cram collaborator) 1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2020

Economic and Social Research Council, Senior Fellow UK in a Changing Europe Programme (L Cram), 'The European Union in the Public Imagination: maximising the impact of transdisciplinary insights' I June 2015 - 31 Aug 2016.

Economic and Social Research Council, Transformative Research Grant (L Cram) ‘Physiology, Identity and Behaviour: A Neuropolitics Approach’ 1 Sep 2013 - 28 Feb 2015.

British Academy (L Cram (P.I.), S Patrikios and J Mitchell) 'The Impact of Subliminal Exposure to National Symbols on Attitudes to the Constitutional Status of Scotland', 1 July 2012 - 30 June 2014.

Economic and Social Research Council (L Cram (P.I.), J Mitchell & S Patrikios), ’ Implicit Triggers, Identity(ies) and Attitudes to the European Union: An Experimental Approach’, December 2010 – 30 November 2011.

Supervision

Laura has supervised a wide range of PhDs. All of these have completed within the recommended 4 year registration period and many now occupy academic posts or public research positions. She is particularly interested in supervising projects that take a neuropolitical approach to: multi-level identities; political behaviour and public policy; physiology, behaviour and identity; implicit identity triggers; experimental approaches to identity and public policy.

Teaching

Laura convenes the honours-level Neuropolitics course in PIR, and the fusion masters-level course Neuopolitics of Decision-Making in the Edinburgh Futures Institute, where she also contributes to the Digital Influence masters-level teaching team.

Background

In addition to her research on neuropolitics, Laura has also published widely on the European Union (EU) policy process and on EU identity. Laura held a Senior Fellowship on the Economic and Social Research Council’s UK in a Changing Europe programme, explore the insights that cognitive neuroscience could offer into contemporary debates on the UK’s EU membership of the EU. She was a contributing author to the EU Commission’s 2019 study Understanding our Political Nature: How to put knowledge and reason at the heart of political decision-making. She acted as Special Advisor to the Scottish Parliament’s, European and External Relations Committee, on the Inquiry into the Impact of the Treaty of Lisbon on Scotland. She has provided evidence to the Houses of Lords and Houses of Commons in the UK and works closely with industrial partners and government officials in her research. She is Co-Director of the Digital Influence & Intelligence Lab DIIL, with cross-industry partners M&C Saatchi World Services and International Cultural Relations, based in the Edinburgh Futures Institute at the University of Edinburgh. She has been cited in the New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Economist, Financial Times, Irish Times, Telegraph, the Conversation, BBC, Sky News, Al Jazeera, CNN, International Associated Press. Her lab’s work has featured in BBC documentaries on the process of political decision-making. She was co-editor of Government and Opposition 2018-2024. She has a particular interest in the neuropolitics of identity and the neuropolitics of public policy and was awarded a prestigious ESRC transformative research grant to extend her research into the field of neuropolitics. She has held multiple grants from the ESRC, EPSRC, British Academy, Carnegie Trust, VW Stiftung Foundation. She previously held posts at the Universities of Strathclyde, Sheffield and Warwick.

Qualifications:

MSc Human Cognitive Neuropsychology

PhD European Public Policy, University of Warwick.

MSc European Social Policy Analysis, Universities of Bath, Maynooth and Tilburg.

BA (Combined Honours), Modern Greek and Political Science, University of Birmingham.

Works within

Politics and International Relations

Publication	Research Explorer link
Rocca R, Lawall K, Tsakiris M, Cram L. Communicating Europe: A computational analysis of the evolution of the European Commission’s communication on Twitter. Journal of Computational Social Science. 2024 Apr 17;1-52. doi: 10.1007/s42001-024-00271-w	View
Moore A, Hong S, Cram L. Trust in information, political identity and the brain: An interdisciplinary fMRI study. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2021 Feb 22;376(1822). Epub 2021 Feb 22. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0140	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L, Hill R, Favero A. For Whom the Bell Trolls: Shifting Troll Behaviour in the Twitter Brexit Debate. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies. 2019 Sept 1;57(5):1148-1164. Epub 2019 Jun 11. doi: 10.1111/jcms.12882	View
Cram L, Moore A, Olivieri V, Suessenbach F. Fair is fair, or is it? Territorial triggers influence ultimatum game behaviour. Political Psychology. 2018 Dec 12;39(6):1233-1250. Epub 2018 Dec 12. doi: 10.1111/pops.12543	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L, Favero A, Hill RL. Russian Troll Hunting in a Brexit Twitter Archive. In JCDL 2018 - Proceedings of the 18th ACM/IEEE Joint Conference on Digital Libraries. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. 2018. p. 361-362 doi: 10.1145/3197026.3203876	View
Cram L. Brexit and Belonging: Empathy, Voice and Moral Authority. In Hassan G, Gunson R, editors, Scotland, the UK and Brexit: A Guide to the Future. Edinburgh: Luath Press. 2017	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. Distinguishing the Wood from the Trees: Contrasting Collection Methods to Understand Bias in a Longitudinal Brexit Twitter Dataset. In Proceedings of the Eleventh International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media. The AAAI Press. 2017. (International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media).	View
Cram L, Hong S, Moore A, Roberts N, Krasoulis A, Pernet CR et al. fMRI study of social exclusion and national identity using a cyberball paradigm. In Proceedings of 26th International Behavioural Neuroscience Society (IBNS). International Behavioural Neuroscience Society. 2017	View
Patrikios S, Cram L. Better the devil you know: Threat effects and attachment to the European Union. Comparative European Politics. 2016 Nov 18;14(6):717-734. Epub 2016 Nov 18. doi: 10.1057/cep.2014.54	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. Imagining Europe: A Social Media Gallery of Images About the EU Edinburgh: European Futures. 2016.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. Summer Conferences The UK in a Changing Europe. 2016.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. What Did Social Media Tell Us About the UK’s EU Referendum? Edinburgh: European Futures. 2016.	View
Cram L, Llewellyn C. If Twitter is the Medium of the Underdog, Are the ‘Reluctant Remainers’ Poised to Bite? Edinburgh: European Futures. 2016.	View
Cram L. The Referendum Will Not Bring an End to the UK’s Debate on the EU Edinburgh: European Futures. 2016.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L, Favero A. Avoiding the drunkard's search: Investigating collection strategies for building a Twitter dataset. In JCDL '16 Proceedings of the 16th ACM/IEEE-CS on Joint Conference on Digital Libraries. New York: ACM. 2016. p. 205-206 doi: 10.1145/2910896.2925433	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. The Silent Majority or Just Under-Represented? Social Media and the EU Referendum Edinburgh: European Futures. 2016.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. Brexit? Analyzing Opinion on the UK-EU Referendum within Twitter. 2016.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. Images of Europe Edinburgh: European Futures. 2016.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. Neuropolitics Research Lab Launch The UK in a Changing Europe. 2016.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. Your Image of the EU: Launch of #myimageoftheEU Edinburgh: European Futures. 2016.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. Exploring Bias: Comparing Approaches for Collecting Twitter Data Edinburgh: European Futures. 2016.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. Brexit? Contrasting Opinion on the UK’s EU Referendum Edinburgh: European Futures. 2016.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. Remain camp is losing the hashtag battle in the twittersphere The UK in a Changing Europe. 2016.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. Twitter Sentiment Analysis on the UK’s EU Membership Edinburgh: European Futures. 2016.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. Images of Europe The UK in a Changing Europe. 2016.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. #myimageoftheEU The UK in a Changing Europe. 2016.	View
Cram L, Patrikios S. European Union Symbols under Threat: Identity Considerations. In Kaina V, Pawel Karolewski I, Kuhn S, editors, European identity revisited: new approaches and recent empirical evidence . London: Routledge. 2016. p. 61-70	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. The results are in -- the UK will #BREXIT 2016.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. #myimageoftheEU: A social media gallery of images about the European Union. The UK in a Changing Europe. 2016.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. What, why, when and how of building a Twitter archive to study a referendum 2016.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. EU Referendum Campaign Groups: Strategies on Twitter Edinburgh: European Futures. 2015.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. Getting the Message Across in the Twittersphere: How Remain and Leave Use Hashtags Edinburgh: European Futures. 2015.	View
Cram L. How Remain and Leave camps use #hashtags The UK in a Changing Europe. 2015.	View
Cram L. Message from Cameron’s Speech – Still an Awkward Partner Edinburgh: European Futures. 2015.	View
Cram L, Kelly O, Nic Shuibhne N, Spaventa E, Lock T, Keating M. Reaction: The UK’s EU Renegotiation Demands Edinburgh: European Futures. 2015.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. Imagining the EU: Words Associated with the EU and Europe Edinburgh: European Futures. 2015.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. #ImagineEurope at the Turing Summit Edinburgh: European Futures. 2015.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. The Use of #Migrant and #Refugee on Twitter Edinburgh: European Futures. 2015.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. Building a Twitter Dataset to Find Out How People View the EU Edinburgh: European Futures. 2015.	View
Cram L. The Idea of Europe Edinburgh: European Futures. 2015.	View
Cram L. Imagining the European Union Edinburgh: European Futures. 2015.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. EU Twitter Sentiment Analysis: Analysis of the sentiment in the twittersphere towards the UK leaving or remaining in the EU 2015.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. Tweet Beginnings: An analysis of how the EU Leave and Remain camps are using Twitter 2015.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. #ImagineEurope at the Turing Summit 2015.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. Building a Twitter Dataset to Find out How People View the EU 2015.	View
Llewellyn C, Cram L. The use of #migrant and #refugee in Twitter: Twitter analysis of the terms above within a dataset collected from 7-Aug-2015 until 11-Sep-2015 2015.	View
Cram L, Skewes J, Hong S, Jegindo EM, Moore A, Prkachin K et al.. Effect of Implicit Indicators of National Identity on Brain Activation When Viewing In-Group and Out-Group Members in Pain. 2015. Abstract from ESMRMB 2015, 32nd Annual Scientific Meeting, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Epub 2015 Oct. doi: 10.1007/s10334-015-0487-2	View
Cram L, Moore A, Skewes J, Nicol K, Roepstorff A, Prkachin K et al.. Implicit nationality primes modulate brain activation when processing another person’s experience of pain.’ British Neuroscience Festival, Edinburgh. 2015. Abstract from BNA 2015 Festival of Neuroscience, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.	View
Cram L, Moore A, Skewes J, Roepstorff A, Prkachin K, Roberts N. Implicit indicators of national identity modulate brain activation when processing empathy for in-group and out-group members in pain. 2015. Abstract from BNA 2015 Festival of Neuroscience, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.	View
Cram L, Patrikios S. Visual primes and European Union identity: Designing experimental research. In Lynggaard K, Manners I, Lofgren K, editors, Research Methods in European Union Studies. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 2015. p. 184-205. (Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics). doi: 10.1057/9781137316967	View
Cram L. Does the EU Need a Navel? Implicit and Explicit Identification with the European Union. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies. 2012 Jan;50(1):71-86. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-5965.2011.02207.x	View
Cram L. Measuring Implicit Identification with the EU and its Effects. e-international relations. 2011 Nov 20.	View
Cram L. In the Shadow of Hierarchy: Governance as a Tool of Government. In Dehousse R, editor, The 'Community Method': Obstinate or Obsolete?. London: Palgrave Macmillan. 2011. p. 151-165. (Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics).	View
Cram L. The Importance of the Temporal Dimension: New Modes of Governance as a Tool of Government. Journal of European Public Policy. 2011;18(5):636-653. doi: 10.1080/13501763.2011.586793	View
Cram L. Sussidiarietà, società civile e nuovi modelli di governance nell 'Unione europea: Verso una società sussidiaria? In Donati P, editor, Verso una società sussidiaria?. Bologna, Italy: Bononia University Press. 2011	View
Cram L. Introduction: Banal Europeanism: European Union Identity and National Identities in Synergy. Nations and Nationalism . 2009 Jan;15(1):101-108. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8129.2009.00377.x	View
Cram L. Identity and European Integration: Diversity as a Source of Integration. Nations and Nationalism . 2009 Jan;15(1):109-128. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8129.2009.00367.x	View
Cram L. From "Integration by Stealth" to "Good Governance" in EU Social Policy. In Verdun A, editor, Innovative Governance in the European Union: The Politics of Multilevel Policymaking. Boulder: Lynne Reiner. 2009. (Studies on the European Polity).	View
Cram L. EU-Civil Society Relations: The Impact of the EU on National Movements and National Identity. In Kohler K, De Bievre D, Maloney W, editors, Opening EU-Governance to Civil Society: Gains & Challenges. Vol. 5. University of Mannheim. 2008. (CONNEX Report Series).	View
Cram L. Inventing the people: Civil Society and Legitimate European Governance. In Smismans S, editor, Civil Society and Legitimate European Governance. Aldershot: Edward Elgar Publishing. 2006	View
Cram L, Bomberg E, Martin D. The EU's institutions: The European Union: How Does it Work? In Stubb A, editor, The European Union: How Does it Work?. Oxford, Uk: Oxford University Press. 2003	View
Cram L. Introduction to the special issue on the institutional balance and the future of the EU governance: the future of the union and the trap of the "nirvana fallacy". Governance. 2002 Jul;15(3):309-324. doi: 10.1111/0952-1895.00190	View
Cram L. Governance 'to go': domestic actors, institutions and the boundaries of the possible. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies. 2001 Nov;39(4):595-618. doi: 10.1111/1468-5965.00323	View
Cram L. Whither the commission? Reform, renewal and the issue-attention cycle. Journal of European Public Policy. 2001 Oct 1;8(5):770-786. doi: 10.1080/13501760110083509	View
Cram L. Imagining the Union: a case of banal Europeanism: Interlocking Dimensions of Integration. In Wallace H, editor, Interlocking Dimensions of Integration. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. 2001. p. 233-246	View
Cram L. Integration theory and the study of the European policy process: towards a synthesis of approaches: European Union: Power and Policy-making. In Richardson J, editor, European Union: Power and Policy-making. London, UK: Routledge. 2001. p. 52-70	View
Cram L. Theories of integration: Policy-Making in the European Union. In Wallace W, editor, Policy-Making in the European Union. London: Routledge. 2001	View
Cram L. The new processes and structures of EU politics: Governing Europe. In Governing Europe. Open University Press. 2000	View
Gruppioni C, Ciliegi P, Rowan-Robinson M, Cram L, Hopkins A, Cesarsky C et al. ISO ELAIS 1.4GHz survey (Gruppioni+, 1999). VizieR On-line Data Catalog. 1999 Aug 1;730:50297.	View
Cram L. The European Commission: Developments in the European Union. In Nugent N, editor, Developments in the European Union. London: Macmillan Publishers. 1999. p. 44-61	View
Cram L, (ed.), Dinan D, (ed.), Nugent N, (ed.). Developments in the European Union. London: Macmillan Publishers, 1999.	View
Cram L, Dinan D, Nugent N. The evolving European Union: Developments in the European Union. In Nugent N, editor, Developments in the European Union. London: Macmillan Publishers. 1999. p. 353-366	View
Cram L, Dinan D, Nugent N. Reconciling theory and practice: Developments in the European Union. In Nugent N, editor, Developments in the European Union. London: Macmillan Publishers. 1999. p. 3-22	View
Gruppioni C, Ciliegi P, Rowan-Robinson M, Cram L, Hopkins A, Cesarsky C et al. A 1.4-GHz survey of the southern European Large-Area ISO Survey region. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 1999 Apr 1;305(2):297-308. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-8711.1999.02415.x	View
Gruppioni C, Ciliegi P, Rowan-Robinson M, Cram L, Hopkins A, Cesarsky C et al. A 1.4 GHz Survey of the Southern ELAIS Region. ArXiv. 1998 Dec 1, p. 12256.	View
Cram L. Institutions and collective action: European Level Collective Action. In Greenwood J, editor, European Level Collective Action. London: Routledge. 1998. p. 63-80	View
Cram L. British social policy in european context: Developments in British Social Policy. In Pierson C, editor, Developments in British Social Policy. London: Macmillan Publishers. 1998. p. 260-275	View
Cram L. Policy Making in the European Union: Conceptual Lenses and the Integration Process. London: Routledge, 1997.	View
Cram L, Greenwood J. European level business collective action: the study agenda ahead. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies. 1996;34(2):449-463. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-5965.1996.tb00582.x	View
Cram L. Theories of integration: Policy-Making in the European Union. In Richardson J, editor, Policy-Making in the European Union. London: Routledge. 1996. p. 40-60	View
Cram L. Providing the catalyst for collective action? The EU institutions and euro-interests in EU social policy: Into Europe? Perspectives from Britain and Slovenia. In Cox T, editor, Into Europe? Perspectives from Britain and Slovenia. Ljubljana: Scientific Library Press. 1996. p. 339-362	View
Cram L. European business alliances in the area of information technology: European Casebook on Business Alliances. In Greenwood J, editor, European Casebook on Business Alliances. London: Prentice Hall. 1995. p. 23-37	View
Cram L. The European commission as a multi-organisation: Social policy and IT policy in the EU. Journal of European Public Policy. 1994;1(2):195-217.	View
Cram L. Women's political participation in greece since the colonels dictatorship: From democratic struggle to incorporation by the party state? Democratization. 1994;1(2):229-250. doi: 10.1080/13510349408403389	View
Cram L. Calling the tune without paying the piper? Social policy regulation: The role of the commission in european community social policy. Policy and Politics. 1993 Apr 1;21(2):135-146. doi: 10.1332/030557393782453899	View

Laura Cram's Research Explorer profile

Professor Laura Cram

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