Affective Computing, Cognitive Science, Computational Neuroscience, Biomedical Engineering

John Eric Steephen studied Electronics Engineering at College of Engineering Thiruvananthapuram, and Biomedical Engineering for his Master’s degree at IIT Bombay. After obtaining his PhD in Computational Neuroscience from IIT Bombay, he made a transition to Cognitive Science and Experimental Psychology during his post-doctoral positions at the Center for Neural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Hyderabad and Kohli Center on Intelligent Systems, IIIT Hyderabad. He was a recipient of the DST-CSRI post-doctoral fellowship twice. Prior to pursuing his Master’s degree, he worked as a software engineer in the IT industry in India and Germany.

He joined IIITM-K in 2019 as an Assistant Professor and shifted to Digital University Kerala subsequently. He teaches mainly courses on programming, data structures and database management for the post-graduate programs of the University. He is the co-ordinator of the CAN Lab at Digital University Kerala. The CAN Lab, under the School of Digital Sciences, conducts research and development in the areas of Cognitive Science, Assistive & Biomedical technologies, and Neurocomputing. He has published papers in the areas of affective computing, computational neuroscience and experimental psychology in internationally well-respected journals. He is currently the Principal Investigator of a K-DISC funded medical research project and the Mentor of a DST funded neuroscience research project. He is also a reviewer of manuscripts for publishers such as Elsevier, Hindawi, Wiley and Springer Nature.

Research 

• PhD in Computational Neuroscience, IIT Bombay, 2011.
• M.Tech in Biomedical Engineering, IIT Bombay, 2004.
• B.Tech in Applied Electronics & Instrumentation Engineering, College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, 1996.

• Senior Research Scientist, Cognitive Science Lab, Kohli Center on Intelligent Systems, IIIT Hyderabad, 2016 – 2017.
• DST-CSI Post-Doctoral Fellow, Cognitive Science Lab, Kohli Center on Intelligent Systems, IIIT Hyderabad, 2014 – 2016.
• DST-CSI Post-Doctoral Fellow, Center for Neural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Hyderabad, 2011 – 2014.
• Research Associate, Computational Neuroscience lab, Dept of Biosciences & Bioengineering, IIT Bombay, 2010 – 2011.
• Senior Software Engineer, SDI Tech Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai and Cleverlearn.com GmBH, Munich, Germany, 2000 – 2002.
• Software Engineer, ICE Software, CSEZ, Cochin, 1998 – 2000.

• Problem Solving and Programming in C
• Object Oriented Programming
• Programming with Python
• Database Management Systems
• Secure Data Management
• Data Structures & Algorithms

• “A computational model of temporal dynamics of subjective experience of emotions”, funded by DST, 2011-14.
• “Exploration of affective dynamics using computational and empirical approaches” funded by DST, 2014-17.
• “Implementation of Online Training, Learning Management and Video Conferencing System for Integrated Child Protection Scheme.”, funded by Women and Child Development Department, 2020-21.
• “Medical devices for iatrogenic urethral damage prevention, assisted bladder emptying, and intraoperative autologous blood retransfusion”, funded by K-DISC, 2022-26.
• “Effects of Ultrasonic Neuromodulation on Nucleus Accumbens Neurons: A Computational Study”, funded by DST, 2023-25.
• “IoT-based Cold Chain Monitoring and Tracking System” under ERCMPU Digitalization Project, funded by Milma, 2025-26.