Headshot of Cian O’Donnell.

Cian O’Donnell

Lecturer in data analytics
Ulster University

Cian O’Donnell is a computational neuroscientist and lecturer in data analytics at Ulster University. His group works on the mechanisms of learning and memory, autism, and developing statistical methods for neuroscience data.

He earned his B.Sc. in applied physics at Dublin City University, followed by his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in neuroinformatics at the University of Edinburgh. He spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, before returning to the United Kingdom in 2015 as a lecturer and then senior lecturer at the University of Bristol. In 2021, he moved to Ulster University in Derry, Northern Ireland.

From this contributor

Explore more from The Transmitter

Finding the Rett syndrome gene and ways to fix it

Kevin Mitchell talks with Huda Zoghbi about her work identifying the MECP2 gene, its role in the brain and therapies to address its dysfunction.

By Kevin Mitchell
21 September 2026 | 4 min read
Hand holding a vial of microplastics.

Measuring plastic in the brain: Improving, but incomplete

Meanwhile, researchers are publishing papers without “sufficient quality control,” says analytical chemist Dušan Materić.

By Amber Dance
18 September 2026 | 9 min read
Calendar with deadline.

Incredible shrinking grant deadlines at the BRAIN Initiative

“A month is crazy,” says one former recipient, referring to a new funding opportunity’s timeline.

By Brendan Borrell
17 September 2026 | 4 min read