Dr. Zipser obtained his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1995, where he did seminal work in Peter Schiller’s lab studying the response properties of neurons in visual cortex. His most influential work showed how spatial context modifies neural responses according to figure-ground relationships, irrespective of the specific visual cues used to define those relationships.

In 2014, Dr. Karl Zipser was appointed as an assistant researcher at the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at the U.C. Berkeley. In 2016, Dr. Zipser began working with the newly created Berkeley DeepDrive research center as a Principal Investigator.

Prior to beginning research at UC Berkeley, Dr. Zipser spent a decade devoted to visual art. Working in The Netherlands, he sold his paintings in several Dutch galleries. His experiences as an artist have provided useful insights into visual perception which he has shared with both scientists and artists — previously on a website he founded call ArtAndPerception.com, which for several years was a lively forum for discussion of art and perception. Although he no longer has time to practice art himself, he maintains ongoing discussions with artists about his neuroscience research, a process which is informative both for him and the practicing artists.