Portrait of Santiago Grandas Forero

Hi, I'm Santiago.

I'm an experimental psychologist and behavioural scientist based in London. I lead research at QOVES, where I study how people, and the AI models they use, perceive faces. Before that, I did an MSc in Psychological Research at Oxford. I've also conducted research on digital interventions for social media use and prosocial behaviour.

I also explain psychology and neuroscience in Spanish to 20K+ people on TikTok.

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Research

2026
Beauty is in the AI of the beholder: MLLMs systematically overrate facial attractiveness
First author. Pre-registered study comparing 2,513 human raters with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok. Under review, Computers in Human Behavior.
Now
Transforming social media use through in-time suggestions of healthy alternatives
Ongoing field experiment in collaboration with the one sec app. Lead Study Design, Junior Researcher Programme. Poster at CoBene, February 2026.
Santiago presenting the poster at CoBene 2026
2026
Do freckles make you look more or less attractive?
Co-author of research report. Online experiment with 953 participants.
2026
Empathy and Action for Refugees: Experimental Evidence on Outgroup Prosociality
Under review, Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology.

Science communication

@grandas01 · 20K+ followers

Short videos in Spanish on psychology and neuroscience research.

Writing

Informal reviews on the science of facial attractiveness, published at QOVES.

Press & recognition

Oxford, 2025
Winner, EnSpire All-Innovate
For Psychometrica, a digital platform for mental health professionals in Colombia.
Santiago pitching Psychometrica in an Oxford lecture theatre

Experience & education

2026 – now
Head of Research, QOVES, London
2025 – 26
Researcher, QOVES, London
2024 – 25
MSc Psychological Research, University of Oxford · Colfuturo scholar
2021 – 24
BSc in Psychology (Summa Cum Laude), University of Charleston · NCAA Soccer