I develop digital applications that foster learning, social participation and well-being, and I study what they actually do — immersive environments and AI-based conversation partners, built in Unity and tested in the field with schools, public agencies and companies.
Until 2026 I built up and led the research priority programme «Education & Digital Technologies» at the Bern University of Teacher Education, with responsibility for staff and budget, and represented the university at BeLEARN, the Swiss competence centre for digital transformation in education. Earlier I led the «Perception and Action in Virtual Environments» group at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics.
I have taught at the universities of Zurich and Bern, most recently seminars on extended reality and pro-environmental behaviour, and I serve as an Associate Editor of Frontiers in Virtual Reality. Trained as a psychologist, PhD from the University of Zurich.
Education
2022
Module «Basics of University Teaching», CAS Hochschullehre, University of Bern
2008
PhD in Psychology — University of Zurich
2003
Master of Science in Psychology — University of Zurich
Academic Positions
2021-2026
Head of the research group «Education & Digital Technologies», Bern University of Teacher Education (PHBern)
2017–2021
Senior scientist, «Learning Technologies» research group, Swiss Federal University for Vocational Education and Training, Zollikofen
2018
Senior scientist, «Computer-Human Interaction in Learning and Instruction» group, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
2017
Senior research scientist, Department for Cognitive Psychology, Perception and Methods, University of Bern
2014–2016
Senior scientist, Department for Biological Psychology, University of Würzburg
2012–2014
Head of the «Perception and Action in Virtual Environments» research group, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics
2011–2012
Postdoctoral scientist, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen
2008–2011
Postdoctoral scientist, Agroscope — Swiss centre of excellence for agricultural research
2004–2008
Research fellow and PhD candidate, Psychological Institute, University of Zurich
Teaching
2025–2026
Lecturer (seminars), Institute of Psychology, University of Bern
2007–ongoing
Supervision of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral students at six institutions
2006–2008
Lecturer, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich; coordinator of the e-learning project «Psychopathology Taught Online» for 250 students