Curriculum Vitae

University Education

• M.S. in Psychology, University of Innsbruck, 2020
• B.S. in Psychology, University of Innsbruck, 2018
• Ph.D. in Physics, University of Innsbruck, 2014
• Mag. rer. nat. in Physics, University of Innsbruck, 2010

Work experience

• 04/2024-present: Data analyst and scientific advisor for the AT Gesäuse National Park
• 01/2023-present: University assistant at the Department of Psychology, University of Graz, Digital Psychology Lab
• 03/2022-03/2023: External lecturer at the Department of Psychology, University of Innsbruck
• 09/2020-08/2022: Senior lecturer at the Institute of Basic Sciences in Engineering Science, University of Innsbruck, Unit for Strength of Materials and Structural Analysis
• 09/2017-06/2020: Postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Ion Physics and Applied Physics, University of Innsbruck, Research Unit: Computational Molecular Physics
• 07/2017-08/2017: Internship at Bartenbach GmbH, Unit for Research & Development
• 03/2016-09/2017: Scientific assistant at the Institute of Basic Sciences in Engineering Science, University of Innsbruck, Unit for Strength of Materials and Structural Analysis
• 09/2015-09/2017: Postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Ion Physics and Applied Physics, University of Innsbruck, research group Computational Chemistry
• 07/2014-01/2015: Postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Munich, Germany
• 10/2010-03/2014: Project assistant at the Institute of Ion Physics and Applied Physics, University of Innsbruck, Research Unit: Computational Chemistry

Main research interests

• Psychology of memory, learning, and education; game-based learning, educational games; synergies between games, playing, learning
• Computational methods, modeling, and simulation in psychology; statistical learning; probability theory; statistics
• Dynamical (non-linear) aspects of motor activity, perception, cognition, and related psychophysiological processes (e.g., eye blinking, gaze behavior, skin conductivity)

Skills

• Programming Languages:
  • R
  • Python
  • Matlab
  • Mathematica (basics)
  • (Pretty rusty) basics in C++, C, and some FORTRAN (first real programming experience was actually in FORTRAN 77)
• Operating Systems:
  • MS Windows
  • Linux (basics)
• Further Computer Skills:
  • IBM SPSS
  • MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
  • LaTeX (basics)
  • Markdown, html (basics)
• Psychophysiology:
  • Eye-tracking
  • Electrodermal activity (EDA)
  • Electrocardiogram (ECG)
  • Facial expression analysis (FEA)
• Spoken Languages:
  • German (native)
  • English (fluent)
  • Can say “Hello, how are you, my name is Stefan, please and thank you” in French and Spanish

Honors & Awards

• Co-author of the paper Establishing a new computational method to predict effects of gaming: A feasibility study on growth mindset awarded with the Best Paper Award of the 13th Games and Learning Alliance (GALA) conference in Berlin, 2024
• Future Education Paper Award of the 2024 Future Education Conference in Graz for the article Game elements enhance engagement and mitigate attrition in online learning tasks, 2024
• Funding of the monograph Die Verkörperung der Aufmerksamkeit: Erste Überlegungen und Untersuchungen zu einer allgemeinen Theorie menschlichen Blinzelns by the Vice-Rectorate for Research of the University of Innsbruck, 2021
• Funding of the article Assessment of fractal characteristics of locomotor activity of geriatric in-patients with Alzheimer’s dementia by the Publication Fund of the University of Innsbruck, 2019
• Co-author of the paper On the properties of charged and neutral, atomic and molecular helium species in helium nanodroplets: interpreting recent experiments awarded with the Dr. Otto Seibert Wissenschafts-Förderungspreis 2014 (Dr. Otto Seibert Research Award) at the University of Innsbruck, 2014
• „Anerkennungspreis der Jury des Preises des Best Student Paper Award 2012“ (Best Student Paper Award of Recognition 2012) of the University of Innsbruck for the article Thermal stabilization of thin gold nanowires: a molecular dynamics study, 2012
• Superior Poster Award at the 51st Sanibel Symposium, St. Simons Island, GA, February 25 - March 1, 2011, sponsored by the journal Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (PCCP), 2011

Funding

• Co-applicant of the FWF (Austrian Science Fund) stand-alone project Modeling of electron-induced damage in biological tissue (Grant No. P 30355), 2017-2020
• Research promotion by the fund for the promotion of scientific research and young scientists in Tyrol, 2017
• Research fellowship for postdocs of the Alexander-von-Humboldt foundation, 2014-2015

Service to the Profession

• Professional Memberships:
  • European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI), 2025-present
  • Research Network FUTURE EDUCATION of the University of Graz, 2023-present
  • Doctoral School on Computational Interdisciplinary Modelling (FWF DK+ project Computational Interdisciplinary Modelling (DK-CIM) W1227-N16), 2010-2014
• Reviewer for publications/conference contributions:
  • Journals:
    • International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction
    • International Journal of Serious Games
    • Scientific Reports
    • Computers & Education
    • Entropy
    • PLoS ONE
    • Nanoscale
    • Journal of Applied Physics
    • The Journal of Chemical Physics
  • Conferences:
    • Joint DGPs/ÖGP Congress in Vienna, Austria, 2024
    • Future Education Conference in Graz, Austria, 2024
    • GamiFIN Conference in Ylläs, Finland, 2024