(from left to right:) Prof. Dr. Peter Ohler, Prof. Dr. Josef Krems, Dr. des. Maria Wirzberger, Prof. Dr. Günter Daniel Rey, Prof. Dr. Georg Jahn

On January 22, the first PhD thesis in the second group was defended successfully by Maria Wirzberger, now employed as postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Tübingen. Her thesis on Load-inducing factors in instructional design: Process-related advances in theory and assessment introduces a novel perspective on the interplay of cognitive load facets in learning scenarios. Among its core characteristics, it connects human behavioral experiments with computational cognitive modeling.

After an insightful talk that also involved an outlook to the broader research vision, the dissertation committee raised a variety of interesting questions that resulted in a lively discussion. The excellent result in the end emphasized that Maria had done a great job!

Congratulations!

Maria Wirzberger with her scholar Ronja Joschko ©TU Berlin_PhilippArnoldt

For the seventh time, the TU Berlin awarded Germany scholarships to highly talented and extraordinary committed bachelor and master students across all disciplines of the university. The program constantly expanded over time since the beginning and at the present time comprises a total of 105 scholarships from private sponsors like companies, foundations or private individuals.

At January 31st, this years scholarship award was celebrated by scholars, sponsors, academic staff, family and friends in front of an impressive scenery at the atrium of the TU Berlin.
 

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stefan Jähnichen, head of the scholarship selection committee, thanks Maria Wirzberger for her commitment ©TU Berlin_PhilippArnoldt

Sponsoring another fellow student from her former masters degree course “Human Factors”, CrossWorlds researcher Maria Wirzberger was invited to hand over the scholarship certificate to her current scholar Ronja Joschko, who turned out to be a perfect match. Both are looking forward to a year filled with inspiring conversations, lively exchange and a boost in knowledge and experience for each side.

Moreover, our ambitious young researcher had the chance to further enhance her professional network while socializing during the event.

Do requirements on digital learning facilities change with increasing age?

To address this question, an interdisciplinary group of CrossWorlds researchers developed a memory training framework that features a virtual agent and operates on speech-based interaction. The fruitful collaboration between Human Factors graduate Maria Wirzberger, computer scientist René Schmidt, and Maria Barlag, holding a master’s degree in “Intelligent Media and Virtual Reality”, provides a bright example of elaborated research emerging from the unique concept of the Research Training Group.

During the following weeks, the researchers will test their prototype and thus look for adult participants with native German language skills across all age groups. All colleagues, students, family members, friends and acquaintances are invited to join! Details regarding time, location and contact are provided on the flyer.

Maria Wirzberger with her scholar Nora Moser ©TU Berlin_PhilippArnoldt

On February 2nd, the 6th Germany scholarship award was celebrated at the beautiful atrium of the TU Berlin. As in the previous year, CrossWorlds researcher Maria Wirzberger participated as sponsor within the program and supported a student from her former Human Factors master’s degree course. During the get-together after the award ceremony, she had the opportunity to hand over the scholarship certificate to her current scholar Nora Moser and engage in lively discussions.

With a steadily growing number of sponsors, various career-related opportunities from involved companies, and an increasing range of social and publicity-related activities amongst the scholars, the Germany scholarship program has indeed proven a success for the university and both sponsors and scholars!

Tomorrow, November 12th, our colleagues Benedikt and Ingmar will celebrate the 25th anniversary of one of CrossWorlds most important cooperation partners, the Chemnitz Museum of Industry. Visitors are asked to test our newest tabletop application that combines a solid interface with mobile devices like smartphones or tablets. Read more: https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/uk/pressestelle/aktuell/1/7638 or http://web.saechsisches-industriemuseum.com and join us!

(from left to right:) Prof. Dr. Georg Jahn, Prof. Dr. Josef Krems, Prof. Dr. Peter Sedlmeier, Dr. des. Benny Liebold, Prof. Dr. Peter Ohler, Prof. Dr. Frank Schwab

Congratulations to our CrossWorlds fellow Benny Liebold on successfully defending his PhD thesis “Cognitive and Emotional Processing of Virtual Environments: The Significance of Attentional Processes and Mental Models”! In front of a crowded audience, Benny gave a fascinating overview of his multi-faceted work of the last years, before engaging in a lively discussion with the dissertation committee.

Naturally, the defence turned out a big success, as professors, colleagues, and friends applauded Benny for his excellent dissertation. A joyful celebration among his guests ended the day appropriately. The soon-to-be PhD will continue his work at the chair of Media Psychology (TU Chemnitz).

Best wishes from your CrossWorld fellows, Benny!

from left to right: Rector Prof. Dr. Gerd Strohmeier, Prof. Dr. Claudia Fraas, Dr. des. Andreas Bischof, Prof. Dr. Peter Ohler

Hopefully, this week starts as fabulous as last week ended. On Friday, July 15th, our CrossWorlds fellow Andreas Bischof successfully defended his PhD thesis. Andreas gave an exciting talk about his work, titled “How do social robots become social?” (full title: “Wie kommt die Robotik zum Sozialen? Epistemische Praktiken der Sozialrobotik”).

The commission was very impressed and the defence ended with standing ovations for Andreas and his excellent work. So, take a look at the picture: Who do you think is the proudest?

Andreas will continue his work at the TU Chemnitz as a member of the project “Nebeneinander wird Miteinander“.

Congratulations from the whole CrossWorlds team, Andreas!

Maria talking about her experiences with business cooperation

On the occasion of the 6th Day of Teaching at the TU Berlin at June 27th, our colleague Maria Wirzberger was invited to join a panel discussion on “Employability due to business cooperation”. Being an alumna of both the university and the Germany scholarship programme, she took a student perspective and shared her own experiences from an interdisciplinary student project with a business partner as part of her master’s degree course. Moreover, she gave insights into the accompanying career-related programme from her scholarship sponsor IBM Germany. Maria especially outlined the arising benefits for her own career and thus emphasized the necessity of such opportunities for students.

Maria Wirzberger and her scholar Katja Dittrich ©TU Berlin/Jacek Ruta

On the occasion of the Germany scholarship celebration 2015/2016 at the TU Berlin, CrossWorlds researcher Maria Wirzberger, formerly scholar and now sponsor within the scholarship program, got together with her current scholar Katja Dittrich and handed over the scholarship certificate. Being a graduate of the Human Factors master’s degree course, Maria Wirzberger dedicated her scholarship to a student enrolled in this course of studies.

The Germany scholarship program is intended to promote highly talented and socially involved students by monetary and career-related support. It receives funding in equal parts from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as well as private sponsors (companies, foundations or private individuals).

Our dear Crossworlds colleague and friend Vincent Küszter successfully defended his PhD thesis today. Vincent’s work is titled “Enwicklung eines mehrbenutzerfähigen projektionsbasierten VR-Systems und Untersuchung ausgewählter Aspekte der Nutzerinteraktion” (Development of a projection-based multi-user VR system and evaluation of specific aspects of user interaction).

His talk was attended very well and the organizers soon ran out of chairs. Dr. Küszter will continue his work on the prototype platform as associate member of Crossworlds. His new platform is used for further projects and psychological studies by members of the second group of graduates and also as a research tool in master’s courses of the Master of Science program “media psychology and instructional psychology”. His dissertation will be available as monograph, soon.

Congratulations from the whole Crossworlds team, Vincent!