Education and research positions

2021 – expected 2025

PhD in Psychology, University of Bonn, Germany

Supervised by Prof. Ulrich Ettinger (University of Bonn) and Dr. Dr. Jan Brauner (University of Oxford)

• Thesis title: “Investigating Interventions for Affect and Cognition: Three Randomized Controlled Trials"

• Papers in thesis: RCTs on improving light therapy for seasonal affective disorder, the effect of creatine supplementation on cognition, app-based psychotherapeutic exercises for anxiety. I started two of these projects as an independent contractor in collaboration with several universities before enrolling in the PhD.

• Papers not in thesis: survey of top AI researchers on the future of AI, currently working on a meta-analysis on interventions to reduce animal product consumption with Prof. Maya Mathur (Stanford University) and the NGO Rethink Priorities

2018 – 2020

Research assistance and operations for Dr. Lucius Caviola and Dr. Stefan Schubert (Harvard University and University of Oxford) 

Psychological research on altruism and rationality, e.g.:

• Why do people donate ineffectively?

• How do people value animals?

• How do people make decisions on the long-term future of humanity?

My responsibilities included: running online and lab studies, data cleaning and statistical analysis using R, writing up results, improving research ideas and manuscripts.

2016 – 2017

MSc in Human Decision Science, Maastricht University (8.2/10)

Content of this degree: game theory, cognitive science, social psychology of decision making, econometrics. 

Thesis: “On​ ​Drowning​ ​Children​ ​and​ ​Donations:​ ​Self-affirmation,​ ​Mood,​ ​and​ ​the​ ​Drowning​ ​Child Argument​ ​–​ ​Exploring​ ​How​ ​to​ ​Increase​ ​Motivation​ ​to​ ​Donate”, grade: 8 out of 10. 

2012 – 2015

BA (Hons) in Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK (2:1)

Dissertation: “Psychological approaches to the prevention of long-term mental health problems in people exposed to large-scale disasters”, 65 points

Research project: “Effect of threat on attentional biases in spider-fearful individuals”, 65 points

2012

Abitur, Mädchengymnasium Essen-Borbeck, Germany (1.0, highest possible grade)

Core courses: mathematics and chemistry

Year abroad in Colombia in grade 11

Skipping of grades 6 and 8

Grants and scholarships

Scholarship from the German foundation „Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes“ (2013 – 2015)

I thank the following institutions and philanthropists for funding my research: Effective Ventures Foundation, MIRI, Paul Christiano, Matt Wage, Mind Ease Ltd, Food System Research Fund

Reviewing for journals

• Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology

• European Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine

• Frontiers in Psychiatry

• Acta Psychologica

Main software and platforms used

• Statistical analysis: R, Excel, Google Sheets, SPSS

• Recruitment: Positly, Prolific, Amazon Mechanical Turk, personal networks, campus recruiting

• Data collection: GuidedTrack, interviews, paper forms, Qualtrics

• Meta-analysis screening and data coding: Grist

Selected talks, supervision, teaching and departmental activity

2024

Gave invited talk on my paper “Thousands of AI authors on the Future of AI” 

• For Lucius Caviola’s Global Priorities Research seminar series of the University of Oxford

• For BuzzRobot, a community of AI practitioners founded by OpenAI and BusinessWeek alumni. See my talk here: https://youtu.be/5sKSWWxm5fI?si=opftldwQsGzQ4ITO 

2021 – 2024

Gave talks on my current research as part of Prof. Ulrich Ettinger’s departmental seminar series at the University of Bonn

2021

Supervised data entry helpers (creatine study as part of my PhD)

2020

Gave the introductory talk and a workshop as part of the two-day social impact career workshop for the German foundation „Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes“

2016 – 2017

Taught classes in my MSc as part of the problem based learning practised at Maastricht University

2012 – 2015

Oxford University psychology student representative

2010 – 2012

Informally taught mathematics to groups of classmates in the last years of high school

Selected activities outside academia

2015 – today 

Active engagement in the social movement Effective Altruism, founding the local group in Düsseldorf (2016), giving talks and workshops on social impact

2017 – 2019

Member of the executive board at the German Party of the Humanists (2018 – 2019: vice chair), a social liberal party with a focus on evidence-based policy, science, secularism and self-determination. My successes included recruiting Prof. Dr. Steven Pinker to our advisory board.

2018 – 2019

Board member of the Global Shapers Düsseldorf, head of impact accounting

2017 – 2018

Leading the animal welfare working group at the Party of the Humanists (Partei der Humanisten)

2015 – 2016

Internship at the psychiatry of the University Clinic in Bochum (LWL-Universitätsklinik Bochum) 

Language skills

German (native language), English (C2), Spanish (estimated at C2, raised bilingually), French (estimated at C1)