News
2023
October
Welcoming Dr. Alexandra Zapko-Willmes to our team
We are happy to announce that Dr. Alexandra Zapko-Willmes is joining our team starting 1st October 2023. Previously, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bremen.
In her research, she primarily focuses on explaining personality differences through individual environmental influences and gene-environment interplay. In addition to the conceptualization of personality and its development, sociopolitical orientations have been another focus of her work.
Warm welcome, Alexandra!
September
Award recipients Isabel Thielmann (2nd from the right; William Stern Award) and Kai Horstmann (2nd from the left; Anne Anastasi Award).
© Manuela Seethaler
Kai Horstmann receives the Anne Anastasi Award for Psychological Assessment
Jun.-Prof. Dr. Kai Horstmann has received the Anne Anastasi Award for outstanding early career researchers who have made significant contributions to the field of Psychological Assessment. The award was presented by the division for Differential Psychology, Personality Psychology and Psychological Assessment (DPPD) of the German Psychological Association (DGPs). The award ceremony took place at the 17th DPPD meeting in Salzburg.
17th DPPD meeting in Salzburg
In September, Kai Horstmann, Karla Fliedner and Lilly Buck represented our team at the 17th meeting of the Association for Differential Psychology, Personality Psychology and Psychological Assessment (DPPD). They presented research on (1) the informativeness of global self-reports, (2) the convergence of major life event perception and relationship satisfaction among romantic couples, and (3) on situation perception in clinical psychology.
We had a great time with lots of inspiring and insightful exchange. Our genuine thanks go to the organizing team of Paris Lodron University Salzburg!
August
Semester abroad in Iceland 
Our student assistant Emma Kiesel has started her semester abroad in Iceland. She will live in Reykjavik and study psychology at Reykjavik University (RU) from August to December. Since the University of Siegen does not have an Erasmus contract with RU, she applied as a freemover (self-organized student). As a freemover, students can apply to any university worldwide that accepts them, but they often have to pay tuition fees and are not funded through the Erasmus program.
Research stay in Vancouver .jpeg)
Starting in August, Anabel Büchner is on a one-year research stay at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver. At UBC, she joins the Personality and Geographical Ambiance (PANGEA) Lab, which is led by Fritz Götz. In collaboration with Fritz Götz, who is an expert in person-environment transaction, she will work on projects for her doctoral thesis. While we will miss Anabel Büchner, we wish her an enriching experience in Vancouver!
Welcome to the Personality and Geographical Ambiance (PANGEA) Lab!
PhD scholarship from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation
Starting in August, Anabel Büchner's PhD research is supported by the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung). The Studienstiftung is Germany’s largest and oldest scholarship foundation. In addition to financial support, Anabel Büchner will benefit from an extensive program for intellectual and personal development. We congratulate Anabel on this achievement!
Find out more about the Studienstiftung's doctoral sponsorship here
SPSS2R - Teaching materials in R
The Department of Psychology is currently undergoing a transition from SPSS to R. To facilitate this transition, teaching materials will be adapted, R scripts will be created, and explanatory videos will be produced. Workshops will also be held for both lecturers and students to ensure a successful and seamless transition.
July
Retreat at the University of Siegen.jpeg)
In July, we met together with the PhD students from Berlin in Siegen and held our first multi-day retreat - including hiking and scientific exchange with the research group of Prof. Hennecke. We are looking forward to a continuation next year!
Anabel Büchner attends ARP in Evanston.jpeg)
In July, Anabel Büchner attended the Meeting of the Association for Research in Personality (ARP) in Evanston. At ARP, she presented one of her dissertation studies as a poster titled "Modeling Personality Traits in a Dynamic Systems Framework: Pitfalls and Ways to Overcome Them".
The 8th Biennial Meeting of the Association for Research in Personality will be held in Evanston, Illinois in July 2023. ... read more
June
Mark Schutera gives presentation on ChatGPT
On June 21, 2023 Mark Schutera visited the University of Siegen and gave a presentation on "Placing GPT - Effective intuitions through a technical perspective". Mark Schutera works as a Team Lead at ZF Group where he is AI Product Owner for Autonomous Driving. In his talk, he explained step by step how ChatGPT works technically and how ChatGPT could improve further in the near future. We thank Mark for his interesting talk!
SIPS in Padova.jpeg)
In June, Anabel Büchner attended the Congress of the Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science (SIPS) in Padua. At SIPS, she presented the idea of one of her dissertation studies as a pre-study poster titled "Can Dynamic Conceptualizations of Personality Traits be Measured in Cross-Sectional Assessments?".
May
Lilly Buck attends DPK in Berlin
In May, Lilly Buck attended the German Psychotherapy Congress (DPK) in Berlin. As part of the symposium "Experience Sampling in Clinical Psychology: From Foundational Research to Implications for Practice", she gave a talk on the topic "Situation Assessment in Clinical ESM Studies".
April
Anabel Büchner starts her PhD with the Elsa-Neumann-Scholarship
Starting in April, Anabel is supported by the Elsa-Neumann Scholarship from the state of Berlin. With this funding, she begins her PhD at Humboldt University in Berlin. Her PhD project will be supervised by Kai Horstmann. We congratulate and wish her a successful start to her PhD journey!