Abteilung Psychologie

Children in vulnerable groups, such as children with developmental language disorder (DLD) or refugee children, have a higher risk of developing mental health issues compared to their peers. In addition, there is a considerable research gap regarding the relation between children's wellbeing and their linguistic abilities, which affect how successful their social interactions are. This research gap is aggravated by the fact that traditionally, studies in this area heavily rely on self-reports, which have limitations, such as requiring reading comprehension and concentration skills, which can be challenging especially aforementioned vulnerable groups.
The MICRO project aims to close this gap by examining how linguistic abilities and the ability to successfully engage in social interactions affect children’s wellbeing and mental health. Social robots will be utilized as tools to measure the children’s wellbeing and mental health in the school context. To reach these goals, the project consists of an international, interdisciplinary consortium including experts from human-robot interaction, automatic wellbeing analysis, child psychology and psychiatry, social cognition, and gender research, and will collaborate with stakeholders engaged with the targeted vulnerable groups.

Starting date: 31.03.2025

Project Duration: 3 years

Project Website: https://chanse.org/micro/

Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Swiss National Science Foundation, Economic and Social Research Council UK, Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare

Project Partners:

Consortium:
    Project Leader: Ginevra Castellano, Uppsala University, Sweden
    Emily S. Cross, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
    Friederike Eyssel, Bielefeld University, Center for Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC), Germany
    Hatice Gunes, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

Associated partners:
    Dafna Feinholz, UNESCO, France
    Hannah Wilkinson, Place2Be, United Kingdom
    Malin Gingnell, WOMHER Centre – Women’s Mental Health during the Reproductive Lifespan, Sweden
    Michelle St Clair, E-DLD (Engage with Developmental Language Disorder), United Kingdom
    Prashanth Kanduri, Kaleido, Switzerland
    Somaya Ghanem, Barnens Rätt i Samhället (BRIS), Sweden
    Vicky Charisi, JRC, Centre for Advanced Studies, European Commission, Spain

Project Budget: € 1.499.281