Abteilung Psychologie
Stephan Vonschallen
External PhD Student
About Me
After completing my psychology degree at the University of Zurich, I worked for several years in the field of data science. In 2023, I returned to research and have since been working as a research associate in the field of social robotics at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW).
My research interest lies in studying the behavior of social robots powered by generative artificial intelligence. I am particularly interested in the topic of "persuasion," specifically how social robots can influence and convince people. Since the fall of 2024, I have been pursuing my PhD in this field at Bielefeld University. Applications of persuasive social robots include care robots, teacher assistants, and robot advisors. The overarching goal of my research is to enable the responsible development and integration of persuasive social robots—robots that motivate people for their own benefit while avoiding manipulative behavior.
Email: stephan.vonschallen@uni-bielefeld.de
