My research interest currently focuses on emergent phenomena. For humans, the experience of finding a solution to a previously unsolvable problem is an outstanding and epiphanic moment. Since there seems to be a tradition to shout ‘Eureka’ or ‘Aha’ whenever problems are solved, a commonly known name for this phenomenon is “Eureka! effect” or “Aha moment”. During my CogNovo project “Unconscious Creativity – The Eureka Moment” I started looking at it from an interdisciplinary perspective. Grounded in Cognitive Innovation, I observed architects as creative practitioners, did a comparative linguistic analysis of the original use of the term ‘insight’ and developed a novel experimental paradigm ‘Dira’. With this task, I focus on the creative action (or process) instead of judging ‘insight’ based on produced artefacts, creating actors, or involved audiences. I documented the results from this work in my thesis “Investigating the Moment when Solutions emerge in Problem Solving” which I successfully defended in 2018.
What drives me personally is the interest in problem-solving. It seems, the more a person knows and has experienced, the more likely she/he is to find solutions to “hard” problems. Having an active interest in programming, music, game design, math, and puzzles of any kind myself, I am amazed how solutions emerge, sometimes through the unexpected transfer of knowledge between different domains. This also explains my interest in interdisciplinary research.
During my PhD training at CogNovo, I engaged in several research projects relating to experimental psychology and electroencephalography. Before, I worked almost a decade in the semiconductor industry, gaining experience in handling and analysing large data sets and developing web- and desktop technologies to design and analyse experiments. Currently, I provide analytical and IT support for Creativity Testing Services.
During my initial training as a media computer scientist I researched Grid- and Cloud Computing, relational as well as so-called NoSQL databases, and file systems. Based on the requirements, I have been using several languages in the past, such as Java, R, Perl, Python, Clojure, C, Javascript… I have developed and maintained desktop- and web-based software for more than a decade, some as technical lead or project lead. I have also designed sounds, graphics, books, 3D environments, websites, and a range of merchandising articles.
I conducted my PhD training as part of the CogNovo doctoral training programme at the University of Plymouth. My supervisory team consisted of Guido Bugmann (School of Computing, Electronics and Mathematics), Jeremy Goslin (School of Psychology), and Katharine Willis (School of Art, Design, and Architecture). Before, I studied at Dresden University of Technology, FH Brandenburg, and Beuth University of Applied Sciences (Berlin). I hold a “Bachelor of Science Media Informatics” and a “Master of Science Online Media Informatics”.