2. We are partners in an exciting new outreach projects funded by the BMBF, which you are coordinating. Can you tell us a bit about GALaQSci? What are you most excited about in this project?

Yes, GALaQSci is an Outreach project, in which partners from LMU, TUM, and MPQ work together with professional game developers to create a smartphone game, in which the player needs to solve quantum-technology riddles by effectively using features of quantum objects. From a didactic perspective, we do not only include various visualizations, but also investigate game-based and story-telling elements that positively affect learning. One of the highlights is a little companion who is based on artificial intelligence and who does not know the solutions of the levels, but learns with the player by exploring different options in real-time. So, the player has a little AI-sidekick who could support him in case he gets stuck on a level. Again, we will use eye tracking to see how different game elements are used for solving the levels and influence the game-play and learning experience. Apart from the smartphone version, we will also develop an Augmented Reality version that could that be used in schools, universities, museums, and science centers.

I am most excited about the challenge to create fascinating quantum technology (QT) riddles that correctly represent QT experiments and phenomena on the one hand, but which have a low entrance barrier on the other hand, so everyone can enjoy playing it, even without having a high prior math knowledge. In this way, we aim to reach a good understanding of QT phenomena and offer an exciting game experience at the same time.

3. What inspired you to pursue a career in science / in your discipline?

When I was in high school, I was excited about physics and I was really looking forward to starting the studies. I finished my diploma thesis and my PhD thesis in solid state physics with a focus on the structural changes of metallic glasses in the super-cooled liquid region. Afterward, the search for the understanding of the glass transition was still very exciting for me, so I decided to take a two-year postdoc position at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Even though, I enjoyed doing research in US, and we obtained very interesting new results, I felt that I was missing something. I realized that I would like to do more that leads to immediate benefit for other people. After considering different options, I decided to switch to physics education research. I was relatively unaware of what research in physics education implies, but I quickly started to like learning about cognitive theories of learning and investigating how new technologies such as eye tracking and AI can be used to understand and support learning processes, and to make an immediate impact on students. Even though it required some effort to learn about several new theories and methods, by now, it has been six years since I switched from research in physics to research in physics education, and I am very glad that I made that choice.