Introducing the PhD Researchers: Sabrina Gado and Janna Teigeler (Project C1)

Project Area C deals with approach and avoidance in social contexts.
Project C1 under the supervision of Principal Investigator Prof. Dr. Matthias Gamer is about "attentional and neural dynamics of social approach and avoidance behavior".

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Thank you for agreeing to a short interview. Could you start by explaining your research area in more detail?

Sabrina:

"We do research in the field of social approach and avoidance behavior, especially focusing on social anxiety. One of my primary interests is research methods that examine socially anxious behavior in (more or less) naturalistic settings.

Together with Janna, we are currently conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis examining the effects of social anxiety on visual attention habits as well as autonomic and endocrine measures in different experimental settings. For example, we are interested in whether the reactions in virtual reality experiments resemble the reactions we observe in field experiments."

Janna:

"Building on the findings from our first project, Sabrina will then focus on research in virtual reality and investigate approach and avoidance behavior in virtual environments.

I plan to investigate freezing behavior in response to an anticipated threat in an fMRI study. That is super interesting because freezing behavior is not just a passive state of immobility but is thought to be an active mechanism that might facilitate the subsequent avoidance of the threat."

Some time has passed since you started your PhD. What do you like the most so far?

Sabrina:

"I really like the collaboration with Janna, in particular, and the exchange of ideas within our research group in general. It was also quite interesting to see the different research areas with their individual methods and approaches coming together in this translational research training group. I learned a lot during our lectures and seminars, and I am really looking forward to intensifying these interdisciplinary discussions."

Janna:

"I can only agree with Sabrina. It's great that we can tackle our first project together and support and motivate each other while we get used to the new work. Also, I am very thankful for our research group, which is super supportive. What I especially like about the RTG is the international flair and the great opportunities to connect with fellow PhD researchers."

Sabrina, where do you see challenges for the next time? 

Sabrina:

"I think the most challenging times are yet to come during the preparation of my studies, especially the ones using virtual reality. I think the creation of authentic and natural human interactions will be a major challenge during my project." 

Janna, based on your first impression, to whom can you recommend a PhD?

Janna:

"Based on my experience in the first few weeks, I would recommend a PhD so far to people who are motivated to learn and are really enthusiastic about the content of their research. You should like to work independently, but the ability to work in a team is also important because everything is more fun and easier when you support each other." 

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More Information

You can also follow both of them on Twitter to stay up to date on their research:

https://twitter.com/sabrinagado

https://twitter.com/JannaTeigeler

Also good to know: Sabrina published her first website a few days ago. Feel free to check it out for more information about her research. Also interesting might be a beginner's online training on Artificial Intelligence that can be found there (KI Online Training | Sabrina Gado).