We are proud to announce that KD²School alumnus, supervised by Prof. Petra Nieken and Prof. Alexander Maedche, has received the Best PhD Thesis Award 2025 from the Journal of Eye Movement Research (MDPI) for his doctoral research completed at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).

His summa cum laude dissertation addressed a question many of us face daily: “Why do video meetings still feel so draining and disconnected compared to being in person?”

Using a mix of eye-tracking lab experiments and behavioral economics, he investigated how social gaze drive teamwork and cooperation. His research showed that eye contact fosters cooperation and that gaze-adaptive video technology can help improve collaboration in virtual teams.

The award recognizes an important contribution to understanding human interaction in hybrid and remote work environments while reflecting the core mission of the KD²School: designing biosignal-adaptive systems that use human signals to create more effective and human-centered technologies.

We warmly congratulate Dr. Tom Frank Reuscher on this achievement.