Sandra Birnstiel

Sandra Birnstiel completed her PhD in Information Systems at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) from 2022 to 2026 and was a member of the Gamification Research Group, which is now based at the University of Bamberg.

Her doctoral research was conducted as part of a collaborative project with the industry partner adidas and focused on gamification in team sports. Her work centered on innovative gamification approaches to motivate team sport athletes, with particular emphasis on team dynamics, the collective benefits of gameful mechanisms in sports, and the individual motivation of each player.

Prior to her PhD, she studied Human-Computer Interaction at the University of Würzburg, where she obtained both a Bachelor's (B.Sc.) and a Master's (M.Sc.) degree.