Biografie

Maria Freese is a Researcher and Lecturer in the Policy Analysis Section of the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management of Delft University of Technology. She obtained her Bachelor in Psychology and master’s degree in Human-Technology-Interaction from the Otto-von-Guericke University in Magdeburg (Germany). From 2013 to 2017 Maria worked as a doctoral candidate at the German Aerospace Center in Braunschweig. In the period from January to August 2022, Maria worked at Raccoon Serious Games, a commercial serious gaming company in Delft.

Research

As a researcher, Maria Freese is particularly interested in the design, development, and use of serious games as (research instruments) in order to analyse complex systems from both perspectives, the engineering, but also the psychological one.

Within the T-TRIPP project (NWO TTW) and in cooperation with the TU Delft Gamelab, Maria has developed the serious "MachiaCelli" game, a game designed to bring scientists and policy-makers together, and to foster their mutual learning. The second game, that was developed within this project, is called "Cards for Biosafety", which trains junior biotechnology researchers in their awareness of biosafety and related risks. She was also part of the Safety Deal project (RVO) where she supported the team and assisted with research on the long-term effectiveness of serious games. In addition to this, Maria studies ways of optimising facilitation processes (briefing, debriefing) of serious games, and from her psychological perspective, she is doing research on the role of emotions in human-gaming interactions.  

Maria is a board member of the Swiss Austrian German Simulation and Gaming Association (SAGSAGA) as well as a member of the International Simulation and Gaming Association (ISAGA). She is also a reviewer for the Journal of Simulation & Gaming. In 2021, Maria was awarded the German Simulation and Gaming Award for her Phd thesis on the influence of emotions on team decisions by using the example of a serious game for airport management.

Last but not least, Maria is an enthusiastic lecturer and is always looking forward to the beginning of September when a new round of the Game Design Course starts.

Lees meer