Bachelor’s Internship and Thesis Opportunities: Digital Therapeutics and Behavior Change

Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) is a leading research and innovation organization based in Trento, Italy. With over 450 researchers across 12 Research Centers, FBK operates in diverse scientific and technological fields, organized into two main clusters: Technology & Innovation and Humanities & Social Sciences. More information: https://www.fbk.eu/en/about-us/. 
The Digital Health & Wellbeing Center conducts interdisciplinary research on innovative digital technologies for health and wellbeing, with particular attention to person-centered, preventive, personalized, and evidence-based approaches. Within the Center, the Digital Health Research Unit (dHRes) focuses on the design, development, and evaluation of digital technologies for health promotion, prevention, and therapeutic interventions. The Unit combines expertise from Human-Computer Interaction, digital health, computer science, psychological science and related disciplines. 

We are looking for Bachelor’s students interested in carrying out a curricular internship and/or Bachelor’s thesis project within the dHRes Unit. The opportunity is particularly suitable for students enrolled in degree programs related to Psychology, Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Science, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and related disciplines. 

Research Area 

The general research area concerns Digital Therapeutics, digital health interventions, and technology-mediated Behavior Change. Projects investigate how digital and interactive technologies can support psychological wellbeing, prevention, health promotion, and changes in health-related behaviors. Depending on the student’s interests, academic background and on the research projects active within the Unit, possible topics may include: 
 

  • Nature-Based Digital Interventions, exploring how digital and immersive experiences inspired by natural environments may support relaxation, stress reduction, emotional regulation, and psychological wellbeing; 
  • Cyberdelics and Immersive Experiences, investigating immersive and virtual experiences designed to influence cognitive, emotional, and perceptual processes; - Eating Disorders, including digital approaches for prevention, assessment, engagement, and support of therapeutic interventions; 
  • Anxiety, Depression and related disorders, investigating digital tools and interventions aimed at supporting emotional regulation, psychological wellbeing, prevention, and self-management;
  • Healthy Aging, exploring technologies designed to support cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and social wellbeing across the lifespan;
  • Neurodevelopmental Disorders, investigating digital, interactive, game-based, and immersive approaches that may support individuals with different neurodevelopmental profiles.
  • Psychological Wellbeing of Caregivers, Siblings, and Healthcare Professionals, investigating digital and technology-mediated interventions aimed at supporting the psychological wellbeing, emotional regulation, coping, resilience, and quality of life of family caregivers, siblings, and healthcare professionals involved in the care of individuals with chronic medical conditions or acute health conditions. Research in this area may also address caregiver burden, stress, burnout, adaptation to illness, and the psychological impact of caregiving and healthcare work. 

Possible Activities 

Depending on the selected project and their academic background and interests & experience level, students may contribute to activities such as: 

  • conducting bibliographic and scientific literature searches on the selected application domain; 
  • identifying, reading, and summarizing relevant scientific papers; 
  • supporting the preparation of literature reviews and research background materials; - participating in interdisciplinary research meetings; 
  • documenting research activities and contributing to internal reports and scientific materials. 
(Psychology and HCI background) 
  • assisting in the preparation of research protocols and user studies; 
  • supporting the preparation of questionnaires, interview protocols, behavioral measures, and research materials; 
  • contributing to participant recruitment and data collection activities, when applicable; 
  • supporting usability evaluations and user experience studies; 
  • organizing research data and supporting preliminary quantitative and/or qualitative analyses; 
(Computer Science/Engineering and HCI background) 
  • contributing to the development of interactive prototypes (e.g., mobile, web, or VR applications in Unity), starting from design mock-ups and interaction concepts defined with the research team; 
  • implementing well-defined features or modules within existing research applications, under the guidance of the research team; 
  • integrating study components into applications, such as in-app questionnaires, event and interaction logging, or data export functions; 
  • testing the developed features on target devices (e.g., smartphones, VR headsets), and finding and fixing bugs;
  • providing technical support during pilot sessions and usability tests (e.g., device setup, monitoring, collecting logs); 
  • documenting the developed code and features so the research team can maintain and reuse them. 

Requirements 

Candidates should: 

  • be enrolled in a Bachelor’s degree, preferably in Psychology, Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Science, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Biomedical Engineering or a related field; 
  • have an interest in digital health, psychology, Digital Therapeutics, Behavior Change, Human-Computer Interaction, or health technologies; 
  • have at least a B2 level of written and spoken English; 
  • be able to read and understand scientific papers in English; 
  • have basic knowledge of research methodology; 
  • have good knowledge of prototyping tools (e.g., Figma, Adobe XD); - (Psychology and HCI background) have basic knowledge of statistics and/or psychometrics; 
  • (Computer Science/Engineering and HCI background) have basic knowledge of software development (JavaScript, C#); knowledge of game engine and 3D development platforms such as Unity is a plus; 
  • be interested in learning how empirical research in digital health and behavioral science is designed and conducted; 
  • be able to work carefully and collaboratively in an interdisciplinary research environment. 

Previous experience with experimental psychology, usability testing, quantitative or qualitative data analysis, prototyping tools, or digital technologies is welcome but not required. 

Internship and Thesis Information 

Type: Curricular internship and/or Bachelor’s thesis. 
Duration: Defined according to the student’s curricular requirements and the selected research project. Internship activities will generally be planned over a period of approximately 3 to 6 months. 
Location: FBK, Povo, Trento, with the possibility of hybrid activities depending on the specific project. 
Supervision: Students will work under the supervision of researchers from the Digital Health Research Unit and, where appropriate, in collaboration with their University's academic supervisor. 
Other benefits: Students will have the opportunity to participate in an interdisciplinary research environment involving psychology, behavioral science, Human-Computer Interaction, digital health, and emerging technologies including XR and AI. 
Depending on the project and the student’s contribution, there may also be opportunities to participate in scientific dissemination activities and research outputs. 
Access to the internal canteen (except for UniTN students) 

How to Apply 

Interested candidates should submit: 

  • Curriculum Vitae; 
  • a brief motivation letter describing their academic background and research interests; 
  • an indication of the research topic or topics of greatest interest; 
  • an indication of whether they are interested in a curricular internship, Bachelor’s thesis, or both; 
  • when available, their preferred period for starting the activity. 

Candidates are not required to submit a complete research proposal. The specific topic and activities will be defined together with the dHRes research team according to the candidate’s interests, background, and the projects available at the time of application. 

For any information, contact Susanna Pardini (spardini@fbk.eu) and Elio Salvadori (esalvadori@fbk.eu). 

For any further information, please contact: jobs@fbk.eu.