Education

PhD / Dr. Sc. Information Management (ETH)

• ETH Zurich: PhD Candidate & Doctoral Researcher at C4DHI (9/2020 - 9/2024)
• Harvard University: Visiting Researcher at SEAS / STAT.RL (10/2023 - 4/2024)
• National University of Singapore (NUS): Visiting Researcher at SEC / FHT (9/2022 - 1/2023)
• ETH AI Centre: Associated Researcher

        Project Website | ETH | C4DHI | SEAS | STAT.RL | NUS | SEC | FHT | ETH AI Centre

M.Sc. Management & Technology (TUM)

• Technical University Munich (TUM): Graduate student (4/2014 - 10/2016)
• University of St. Gallen (HSG) & ETH Zurich: Master Thesis (SS 2016)
• Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB): Visiting graduate student (WS 2015)

          Master Curriculum | TUM | HSG | ETH| UAB

B.Sc. Industrial Engineering (KIT)

• Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT): Undergraduate student (10/2009 - 8/2013)
• University of Zurich (UZH) & ETH Zurich: Visiting undergraduate student (SS 2012)

          Bachelor Curriculum | KIT | ETH | UZH

High School

• Städt. Meerbusch Gymnasium: Abitur (2009)
• Smithville Highschool: One-year student exchange in Arkansas, USA (2005-2006)

Work Experience

Centre for Digital Health Interventions (C4DHI): Scientific Researcher

• Competitive landscape analysis and meta analysis of mHealth apps
• Retrospective data analysis of longitudinal data sets from live mHealth apps
• Development of a user churn prediction tool for mHealth Apps

           C4DHI | Project Website | 9/2020-9/2024

Harvard Statistical Reinforcement Learning Lab (StatRL): Scientific Researcher

• Computer Science Fellow with Prof. Susan A Murphy's Statistical Reinforcement Learning Lab at the Harvard John A. Paulson School Of Engineering And Applied Sciences (SEAS)
• Development of RL algorithms for sequential decision-making in mHealth apps
• Joined the Harvard Innovation Labs to build a MLaaS solution for user churn prevention

           SEAS | StatRL | Harvard Innovation labs | 10/2023-4/2024

Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC): Scientific Researcher

• Visiting Researcher within the Future Health Technologies (FHT) module at the National University of Singapore (NUS)
• Development of a gamified lifestyle digital health intervention for Singaporeans

           SEC | NUS | FHT | 9/2022-1/2023

Forest Ring Games GmbH: Co-founder & Managing Director

• Development of Multiplayer Real-time Games (Android, iOS)
• Shipped apps to >250,000 players reaching Top 25 app charts
• Completed two accelerator programs (LMU EC & UnternehmerTUM)
• Led two funding rounds raising a total of €400,000, Friendly Exit in 2020

           PitchBook | PR Funding Round | Mobile Game | BayStartupAward | 11/2016-9/2020

Fortiss: Software Development

• Model-based development of automatization software for Industry 4.0 und Smart Factory applications
• Creation of GUI control elements, search masks, user activity histories, and time tracking functions
• Creation of training materials and tutorials for the model-based software AutoFOCUS3

           Fortiss | Company Website | AutoFOCUS 3 | 4/2016-10/2016

Infineon Technologies: Procurement

• Project Management of global webEDI Onboarding
• Management of Procurement Channels & KPI activities

           Infineon | Company Website | 3/2016-9/2016

‍Volkswagen de México: Production Planning

• Assisted head of production planning of VW’s biggest foreign production plant across all manufacturing modules
• Cost calculation and documentation of the then newly built e-Golf production facility with a key function in negotiations
• Creation, correction, and translation of board documents

           Volkswagen De Mexico| Company Website | 9/2013-2/2014

Accenture PLC: Consulting

• Worked in enterprise transformation and project management projects in two DAX-40 companies
• Process design, project management, portfolio analysis in the area of application operations
• Creation of committee documents, process documentations, cost and profitability calculations

           Accenture| Company Website | 9/2012-9/2013

Schages GmbH & Co. KG: Technical Intern

• 2D/3D CAD Programming: Processing of design documents for CNC laser processing systems
• Basic engineering education: Turning, drilling, filing, milling and welding

           Company Website | 8/2009-9/2009

Wesser GmbH: Fundraising

• Planned and operated campaigns for the Bavarian Red Cross (BRK) and Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe (JUH)
• Personally raised approx. €640,000 as one of the most effective fundraisers in both organizations’ history

           BRK | JUH | Company Website | 6/2008-9/2019

Languages

• German (Native)
• English (C2)
• Spanish (B2)
• French (A2)
• Italian (A1)
• Latin (Latinum Certificate)

Software Experience

• ‍Programming Languages: Python, R, HTML, CSS, JS, VBA, Java, ObjC, Swift, C#, HTML, TeX, BASIC, XML, UML‍
• Programming Tools: Android Studio, Xcode, Eclipse, Visual Studio Code, Jupyter Notebooks, LaTeX, CAD, MATLAB, Gretl, GNU Octave
• ‍Data Analysis & Machine Learning Tools: MATLAB, SPSS, PSPP, Power BI, TensorFlow, Scikit-learn, Pytorch, Google Analytics & Firebase, Gameanalytics, Playfab, AppsFlyer, Facebook Business Manager, Countly, Numpy, Pandas, Matplotlib
• Software Tools: Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Forms, MS Office & Sharepoint, SAP, Adobe CC, Adobe Captivate
• Web Development Tools: Webflow, Wordpress
• ‍Database & Cloud Services: MySQL, MongoDB‍
• Communication Tools: MS Teams, Skype, Zoom, Slack, Jira, Trello, Discord‍
• General: app development, web development, project management (scrum, kanban), data analysis (support vector machines, regression analysis, decision tree, deep learning, database warehousing, data visualization), graphics and video editing

Extracurricular Certificates & Training

Machine Learning & Data Science

• Machine Learning - Coursera / Stanford University (~60h). [Certificate]‍
• Reinforcement Learning - Coursera / University of Alberta (~72h). [Certificate]
• Neural Networks and Deep Learning - DeepLearning.AI (~24h). [Certificate]‍
• Generative AI with Large Language Models - DeepLearning.AI (~16h). [Certificate]‍
• Data Scientist: Machine Learning - Codecademy Professional Certification (>100h). [Certificate]‍‍
• Data Scientist: Analytics - Codecademy Professional Certification (>100h). [Certificate]‍‍
• ‍>15 Codecademy Pro Courses - related to Python, R, Pandas, NumPy, SciPy, Statsmodels, Scikit-learn, Matplotlib, Seaborn, SQL, Regex, Git, Bash, ChatGPT, Excel, Tableau, etc. [Certificates]

‍Healthcare & Digital Health

• Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare - Coursera / Stanford University (~60h). [Certificate]‍
• Essentials of Global Health - Coursera / Yale University (~70h). [Certificate]
• The Science of Well-Being - Coursera / Yale University (~19h). [Certificate]‍
• ‍Understanding Medical Research - Coursera / Yale University (~16h). [Certificate]‍‍
• Health Behavior Change: From Evidence to Action - Coursera / Yale University (~15h). [Certificate]‍‍
• Introduction to Psychology - Coursera / Yale University (~14h). [Certificate]‍‍
• Health Informatics - Coursera / Johns Hopkins University (~10h). [Certificate]
• Medical Neuroscience - Coursera / Duke University (currently enrolled)

Business Strategy & Finance

• Digital Transformation - Coursera / BCG & University of Virginia (~14h). [Certificate]‍
• Private Equity and Venture Capital - Coursera / Bocconi University (~10h). [Certificate]

Research

• Good Clinical Practice - Harvard University. [Certificate] [Report]
• Information Privacy Security (IPS) - Harvard University. [Certificate] [Report]
• Social & Behavioral Research Investigators - Harvard University. [Certificate] [Report]
• Social and Behavioral Responsible Conduct of Research - Harvard University. [Certificate] [Report]

Teaching Activities

• Digital Health in Practice, University of Zurich (FS 2023). [Link]‍
• Digital Therapeutics Project, University of St.Gallen (SS 2023). [Link]‍
• Digital Health in Practice, University of Zurich (FS 2022). [Link]‍
• Digital Health Project Course, University of St.Gallen (SS 2022). [Link]‍
• Digital Health Project Course, ETH Zurich (FS 2021). [Link]‍
• Digital Health Project Course, University of St.Gallen (SS 2021). [Link]‍
• Digital Health Project Course, ETH Zurich (FS 2020). [Link]

Publications

• Mair JL, Salamanca-Sanabria A, Frese B, Abend S, Jakob R, Kowatsch T, Haug S. Effective Behavior Change Techniques in Digital Health Interventions for the Prevention or Management of Noncommunicable Diseases: An Umbrella Review. 2023. Annals of Behavioral Medicine. DOI: 10.1093/abm/kaad041. [Link]

• Jakob R, Harperink S, Rudolf A, Fleisch E, Haug S, Mair J, Salamanca-Sanabria A, Kowatsch T. Factors Influencing Adherence to mHealth Apps for Prevention or Management of Noncommunicable Diseases: Systematic Review. J Med Internet Res 2022;24(5):e35371. DOI:10.2196/35371 [Link]‍

• Paz Castro R, Haug S, Debelak R, Jakob R, Kowatsch T, Schaub M. Engagement With a Mobile Phone–Based Life Skills Intervention for Adolescents and Its Association With Participant Characteristics and Outcomes: Tree-Based Analysis. J Med Internet Res 2022;24(1):e28638. DOI:10.2196/28638 [Link]‍

• Federal Office of Public Health of the Swiss Confederation (BAG). Faktenblatt: Erfolgsfaktoren von mHealth-Applikationen. 2022. [Link]‍

• Haug S, Augsburger M, Jakob R, Kowatsch T. Literaturstudie zu Verhaltensänderungen durch mHealth Applikationen. 2021. Federal Office of Public Health of the Swiss Confederation (BAG). DOI: 10.3929/ethz-b-000549326. [Link]‍

• Tinschert P, Jakob R, Barata F, Kramer J, Kowatsch T. The Potential of Mobile Apps for Improving Asthma Self-Management: A Review of Publicly Available and Well-Adopted Asthma Apps. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 2017; 5(8):e113. DOI:10.2196/mhealth.7177 [Link]

Scholarships & Awards

• ETH Doc.Mobility Fellowship (2023) related to 6-months research stay at Harvard University [Link]‍
• ETH Kite Award Nominee (2022) related to Digital Health Lecture [Link]
• Federal Office of Public Health / BAG Research Grant (2020) related to Digital Health study [Link]
• BayStartUp Award (2017): Jury entrepreneurial award [Link]‍
• EXIST Business Startup Grant (2017): EUR 125,000 government stipend for entrepreneurs [Link]‍
• Erasmus+ Grant (2015) related to exchange semester at UAB in Spain [Link]‍
• Volkswagen Foundation Grant (2013) related to VW internship in Mexico [Link]

Press Coverage & Presentations

• Centre for Digital Health interventions (November 2023): Doctoral Researcher Begins Fellowship at Harvard University
• Singapore-ETH Centre (November 2022): FHT guest lecture: Factors influencing adherence to Digital Health Interventions by Robert Jakob
• Centre for Digital Health interventions (November 2022): Future Health Technologies Guest Lecture by Robert Jakob on Factors Influencing Adherence to Digital Health Interventions
• Centre for Digital Health interventions (September 2022): CDHI Quarterly Meeting with the Behavioural Health & Disease Prevention CORE‍
• Centre for Digital Health Interventions (May 2022): New Publication on Factors Influencing Adherence to mHealth Apps‍
• Singapore ETH Centre (May 2022): A systematic review of factors affecting adherence to mHealth apps‍
• ETH Zurich (January 2022): Nominated projects KITE Award 2022‍‍
• GamesWirtschaft (April 2019): Forest Ring Games. Kersting invests in Games-Startup‍
• Munich Startup (October 2017): Cashwalk 2017: International quality attracts investors‍‍
• Pressebox (March 2017): ‍The 10 startup winners in phase 1 of the Business Plan Competition Northern Bavaria 2017‍
• startUPdate (March 2017): Bavarian Business Plan Competition 2017: Winners of Phase 1