Behavioral Policy Incubator

Turning Behavioral Science Into Real-World Solutions

The Behavioral Policy Incubator is part of the one-year Master’s seminar “Psychological and Behavioural Science for the World”. Modeled after leading behavioral insights teams (like the UK’s Behavioural Insights Team) and based on Nobel Prize-winning science (see Nudge), graduate students apply behavioral science to real-world challenges, from organizational problems to pressing societal issues.

Participants develop innovative, behavior-based interventions designed to create real impact and drive change. Some of these solutions continue beyond the seminar, with students implementing them in their careers, social initiatives, or volunteer projects.

Projects

Tricky Problem	Behavioral Solution	Expected impact	Team
*Incubator 2025/26*
Low return rates for first-time and occasional blood donors in Germany	Friction reduction effect: Personalised ticket with appointment recommendations and enhanced active choice that nudges donors to commit to future donation appointments	Increases retention rate among blood donors, ensuring a stable blood supply in the face of demographic change	Linda Andoni, Carla Frenzel, Joelle Mistele & Alexandra Stripling
Antibiotic overprescribing in German primary care despite existing guidelines	Default & peer-norm effect: Send monthly reports ranking GPs' prescribing against peers and establish delayed prescribing as the default for uncomplicated respiratory infections	Reduces unnecessary antibiotic dispensing, lowering public health risks and costs	Raphael A. Richter, Trine Settgast & Liza Fietz
Lower school performance and higher grade repetition among boys in 8th and 9th grade	Social-referent effect: App ("MindTheGap") leverages influential peers to shift social norms, making school effort more visible and socially accepted among boys	Increased school engagement, lower grade-repetition rates, and stronger educational trajectories among boys	Raman Saleh, Albanita Osmani, Yvonne Fiedler & Leyla Yesilkaya
Bias and discrimination in job application evaluation	Attention architecture effect: Default anonymization and automated evaluation of CVs reduce reliance on stereotypes and intuitive judgments	More diverse interview pools, improved talent access in labor-shortage contexts, and lower discrimination-related legal risk	Carlotta Engler, Juli Hermann, Luisa Seifert & Milan Schirbel
*Incubator 2024/25*
Too few women in leadership positions in large organizations	Default effect: Automatically include all qualified women in the application process, requiring them to actively opt out	Creates a new norm, encouraging women and managers, leading to more women leaders	Lea Beutner, Anouk Michael & Fanni Kleilein
Low uptake of social benefits among disadvantaged groups	Simplification effect: App uses simple questionnaires to identify benefits and nudges users through respective forms	Increases uptake of social benefits and helps reduce economic inequality	Ronnie J. Porterfield & Irem A. Sarica
Slow digitalization in German administration due to siloed solutions	Follower effect: Track and publicize software reuse across offices, incentivizing leaders and IT staff on reuse	Increases reuse of existing software, fosters early collaboration, and accelerates digitalization	Jiyoung Ryu & Fatma Yüce

Projects beyond the seminar

Team	Projects
Ronnie J. Porterfield, Lea Beutner & Anouk Michael	Advising the Deutsche Stiftung für Engagement und Ehrenamt [German Foundation for Civic Engagement and Volunteering] on behavioral interventions to boost engagement in Ehrentag 2026 [National Volunteering Day]

Department of Education and Psychology

Division of Social, Organizational and Economic Psychology

Behavioral Policy Incubator