I studied philosophy (main subject), physics, mathematics and biology at the University of Berne (1989-1996). During 1996 to 2001, I worked as a project manager and (science) journalist. I obtained my PhD in Neuroinformatics at the ETH Zurich (2001-2006, topic: The role of spike patterns in neuronal information processing. A historically embedded conceptual clarification). In 2015, I finalized my habilitation in biomedical ethics. Further engagements: Summer School of Complex Systems at the Santa Fe Institute (2002), Predoctoral fellow at the Max-Planck Institute of the History of Science in Berlin (2005). From 2007 to 2010, I was postdoctoral researcher at the Graduate Program of Interdisciplinary Ethics Research of the URPP Ethics, University of Zurich (project: The neuroscientific investigation of the moral agent) and from 2011 to 2012, I was Visiting Scholar at the Psychology Department of the University of Notre Dame (Moral Psychology Lab of Darcia Narvaez. Besides my affiliation to the IBME, I’m managing director of UZH Digital Society Initiative. 

CV Markus Christen (PDF, 703 KB)

• Empirical Ethics: Developing and applying measures for moral competences and moral reasoning.
• Neuroethics: Ethical issues of brain interventions.
• Ethics & Technology: Normative issues of big data research and of ICT applications in security, military and humanitarian settings.
• Serious Moral Games: Use of video games for dilemma training & prosocial behavior training.
• Data Analysis Methodologies: Text mining, clustering, data visualization research & pattern recognition with a particular focus on data related to moral issues.

Please find here the complete publications list