Sandro Stutz

LIFE Fellow since 2023, University of Zurich

I was born in 1989 as the son of a metalworker and a dentistry assistant. After I had fought my way up through almost all levels of the Swiss school system, I followed in my father's footsteps for a few years by working as a metal construction draftsman. However, the inhuman mentality of the construction industry never really appealed to me, which is why I was soon looking for a field of work that placed more importance on people and their well-being. Studying psychology increasingly crystallized as my next great endeavor. With my technical baccalaureate, however, I would only have been admitted to study at a technical university of applied sciences, so I first had to catch up on the general adult baccalaureate. After this, the time had finally come: The following years were all about psychology and I have never regretted the decision. In order to keep my head above water, I also did various side jobs: I was a tutor, a lifeguard, a festival helper, and most of all a security guard, where I could find a little niche because of my people-friendly nature: For in all these years, there has never been a situation that I have not been able to de-escalate. But the highlight of my career so far is definitely my position as a PhD student at the Chair for Developmental Psychology: Infancy and Childhood. I'm looking forward to gaining lots of new experience as part of the LIFE team and making my contribution to this great network.

Dissertation project:

Digitized milestones: How a developmental diary app influences caregivers and children

Publications

Bosshart, N., Bearth, A., Stutz, S. E., Wermelinger, S., Daum, M. M., & Siegrist, M. (2025). Avoiding unintentional injuries from household chemicals: Comparing the appeal to children from the perspectives of children, caregivers, and experts. Applied Ergonomics, 122, Article 104401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2024.104401

Lucca, K.,  ... Daum, M. M., ... Grossmann, T., ... Loeffler, M. T., ... Schlegelmilch, K., ... Stutz, S. E., ... Wertz, A. E., ... Hamlin, J. K. (2025). Infants’ social evaluation of helpers and hinderers: A large-scale, multi-lab, coordinated replication study [Registered Report]. Developmental Science, 28(1), Article e13581. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.1358