About

Federico Alvarez Igarzábal

I am Professor of Digital Media & Game Studies at the HBK Essen, Germany. My research explores the aesthetics of games and play, combining theoretical and experimental approaches.

Previously, I was Professor of Game Design at Macromedia University (Cologne Campus) and Substitute Professor of Media & Game Studies at the Cologne Game Lab, TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences.

In 2022 and 2023, I worked as a Researcher and Project Coordinator for the Horizon Europe project ISEDA (Innovative Solutions for Eliminating Domestic Abuse) at the Cologne Game Lab. The goal of this project was to develop training programs and awareness raising campaigns to combat domestic abuse in Europe. This included an interview simulator to train police officers and social workers on how to conduct interviews with victims.

From 2019 to 2022, I was a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health (IGPP) in Freiburg, Germany, contributing to the EU-funded project VIRTUALTIMES. This project aimed to develop a virtual reality game for diagnosing and treating psychopathologies such as depression and schizophrenia through the manipulation of time perception.

I earned my Ph.D. in 2018 from the Institute of Media Culture and Theatre at the University of Cologne and the Cologne Game Lab. My dissertation, Time and Space in Video Games (open access), was published by transcript Verlag in 2019–further publications can be found under Publications & Talks.

Before my doctoral studies, I completed degrees in fine arts and audiovisual communications in Córdoba, Argentina. I was also active as a media artist, exhibiting my work in museums and galleries in Argentina and Germany.