We are currently looking for two ETH-students interested completing a Master-thesis on the topic of healthcare chatbots. Chatbots are a promising touch point for health consumers for the provision and promotion of digital health interventions.

General comments
The duration of the master-theses is 6 months and the projects can be started as soon as possible. Please refer to the job descriptions below. If you are interested in applying or if you have any questions about the projects, please contact Postdoctoral Researcher Dr. Marcia Nißen at mnissen@ethz.ch.

Master thesis 1: Development and evaluation of an AI-powered empathic healthcare chatbot 

Together with carecircle AG and Microsoft GmbH we are developing and investigating the use of an AI-powered empathic healthcare chatbot that will be integrated into the health social network plat-form carecircle in an Innosuisse-funded project. The chatbot will serve as the primary interface to users facilitating interactions and engagement with services and content provided on the health social network plat-form. This thesis targets the development and evaluation of the initial use cases for an AI-powered empathic healthcare chatbot that will be integrated into the patient-centric digital health platform carecircle. 

 Major tasks include, but are not limited to

• Review and synthesis of relevant literature 
• Development of a research question, research approach, and dedicated hypotheses 
• Development of a chatbot prototype and integra-tion of initial use cases 
• Evaluation of user adoption and engagement
• Summary of results 

Requirements
We are looking for a tech-savvy, self-driven student with a background in machine learning, natural language processing, and/or computational linguistics. Experience with the Microsoft Bot Framework, Microsoft Azure, and/or LUIS are highly welcome. A general interest in (digital) healthcare, chatbots, and human-computer interaction is required.

Full job description below ⬇️. Click on the image to open the PDF.

Master thesis 2: Healthcare Chatbots: Leveraging the Onboarding Process

Maintaining engagement with chatbots is a pre-requisite for achieving any intervention success since users who stop interacting with the chatbot or who use it at a “sub-optimal frequency” will neither receive the therapeutic nor other informational messages that are necessary to achieve desired treatment outcomes.

As the first impression of a chatbot may lay the groundwork for the rest of the patient-chatbot relationship, this thesis will therefore further investigate “first encounters” with healthcare chatbots and the impact of different onboarding strategies on user engagement and retention.

Major tasks include, but are not limited to

• Review and synthesis of relevant literature and studies that we have already conducted
• Development of an independent research question and dedicated hypotheses
• Preparation, development, and execution of an online or field experiment
• Data analysis and presentation of results

Requirements
We are looking for a highly motivated student with excellent analytical skills. A general interest in (digital) healthcare, chatbots, and human-computer interaction as well as the ability to work independently are required.

Full job description below ⬇️. Click on the image to open the PDF.