ECGBL 2026
20th European Conference on Games Based Learning
Biographies
Below are the ECGBL Biographies of the Conference and Programme Chairs, Key Note Speakers and Mini-Track Chairs.
Conference and Programme Chairs
Stefan Göbel holds a diploma, Phd and habilitation in Computer Science. Since 2008 Stefan is heading the Serious Games research grout at TU Darmstadt, beforehand he researched in the field of (Geo-)Graphic Information Systems and Interactive Digital Storytelling. He is the initiator and annual host of the GameDays, taking place as Serious Games science meets business event since 2005 as well as Steering Board member of the Joint Conference on Serious Games and co-author of the first Serious Games textbook (2016).
Mini Track Chairs
Michael Kickmeier-Rust is Professor of Psychology at the University of Teacher Education St. Gallen, Switzerland. Michael is holding a PhD in Cognitive Psychology and a background in software development. His research focuses on pedagogical diagnostics, competence assessment, serious games, and embedded, game-based training. His work aims to translate psycho-pedagogical understanding of learning processes into personalized training and individual support, grounded in frameworks such as Competence-based Knowledge Space Theory and Cognitive Diagnostic Models.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Florian Mehm is a Professor of Game Development at Wilhelm Büchner Hochschule and former Technical Studio Director at Limbic Entertainment. He earned his PhD at Technische Universität Darmstadt on authoring adaptive educational games and has worked extensively on serious games, VR applications, and advanced game-development technologies. His research spans game AI, interactive learning environments, and the design of authoring tools for educational games. Florian has led several industry–academic projects and served on program committees for conferences on games and game-based learning.