Raffael Heiss is an assistant professor at MCI's Center for Social & Health Innovation and the Department of Nonprofit-, Social & Health Management. He teaches courses on research designs and methods, statistics, health communication, and health policy. He was a Fulbright visiting scholar at Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.). Previously, he was a PhD candidate and uni:docs fellow at the Department of Communication, University of Vienna. His research interests include political and health communication, health policy, digital media, and civic engagement. For recent publications see: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Raffael_Heiss Twitter: https://twitter.com/RaffaelHeiss
2022Fulbright Visiting Scholar - Georgetown University2018 - presentAssistant Professor - MCI | The Entrepreneurial School, Center for Social & Health Innovation2014 - 2018PhD candidate & uni:docs fellow - - University of Vienna, Department of Communications2013 - 2014PR & public affairs consultant - Grayling Austria2011Tutor - University of Vienna, Department of Communication2009 - 2013Intern - Communications & Network Consulting (London, UK); Tirol Werbung (Innsbruck, AT); Tiroler Tageszeitung (Vienna, AT)
2016International Summer School in Political Communication and Electoral Behaviour: Changing Media Environments, Changing Democracies - University of Milan (Certificate)2014 - 2018Communication - University of Vienna (PhD)2010Communication Management - Fudan University (Certificate)2008 - 2012Communication - University of Vienna (MA)2008 - 2012Political Science - University of Vienna (MA)2005 - 2008Political Science - University of Innsbruck (BA)
I currently teach courses in Health Policy, Methodology, Basic and Advanced Statistics, Communication Research, Project Management - MCI Management Center Innsbruck
2023Austrian Health Literacy AllianceAustrian Health Literacy Award 2023 (Category: Research) for the project "Health Literacy of Children & Adolescents in Tyrol." In this project, we have developed a new tool to measure health literacy in children and adolescents.2022Federal Ministry of Education, Science and ResearchArs Docendi - State Prize for Excellent Teaching at Universities: Shortlist Nominee and Recognition Award" in the category of "Learning Outcome-Oriented Teaching and Examination Culture" (Lernergebnisorientierte Lehr- und Prüfungskultur).2022International Communication Association (ICA)Top Faculty Paper Award for the paper "The distraction effect. Political and entertainment-oriented content on social media, political participation, interest, and knowledge", Mass Communication Division, ICA annual convention, Paris, France (co-authors: Jörg Matthes, Hendrik van Scharrel)2022Fulbright Fulbright Grant for Teaching, Research, Career Development, or Institutional Collaboration award at Georgetown University in the 2022-23 Fulbright Visiting Scholars Program.2021Austrian Science Fund (FWF)Research grant (~350,000 EUR) for the project "Health Influencers on Social Media: Who They Are, What They Post, and How They Affect Adolescents' Health" (lead author and PI)2020Land Tirol (State of Tirol)Research grant (13,000 EUR) awarded by the Tirol science fund (TWF) for the project "FoodExplorer - A Citizen Science Project to Improve School Food Environments" (lead author and PI).2019University of ViennaDissertation Award "Sowi-Doc.Award 2019" (1,500 EUR). Each year, the Faculty of Social Sciences awards the Sowi-Doc.Awards to three doctoral graduates, who receive EUR 1,500 each for their outstanding research contributions in the framework of their doctoral thesis. The award aims at motivating doctoral graduates to pursue a career in academia.2019EuregioWinner of the 2nd prize (1,000 EUR) in the Euregio Young Researchers' Award competition. The Award competition is part the the annual conference Forum Alpbach. Research Project : "Political Actors on Social Media: Content, Selection and Effects" (Dissertation)2018Austrian Science Fund (FWF)Research grant (~300,000 EUR) for the project "Social Media and Political Engagement: Mechanisms and Contingencies" (co-author, with J. Matthes as PI)2017Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC)Top Student Paper Award for the paper "How to respond to right-wing populism? Investigating the effects of three government response strategies on anti-immigrant and anti-government attitudes", Political Communication Interest Group, AEJMC annual convention, San Francisco, CA.2016Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and EconomyResearch grant (~50,000EUR) for the project "The Political Participation Observer. A Citizen Science Tool for Tracking Political Participation" (Top Citizen Science Initiative). (Lead author, with J. Matthes as PI)2015University of Viennauni:docs fellowship for the project: "Political Actors on Social Media: Outreach, Message Content and Effects on Young Citizens". The uni:docs fellowship programme offered individual scholarships which aim at financing excellent doctoral candidates. Successful fellows were employed at the University of Vienna for a period of three years. The fellowship provided outstanding early stage researchers with conditions that allowed them to focus exclusively on their research and thus make substantial contributions to science.
Pellizzari Lili Anna (2023): "Powernapping" in der betrieblichen Gesundheitsförderung: Eine Analyse der Potentiale und Herausforderungen an ausgewählten Fallbeispielen.Schmidhofer Julian (2023): Die Auswirkungen von Social-Media-Influencern auf das Gesungheitsverhalten und die Rezeption von Fehlinformationen junger Erwachsener: Eine experimentelle Untersuchung.Klema Jonathan (2023): "Die Implementierung des One-Health-Ansatzes in Österreich Perspektiven aus der Praxis"Trenkwalder Jeremias (2023): Erhöhung des zivilen Engagements in Non-Profit Organisationen durch Werbekampagnen mit Fokus auf digitalen MedienSpöttl Valentina (2022): Social-Media Marketing. Beeinflussung des Kaufverhaltens durch Werbung auf Instagram.Moser Timna Maria (2022): Die österreichische COVID-19-Impfkampagne auf Facebook: Eine qualitative InhaltsanalyseNeumann Raphaela (2022): Wege der Mitgliedergewinnung für kulturelle Vereine Zielgruppenanalyse und darauf abgestimmte Angebotsgestaltung am Beispiel des Tiroler HeimatpflegevereinsHäckl Marie Therese (2022): Symptomdiagnose durch Dr. Google - Erfahrungsberichte am Beispiel lumbaler Rückenschmerzen aus der Perspektive von Ärzten/innen und Patienten/innenHohenwarter Pia (2021): Food-Labeling als politische Maßnahme: Eine quantitative Erhebung zur Beurteilung von Nährwertangaben aus Sicht österreichischer Konsument/innenMair Mark (2021): Die Wirksamkeit von Greenwashing in der Outdoor-BekleidungsindustrieGritsch Linda (2021): Aktive und passive Social-Media-Nutzung: Der Einfluss auf sozialen Aufwärtsvergleich, Einsamkeit und LebenszufriedenheitFritz Hannah (2021): Littering im öffentlichen Raum: Eine Befragungsstudie zur Litteringsituation in InnsbruckRudolph Leonie (2019): Veränderung der individuellen Wahrnehmung von AbonnentInnen hinsichtlich gesundheitlichen Präventionsverhalten und Gesundheitsbewusstsein beeinflusst durch das Abonnement von krebskranken Bloggern via IstagramStadler Lara (2019): Der Onlineauftritt der Identitären Bewegung
Thielen Sebastian (2023): A Brief Educational Intervention to Improve Accuracy and Reduce Effort Associated with Reading Nutrition Labels for Health Promotion: An Online ExperimentGerstner Nina (2022): Restricting digital food marketing directed towards children and adolescents. A comparison of existing regulations in Europe.Steffan Leonie (2022): The influence of Covid-19 pandemic related stressors and resistance resources on depressive symptoms in AustriaDuijser Kaj (2022): Health literacy and its impact across the European continent Analyzing the determinants and consequences of health literacy in elderly European citizensWouters Maartje (2021): Implementing Social Prescribing in the Netherlands: General Practitioners' PerspectiveHendriks Lotte Annemay (2021): Food Industry's Influence on Childhood Obesity Policymaking: Is it Science or Marketing? A qualitative content analysis on Nestlé and its impact of science funding on childhood obesity policymakingWilson Liny (2021): Regulatory Measures on Smokeless Tobacco Products and E-cigarettes: A Scoping ReviewKafkoula Anna (2021): Enabling and restricting factors for the implementation of social prescribing interventions: A qualitative study in the United KingdomWu Pei-In (2020): Social Media Use, eHealth Literacy, Health Behavior Changes and Health Status: Evidence from a Patient Survey in TaiwanTarot Palma Mariajose (2020): Influence of Mental Health Literacy on Treatment- Seeking Behavior. A Systematic Review on Non- Western CountriesEllmauer Gernold (2020): The Austrian Smoking Ban: Investigating Self-Reported Changes in Smoking Behavior and Attitudes towards the Ban in Active SmokersRothe Denis (2020): A conceptualization of social prescribing: Yielding recommendations based on the findings of a systematic review