Introducing PhD candidate Sayo Stefflbauer
Sayo Stefflbauer is a PhD candidate at the University of Amsterdam. She started in September 2026 as part of a Young Talent project aimed at providing a framework to facilitate the translation from network psychometrics to clinical practice.
Sayo graduated with a bachelor's in Clinical Psychology and a master's in Behavioural Data Science from the University of Amsterdam. For their master's thesis, Sayo developed a computational model of the emotion-regulation pathway of non-suicidal self-injury. The translation of literature into formalized models led Sayo to question the basic principles of clinical diagnostics, including what constitutes a symptom, and how to differentiate between temporal dynamics at various levels.
For her PhD, Sayo will investigate structural dependencies between network elements and possible parameter interpretations between and within individuals. They are supervised by Tessa Blanken, Marie Deserno, Merel Kindt, and Renée Visser.
Beyond academic research, Sayo enjoys community organizing, graphic design, and engaging with the fine arts.