In March 2022, Noelia Herrero presented her thesis in a compendium of publications entitled Implications of participation in online support groups in the emotional well-being and physical health of people with diabetes, led by Dr Lluís Mas-Manchón and Dr Frederic Guerrero-Solé.

People with diabetes seek the support they need in online communities when they can't find it in their family or friends. Herrero has analyzed how the use of these online communities by diabetes patients can lead them to make wrong decisions about their disease and what can be done from a communicative perspective.

One of their main findings is that people with type 2 diabetes who participate in online communities report worse health results than those who do not. Results that differ from patients with type 1 diabetes. The contributions of this thesis are new evidence to consider when addressing digital resources for patients with diabetes.

Meanwhile, in the month of April, Lorena Abuin presented the first thesis carried out in the Media Psychology Lab, a laboratory in the Department of Communication at Pompeu Fabra University, where to study the cognitive processes, emotions, and behaviour underlying media and technology interactions.

Her thesis, entitled Effectiveness of communication strategies in the job interview. A perceptual and psychophysiological study of the impact of communication strategies based on cognitive biases in the selection of staff has been supervised by Dr Emma Rodero.

Abuin thesis is applied research, which means that aims to solve concrete and real problems of society, beyond the academic world. In this case, Abuin has provided scientific evidence on the communication strategies a candidate may apply in a job interview to make a more positive impact.

Abuin conducted a psychophysiological experiment recording the conductance, heart rate, and breathing of personnel selection experts while they watched job interviews videos.

One of the main conclusions reached is the importance of consistency between the tone (positive or negative) with the content of the message; the professional appearance and the use of gestures and technicalities. Conversely, candidates’ credibility may be undermined by recurring doubts or by the use of filler words.

Abuin thesis is innovative because covers a gap in research in the field of personnel selection and because it has used a rigorous methodology that combines psychology, communication and experimentation.

As both tribunals did, all members of the CAS group congratulate the new doctors and their supervisors on such a great achievement.