PD Dr. Michael Josef Burtscher

Work at ZHAW

Position

Head of Research & Development IAP

Focus

Teamwork, Leadership, Occupational stress, Psychological Assessment

Teaching

Lecturer Statistics, Psychological Assessment and Teamwork

Experience

• (Deputy) Leader Section Psychological Assessment
  ZHAW Department of Applied Psychology
  01 / 2023 - 12 / 2024
• Senior Lecturer
  ZHAW Department of Applied Psychology
  09 / 2019 - 12 / 2022
• Senior Lecturer
  University of Zurich
  06 / 2016 - 01 / 2020
• Visiting Researcher
  University of Pittsburgh
  03 / 2015 - 05 / 2016
• Post-Doc
  University of Zurich
  09 / 2010 - 02 / 2015
• Junior Researcher
  ETH Zurich
  05 / 2007 - 08 / 2010

Education and Continuing education

Education

• Habilitation / Psychologie
  University of Zurich
  01 / 2011 - 11 / 2019
• PhD / Work- and Organizational Psychology
  ETH Zurich
  05 / 2007 - 06 / 2010
• Master of Science / Psychology
  Unversity of Trier
  11 / 2000 - 12 / 2006

Continuing Education

• CAS Leadership & Governance in Universities
  UZH
  05 / 2025
• CAS Higher Education
  University of Zurich
  11 / 2018

Network

ORCID digital identifier

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-6686-3859

Projects

• Personality, Gender, and Leadership Effectiveness: Gender-Sensitive Approaches for Leadership Assessments / Team member / ongoing
• Resource Activation for Teachers' Well-being / Co-project leader / ongoing
• A multi-modal online-assessment for co-leadership / Project leader / ongoing
• User-centered design of a resource-based selfmanagement app / Deputy project leader / completed
• Validation of Dynamic Job Matching: Enhancing Labor Market Efficiency through Semantic Search Algorithms / Project leader / completed
• Short online personality screening / Project leader / completed

Publications

Articles in scientific journal, peer-reviewed

• Güntner, A. V., & Burtscher, M. J. (2026). Topsharing erfolgreich gestalten : die Rolle individueller Merkmale, Passung und organisationaler Rahmenbedingungen für gelingende Co-Leitungen. Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation. Zeitschrift für Angewandte Organisationspsychologie (GIO). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11612-026-00866-z
• Burtscher, M. J., & Hüffmeier, J. (2025). Effects of individualizing incentives on team formation in science. Team Performance Management, 31(3-4), 226–246. https://doi.org/10.1108/tpm-09-2024-0096
• Calasso, L., Künzli, H., & Burtscher, M. J. (2025). Coaching in action : investigating actual coaching behaviour over time. Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 18(2), 168–186. https://doi.org/10.1080/17521882.2025.2457690
• Calasso, L., Künzli, H., & Burtscher, M. J. (2024). What are executive coaches actually doing and when are they doing it? A systematic review of coaching behavior. Consulting Psychology Journal, 76(3), 238–258. https://doi.org/10.1037/cpb0000267
• Burtscher, M. J., Koch, A., & Weigl, M. (2024). Intraoperative teamwork and occupational stress during robot-assisted surgery: An observational study. Applied Ergonomics, 121(104368). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2024.104368
• Lemke, R., Burtscher, M. J., Seelandt, J. C., Grande, B., & Kolbe, M. (2021). Associations of form and function of speaking up in anaesthesia : a prospective observational study. British Journal of Anaesthesia, 127(6), 971–980. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bja.2021.08.014
• Rothen, N., Burtscher, M. J., Gobet, F., Mantzouranis, G., Mayor, J., Pirrone, A., Raeder, S., Ramon, M., & Rossier, J. (2021). The beginning of a new era. Swiss Psychology Open, 1(1), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.5334/spo.27
• Krenz, H., Burtscher, M. J., Grande, B., & Kolbe, M. (2020). Nurses’ voice : the role of hierarchy and leadership. Leadership in Health Services, 33(1), 12–26. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHS-07-2019-0048
• Burtscher, M. J., Nussbeck, F. W., Sevdalis, N., Gisin, S., & Manser, T. (2020). Coordination and communication in healthcare action teams. Swiss Journal of Psychology, 79(3-4), 123–135. https://doi.org/10.1024/1421-0185/a000239
• Krenz, H. L., & Burtscher, M. J. (2020). Investigating voice in action teams : a critical review. Cognition, Technology & Work, 23(3), 605–624. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-020-00646-9
• Klaic, A., Burtscher, M. J., & Jonas, K. (2020). Fostering team innovation and learning by means of team‐centric transformational leadership : the role of teamwork quality. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 93(4), 942–966. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12316

Book chapters, peer-reviewed

Bucher, C., & Burtscher, M. J. (2025). Arbeits-, Organisations- und Wirtschaftspsychologie. In I. Köhle, A. Verkuil, & V. Schulte (eds.), Didaktik der BWL : neue Konzepte interdisziplinären Lernens (pp. 261–288). Schäffer-Poeschel. https://doi.org/10.34156/9783791062723

Other publications

• Burtscher, M. J. (2023). Was macht Teams erfolgreich? Erkenntnisse aus der Teamprozessforschung : Antrittsvorlesung als Privatdozent der Philosophischen Fakultät der Universität Zürich.
• Hauser-Ulrich, S., Lienhard, N., Burtscher, M. J., Gantenbein, A., Kowatsch, T., & Künzli, H. (2020, October). Text-based healthcare chatbot coaching to reduce stress of people suffering from chronic pain and migraine. 2. Digital Health Lab Day, Online, 1. October 2020. https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-22237

Oral conference contributions and abstracts

• Burtscher, M. J., Bardy, G.-R., Beugger, S., & Odermatt, M. (2025, September 9). The Zurich Team Assessment Inventory : a new tool for team-based personnel selection and development. 18th Conference of the Swiss Society of Psychology, Crans-Montana, Switzerland, 7-9 September 2025.
• Burtscher, M. J., Güntner, A., & Calasso, L. (2025, September 8). Fit to co-lead? Developing a model of individual antecedents for effective topsharing. 18th Conference of the Swiss Society of Psychology, Crans-Montana, Switzerland, 7-9 September 2025.
• Ulrich, S., & Burtscher, M. J. (2024, March 28). Chatbot-Coaching zur Ressourcenförderung bei Lehrpersonen. Brown Bag Seminar, PH Luzern, Schweiz, 28. März 2024.
• Burtscher, M. J., Koch, A., & Weigl, M. (2023, December). Job stressors and resources in robot-assisted surgery : the role of intraoperative teamwork. 17th International Meeting on Behavioural Science Applied to Surgery and Acute Care (BSAS), Olten, Switzerland, 1-2 December 2023.
• Burtscher, M. J., Schmutz, J. B., & Weigl, M. (2023, September). Teamarbeit und Arbeitsbelastung : neue Erkenntnisse aus dem Bereich der Gesundheitsversorgung. 13. Fachgruppentagung der Fachgruppe Arbeits-, Organisations- und Wirtschaftspsychologie, Kassel, Deutschland, 12.-15. September 2023.
• Burtscher, M. J., Koch, A., & Weigl, M. (2023, September). Teamarbeit in der Chirurgie : Einfluss auf Arbeitsbelastung und Stresserleben. 13. Fachgruppentagung der Fachgruppe Arbeits-, Organisations- und Wirtschaftspsychologie, Kassel, Deutschland, 12.-15. September 2023.
• Burtscher, M. J., & Hüffmeier, J. (2022, September). The effects of individualizing incentives on collaboration and task choice in scientific teams. 17th Conference of the Swiss Psychological Society, Zurich, Switzerland, 4-6 September 2022.
• Burtscher, M. J., Junker, N., & Derungs, A. (2022, June). Digitalisierung im HR bei KMUs : eine aktuelle Bestandsaufnahme. 7. Zürcher Diagnostik-Kongress, Zürich, Schweiz, 29.-30. Juni 2022.
• Burtscher, M. J. (2022, February 16). Investigating team processes : conceptual and methodological perspectives. Invited Presentation at the Department of Organisation, Strategy, and Entrepreneurship at Maastricht University, Maastricht, 16 February 2022.
• Burtscher, M. J., Ryffel, C., & Jordi Ritz, E.-M. (2021). Digital feedback : the use of eye-tracking and digital data in the context of team training. 15th International Meeting on Behavioural Science Applied to Surgery and Acute Care Settings (BSAS), Webinar, 8. Oktober 2021.

Publications before appointment at the ZHAW

Overview of peer-reviewed publications

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