Join our study on Personalized Thermal Responses!
Do you ever wonder why one person is comfortable in a room while another is cold? Our bodies’ thermal responses are highly personal, yet most climate and building systems treat everyone the same. The Laboratory of Integrated Comfort Engineering (ICE) at EPFL-Fribourg is changing that with a groundbreaking study on personalized thermal comfort, and we invite you to be a part of it.
By joining our “Subjective and objective estimation of personalized thermal state and experience (SENSE)” study, you’ll help us develop new models that use your unique physiological and psychological data to predict thermal comfort. This isn’t just theory – it’s about creating smarter, more responsive environments that adapt to you, not the other way around.
🎯Who we’re looking for
- We are recruiting healthy, non-smoking adults aged 22–40 with a BMI between 20–26 kg/m².
- To minimize variability and ensure the consistency of our physiological data, we are specifically seeking participants of self-reported Caucasian race and European origin.
- All participants must have resided in Switzerland for at least 3 months prior to the study to minimize acclimatization effects.
- You should also be comfortable communicating in English, as that is the language of the study.
🔬 What to expect
You will participate in 7 experimental sessions at our Fribourg facility. These consist of 5 distinct protocols, one of which is repeated three times for data robustness. Individual sessions last between 4.5 and 9 hours.
Throughout the study, we will use non-invasive devices to measure a range of metrics, including your heart rate, core and skin temperatures, heat flow, and energy expenditure. We’ll also ask for your feedback on your thermal comfort and cognitive performance to provide a complete picture of your body’s response.
✅ Your safety and privacy are our priority
- Your participation is completely voluntary, and you have the right to withdraw at any time.
- All personal data collected will be kept strictly confidential.
- This research project has been approved by the Cantonal Commission (VD) for Ethics in Research on Human Beings (CER-VD 2025-01417).
🧐Compensation & next steps
- As a thank you for your time and effort, you will receive up to 500 CHF upon completing the study.
- To learn more and check your eligibility, please sign up for an information session by April 1 using this ONLINE FORM.
- If you would like to have further information, please send an email to [email protected].