--- title: Dr. Philipp Sterner – ZIB e. V. url: "https://www.zib.education/en/team/dr-philipp-sterner/" description: Dr. Philipp Sterner ist seit September 2025 wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Zentrum für Internationale Bildungsvergleichsstudien e. V. (ZIB) und arbeitet im Rahmen der PISA-Studie als Datenmanager (Skalierung). date: 2025-11-11 modified: 2025-11-17 lastUpdated: 2025-11-17 --- # Dr. Philipp Sterner – ZIB e. V. Dr. Philipp Sterner =================== Reserach Associate (data management) | TUM Dr. Philipp Sterner has been a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for International Student Assessment since September 2025 and is responsible for the scaling in the data management of the PISA-study. His research focuses on the development of methods to investigate measurement invariance, specifically using methodology from machine learning and causal inference. Show more Show less ![Profile picture Philipp Sterner](https://www.zib.education/_assets/processed/0tMb9dbMBsVA_wn-C8lTC_0o9w9o7kAxKkcqARYH2TU/q:85/c:1920:1192.5465838509:fp:0.5:0.5/rt:force/w:464/h:288/fn:Y3NtX1BoaWxpcHBfU3Rlcm5lcl8wMl9lMGY0MDAzYWYy:t/cb:4c4e1673379b935208496063f9637aaed96e2517/bG9jYWw6L2ZpbGVhZG1pbi9CaWxkZXIvTWl0YXJiZWl0ZXIvVFVNL1BoaWxpcHBfU3Rlcm5lcl8wMi5wbmc) Vita ---- - Researcher (Post-Doc) and data manager (scaling), Technical University of Munich, Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA; since 09/2025) - Researcher (Post-Doc), Ruhr-University Bochum and German Center for Mental Health (DZPG; 01/2024 – 08/2025) - Researcher at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität of Munich, Department of Psychology (10/2021 – 10/2024) - Doctoral degree (Dr. phil.) in Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich (title of dissertation: “On the investigation of measurement invariance: New developments and a causal framework for future research”, 02/2025). - Master's degree in Statistics and Data Science, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität of Munich (04/2022 – 09/2025) - Master's degree in Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität of Munich (10/2018 – 03/2021) - Bachelor's degree in Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität of Munich (10/2014 – 12/2017) Research Interests ------------------ - Measurement invariance - (Cost-sensitive) machine learning - Causal inference - Structural equation modeling **Activities** -------------- - PISA 2025 data management (scaling) - PISA 2025 methods chapter Selected publications --------------------- - Sterner, P., & Goretzko, D. (2023). Exploratory Factor Analysis Trees: Evaluating Measurement Invariance Between Multiple Covariates. *Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal*, *30*(6), 871-886. - Sterner, P., De Roover, K., & Goretzko, D. (2024). New Developments in Measurement Invariance Testing-An Overview and Comparison of EFA-based Approaches. *Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal*, *32*(1), 117-135. - Sterner, P., Pargent, F., Deffner, D., & Goretzko, D. (2024). A Causal Framework for the Comparability of Latent Variables*. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal*, *31*(5), 747-758. - Sterner, P., Goretzko, D., & Pargent, F. (2025). Everything has its price: Foundations of costsensitive machine learning and its application in psychology. *Psychological Methods*, *30*(1), 112-127. - Sterner, P., Friemelt, B., Goretzko, D., Kraus, E. B., Bühner, M., & Pargent, F. (2024). Das Konfidenz-/Signifikanzniveau impliziert ein bestimmtes Kostenverhältnis zwischen Fehler 1. Art und Fehler 2. Art: Für ein stärkeres Einbeziehen der Entscheidungstheorie in die psychologische Einzelfalldiagnostik. *Diagnostica*, *70*(3), 126–138. - Goretzko D., Partsch, M. V., & Sterner, P. (2025). Embrace the heterogeneity in EFA but be transparent about what you do – A commentary on Manapat et al. (2023). *Psychological Methods*. Advance online publication. - Goretzko, D., & Sterner, P. (2025). Exploratory Graph Analysis Trees - A Network-based Approach to Investigate Measurement Invariance with Numerous Covariates. *Psychological Methods*. Advance online publication. [List of publications](https://www.zib.education/fileadmin/Dokumente/Mitarbeiter/Ausgewaehlte_Publikationen_von_Ana_Tupac_Baier.pdf) Find me ------- [ResearchGate](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Philipp-Sterner?ev=hdr_xprf) [LinkedIN](https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipp-sterner-bab5891a7/) [ORCID](https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0000-0002-8856-4868) [Google Scholar](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=GW3q3JkAAAAJ&hl=de&oi=ao)