Axel Mayer obtained his PhD in 2013 from the University of Jena, Germany. In 2014–2016, he was a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Data Analysis at Ghent University, and in 2016-2020 he was Juniorprofessor at the Department of Psychology, RWTH Aachen University. Currently, he is a professor for Psychological Methods and Evaluation at Bielefeld University.
In his research, he is interested in developing new methods for modeling change in (intensive) longitudinal data and for investigating if, how, and for whom an intervention, such as a psychotherapeutic treatment or a health training, has an effect. His methodological research emphasis is on development and application of models for analyzing average and conditional (causal) effects, causal mediation models, latent state-trait models (for experience sampling data) and models for latent change. Substantive research focuses include quality of life research (e.g. on fatigue in students and cancer patients) and research on learning and development processes across the lifespan. An important aspect of his research is the development of user-friendly statistical software, to make modern statistical methods and models available for a broader audience.