Instructors
Always at Your Side
Our dedicated team of lecturers will accompany you throughout your entire degree programme. They are not only there to impart knowledge, facts and methods, but are also your advisors, supporters and mentors on your academic journey. Get to know the diverse personalities who work with passion and expertise to offer you a successful study experience.
Prof. Dr. Sebastian Pannasch
Chair of Engineering Psychology and Applied Cognitive Research
To me, the biggest strength of this master's program lies in its broad range of approaches to understanding complex socio-technical systems. To emphasize the importance of the individual topics,
I illustrate complicated issues using accessible examples, and I explain their direct relevance regarding everyday work life. Through critical examination of scientific research findings, I try to improve my students' understanding of the issues, as well as their approach to practical work, both during the time of their studies and afterwards.
Please introduce yourself and your field of research.
Engineering psychology is a sub-discipline of psychology at the interface to technical applications. The aim of engineering psychology is to design and optimize human-technology interaction from a human perspective. The inclusion of findings from psychology should contribute to the development of systems that are easier to use and safer.
I have been working in this field for around 25 years and find the possibilities between basic and applied research particularly interesting. I use the measurement of eye movements in particular for this.
What current developments in your field do you think are particularly important for students?
Technical progress seems to be getting faster and faster, and keeping the human perspective in mind seems extremely important to me.
What is your favorite aspect of your work as a lecturer?
The opportunity to stimulate interest and make people think.
What is special about the HPSTS program in Dresden?
The breadth of the application-related topics on offer coupled with the opportunity to set individual priorities.
What questions should you ask yourself if you are unsure about your choice of study?
What do I enjoy and what don't I want to do? This way you can narrow down the options.
What advice would you give to first-year students?
Professionalism is serenity! Many others have already successfully mastered their studies.
Dr. Matthias Rudolf
Chair of Psychological Methods and Cognitive Modeling
Good methodological expertise is highly relevant both for professional
practice and for scientific research. That is why we offer
application-oriented training in complex multivariate techniques,
using state-of-the-art statistics software. In it, students acquire
the skills they need to adequately plan their own investigations and
analyze their own data.
Prof. Dr. Tibor Petzoldt
Chair of Traffic and Transportation Psychology
Mobility is one of the driving forces behind societal and cultural development. Enabling mobility that is safe and secure is therefore a central goal of society, a goal which can only be achieved with the help of rigorous scientific research. Traffic and Transportation Psychology tries to address all aspects of human perception / sensation and behaviour in relation to mobility. Students get an insight into a broad range of topics, including (but not limited to) driver behaviour, vehicle design, modal choice or psychological diagnostics (in the traffic context).
Prof. Dr. Iris K. Schneider
Chair of Social Psychology
Every day, we navigate a sea of choices where effective decision-making is pivotal across individual, organizational, and societal realms. Yet, life's most crucial issues often challenge this process. Take health behavior: the dilemma between the allure of tasty food and the benefits of healthy eating, or in management, the balancing act between growth and sustainability amid competing demands. My research and teaching delve into how these conflicts impact interactions within immediate environments and how decision-making can be optimized and supported to navigate these complex waters.
Please introduce yourself and your research area.
My name is Iris Schneider and I study the effects of ambivalence and difficulty on decision-making and organizational processes. I am interested in how people make difficult decisions and how people can improve quality and efficiency.
What current developments in your field do you find particularly important for students?
The focus on ambivalence and other forms of uncertainty as an opportunity, rather than a threat.
What is your favorite aspect of your work as a lecturer?
To work with young people.
What is special about the HPSTS degree program in Dresden?
Its multifaceted approach to human behavior.
What questions should you ask yourself if you are unsure about your choice of degree program?
There are good choices and better choices, but the likelihood that you will make a choice that is irreversible and terrible is very small.
What advice would you give to first-year students?
There will be no time in your life that you will have so much time to spend on education – immerse yourself fully and it will be a gift for the rest of your life.
Prof. Dr. Susanne Narciss
Chair of Psychology of Learning and Instruction
Globalization and digitalization - and the rapid technological change
caused by them - require people to continuously develop their own
skills, and to adapt them to new challenges. Therefore, a core area of
this innovative master's program focuses on psychological knowledge
and research strategies that may elucidate how modern IT can be used to shape education and design learning environments in ways that empower people to develop, maintain and adapt their own competencies.
Prof. Dr. Petra Kemter-Hofmann
Chair of Work and Organisational Psychology
Internship Coordinator
Based at the WOP Chair. My research focuses on organisational and personnel psychology, including organisational diagnosis and development at an organisational level and competence diagnosis and development at an individual level. BANI and digitalisation are currently presenting our professional field with challenges that everyone should address. I particularly like being in direct contact with people, also to make it clear that there is no one solution to a problem, that the HPSTS degree programme in its diversity also reflects the complexity ‘out there’ and that you have to learn to deal with it. What would I recommend? Adaptability and self-awareness (from competence research), networking, looking for mentors and, according to Tagore, ‘If you close the door to all errors, the truth cannot enter either’ - so be courageous and curious.
Prof. Dr. Daniel Leising
Chair of Assessment and Intervention
Study Program Coordinator
Few psychological questions are as exciting as the way in which the characteristics of individuals and the characteristics of the organizations they work in interact to generate human behavior. Does the leadership subject the organization to its own will? Or does the true power lie elsewhere? Are loose rules free for personal development and/or niches in which misconduct flourishes? What makes people identify with their organization and what, in contrast, leads to "inner resignation"? How can you motivate people to get involved instead of ducking away? Are ethical questions only relevant on paper, or do they also have significance for the real actions of people? I would like our students to learn to face such questions critically, fearlessly, even enthusiastically, but also with a certain humility before the complexity of the subject and the limits of their own ability to understand. Ideally, the analysis will lead to concrete recommendations for action that will help to improve the living conditions of as many people as possible.
Please introduce yourself and your research area.
I have been Chair of Assessment and Intervention at TU Dresden since 2012. In our research, we are primarily concerned with judgment formation - how do we arrive at judgments and how accurate or distorted are they? Such judgements can be made by people about people (e.g. diagnoses), but the characteristics of entire organizations can and must also sometimes be assessed. From this assessment, in combination with certain values, it is sometimes possible to derive ideas on how improvements can be achieved.
What current developments in your field do you think are particularly important for students?
There are a lot of exciting developments at the moment, which don't just affect our subject area, but the whole of psychology and perhaps even science as a whole. In my opinion, we are seeing great progress in terms of the transparency and credibility of research (keyword: open science). There are very welcome developments towards clearer theories, and the way in which we work together is also changing for the better - towards much more equality and flexibility in terms of time and space .
What is your favorite aspect of your work as a lecturer?
I am grateful every day that I am able to work with such bright, curious and often idealistic young people, who always challenge us older people and encourage us to think and learn. And I still find my various research topics very exciting, and recently even quite relevant.
What is special about studying HPSTS in Dresden?
The wide range of content. I would say: if you are someone who thrives in the face of complexity, who is not afraid to deal with problems that can only ever be solved partially and provisionally, then HPSTS is the right place for you. And if you want to make a difference in your professional life - for example, by helping to make the way we work healthier, more sustainable and more effective - then you're in the right place. You certainly don't need to worry about your prospects of finding a good job with this degree. We know that from our graduates.
What questions should you ask yourself if you are unsure about your choice of degree program?
See above. Do you like complexity? Are you interested in many different things? And how people work together under different conditions? Are you able to work in a structured and independent manner? Are you able and willing to work analytically? Are you fascinated by understanding how systems work? Do you have the confidence to formulate recommendations, even if they are fraught with uncertainty?
What advice would you give to first-year students?
Get involved. A university like the TUD and the Master's degree programs it offers can also be understood as socio-technical systems. These always have their pitfalls and work best for everyone involved if everyone helps to constantly develop them further. The perspective of the "newcomers" is usually particularly valuable, because they are the least blind to the system.
Dr. Philipp Kruse
Chair of Work and Organisational Psychology
Securing good career prospects for HPSTS-students in science and practice is one of my central targets. Thus, instead of simply delivering knowledge, I encourage the students to critically reflect the newly acquired knowledge and think of possible applications in practical work. I think that working in an easy yet productive manner, having vivid discussions and some fun ensure a worthwhile seminar.
Please introduce yourself and your research area.
My name is Philipp Kruse and I completed the first class of the HPSTS Master's program in 2013. Since I am particularly enthusiastic about work and organizational psychology, I returned to the TU after a year in practice and have been working as a lecturer in various Master's modules of our chair ever since.
My core research areas are social entrepreneurship, where entrepreneurial methods are used to combat poverty or exclusion, for example. I also have a great passion for intercultural research.
What current developments in your field do you think are particularly important for students?
Social entrepreneurship is still an "exotic" field in German psychology, but that's exactly why you can help shape many things and find out new things with applied psychological knowledge. As many people are looking for "meaningful work", I see great potential in this form of entrepreneurship in research and practice.
What is your favorite aspect of your work as a lecturer?
I really enjoy coming into personal contact with the students and organizing events on exciting topics together. It's a great and productive way to spend time together.
What is special about studying HPSTS in Dresden?
From my point of view, the HPSTS Master is a very broad program that covers many facets of psychology. At the same time, you can bring everything "under one roof", because all the content is designed to help you apply psychological knowledge profitably to practical contexts. In addition, the Master's prepares you very well for both a research and a practical career.
What questions should I ask myself if I am unsure about my choice of study program?
Am I sure that I do not want to pursue a career in clinical psychology?
Can I imagine working as (perhaps) the only psychologist in an interdisciplinary team after my Master's degree?
Am I interested in Dresden and the TU?
What advice would you give to first-year students?
The first few weeks after the start of the first semester in particular hold an incredible number of experiences in store for you. Take the time to enjoy them and don't let the many formalities drive you crazy ;-)