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. Martin Schoemann
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.
Please introduce yourself and your research area.
The core research areas of the Chair of Psychological Methods and Cognitive Modelling are the measurement and modeling of intra- and interpersonal dynamics of cognitive processes as well as the (further) development of realistic experimental procedures under the direction of Prof. Stefan Scherbaum. My personal research interests include the measurement and modelling of decision-making processes and questions of the generalizability of psychological findings. The entire Chair is committed to transparent and open science.
What current developments in your field do you think are particularly important for students?
The replication crisis in psychology and all current and future opportunities to counteract it.
What is your favorite aspect of your work as a lecturer?
Working with smart and curious people.
What is special about the HPSTS program in Dresden?
The combination of high methodological standards with application-oriented knowledge that offers a wide range of career prospects.
What questions should people ask themselves if they are unsure about their choice of study?
You should be guided by how you envision your professional future and whether you can cope with thematic diversity. If you already know exactly what you want to do in the future, then consider whether you can acquire the necessary skills here and whether you can cope with the fact that you will also have to deal with other, more distant topics.
What advice would you give to first-year students?
Studying is what you make of it. Get involved in making changes for you personally (see above - getting skills) or for all students.
And something completely boring and unidealistic :) - For tax purposes, a Master's degree is further education and can be deducted or carried forward as a loss. And occupational disability insurance is much cheaper if you don't have a job yet.
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).
Please introduce yourself and your research area.
I have been Head of the Chair of Traffic Psychology since 2017. The subject as such deals with human experience and behavior in traffic - and this is exactly what we deal with in our research.
What current developments in your field do you find particularly important?
A key challenge in the context of transportation at the moment is certainly environmental sustainability. The transport sector must make its contribution to the general reduction of pollutant emissions, and human behavior at various levels is a decisive factor in this. In addition, the handling and consequences of technological innovations are always topical. At present, this applies in particular to the development towards the automation of driving tasks. This automation must be designed in such a way that it is safe for everyone involved, but also actually comfortable to use.
What is your favorite aspect of your work as a lecturer?
Traffic psychology is a subject area that many people don't necessarily have on their radar. Yet we all move around in traffic almost every day. In this respect, it's fun to be able to talk about this supposedly unusual topic and the research we do on it. And, in the best case scenario, to encourage people to think a little about this everyday behavior and its causes.
What is special about the HPSTS program in Dresden?
The breadth of subjects is certainly striking. If you don't want to go into the clinical field, but are still relatively open to many other things, this is the right place for you. At the same time, you have the opportunity to specialize as you wish with the help of a well-stocked range of electives.
What questions should you ask yourself if you are unsure about your choice of study?
Well, anyone reading this text at least has HPSTS on their radar. Very good. Everyone has to work out the content for themselves. But there is also the question of the environment in which you want to study. Can I actually imagine studying at this university? Can I imagine studying in this particular city? As important as the specific course content undoubtedly is for the decision (and definitely should be) - what else do the university and city have to offer?
What advice would you give to first-year students?
There is life outside of university. Take advantage of it, this time will never come again.
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. Judith Josupeit
Chair of Engineering Psychology and Applied Cognitive Research
ERASMUS+ Coordination
Due to various challenges, like artificial intelligence, digitalization, climate change, overageing and global conflicts, our world is becoming increasingly fast-paced and complex.
Psychology can help to identify ways of dealing with complexity in a fair and humane manner. To this end, it is essential to understand human learning & behavior, motivation & emotion in different contexts, including constraints, and ultimately to derive feasile interventions.
Please introduce yourself and your field of research.
Engineering psychology uses findings from (general) psychology for human-centered design of technical systems.
Specifically, in my research, this means dealing with perception and the experience of virtual reality (VR). I use a mix of methods, e.g., qualitative surveys in the form of interviews, quantitative performance measures logged directly from the VR application, and established questionnaires. I program VR applications for research purposes and obtain the best possible experimental control over my work. I am fascinated by the synergy between humans and technology, which expands to phenomena, such as inducing physiological responses in VR that are indistinguishable from responses to the same stimuli in the real world.
What current developments in your field do you think are particularly important for students?
As artificial intelligence is taking up more and more space, algorithms are determining consumer behavior, and digital solutions are being found for problems that never existed in an analog world, I think it is essential to deal with human abilities and limitations to remain capable of coping and to help shape ethical and technical progress.
What is your favorite aspect of your work as a lecturer?
It's always varied, never boring, and every cohort is a new adventure. In particular, trying new things and discussing them together is great fun. The practical nature of the Master's means there are lots of opportunities for practical application and to ask questions.
What is special about the HPSTS program in Dresden?
I think the greatest strength of the HPSTS program is its thematic breadth. Students who are interested in looking into different areas beyond clinical psychology will experience a very diverse field with many applied topics in this Master's program. At the same time, however, the Master's also offers the opportunity for specialization and the chance to pursue very individual paths.
What questions should you ask yourself if you are unsure about your choice of study?
Are there any topics or areas in psychology that I am particularly interested in, or what am I not interested in at all? Do I already have specific career ideas, or am I letting things come to me?
What advice would you give to first-year students?
Knowledge is not power unless it is applied. Or in other words: Have the confidence to do things and try them out.
Whether it's a crazy idea at a talk in a seminar, a long-held wish to spend a semester abroad, or an internship at a large company. Have courage! Take the opportunity to broaden your horizons and gain experience.