Doctoral Study

The Institute of Health and Nursing Sciences (IGP) is strongly committed to promoting the next generation of researchers in the health and nursing sciences. It offers outstanding conditions for doctoral study – including structured programmes, tailored individual support, and a strong network of cooperation with universities and practice partners. Doctoral researchers are actively involved in externally funded projects and contribute to interdisciplinary work on pressing issues in healthcare and service delivery.

From the first steps into research to the postdoctoral stage, early-career researchers at the IGP benefit from professional, consistent and high-quality support. Our aim is to identify and nurture potential at an early stage and to offer aspiring researchers an inspiring environment for academic growth, personal development and career opportunities. The IGP sees itself as a place where academic careers begin – and where they continue to grow.

Paths to Doctoral Study

Association for Doctoral Studies at the Universities of Applied Sciences in Baden-Württemberg

The Association for Doctoral Studies Baden-Württemberg offers doctoral researchers the opportunity to pursue their degree within a research-oriented and interdisciplinary academic network. Members of the association include Prof Dr Andrea Chmitorz, Prof Dr Annette Riedel, Prof Dr Reinhold Wolke and Prof Dr Petra Wihofszky. Doctoral candidates benefit from an excellent research environment that combines strong practical relevance with interdisciplinary approaches.

HE-Personal Programme

As part of the HE-Personal programme funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Esslingen University of Applied Sciences offers structured support for early-career researchers preparing for future professorships. The programme supports both practice-oriented projects and academic development in innovative areas of healthcare. The contact person is Prof Dr Astrid Elsbernd.

Doctoral Committees with Partner Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences

University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine Eberhard Karls University Tübingen

The Department of Nursing Science offers dedicated early-career researchers the opportunity to pursue doctoral studies in cooperation with partner institutions such as the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen. Research topics range from interprofessional collaboration to complementary and alternative interventions. Close integration into ongoing research projects ensures that doctoral theses are not only scientifically sound but also practice-oriented and socially relevant.

University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd

With the right to confer doctoral degrees in Educational Science (Dr paed.) and Philosophy (Dr phil.), the University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd provides an excellent academic environment for research projects that explore pedagogical and philosophical dimensions of nursing science. Close academic supervision enables theoretically grounded and socially relevant contributions to the ongoing development of nursing discourse.

Doctoral Committees with Partner Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences

University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine Eberhard Karls University Tübingen

The Department of Nursing Science offers dedicated early-career researchers the opportunity to pursue doctoral studies in cooperation with partner institutions such as the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen. Research topics range from interprofessional collaboration to complementary and alternative interventions. Close integration into ongoing research projects ensures that doctoral theses are not only scientifically sound but also practice-oriented and socially relevant.

University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd

With the right to confer doctoral degrees in Educational Science (Dr paed.) and Philosophy (Dr phil.), the University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd provides an excellent academic environment for research projects that explore pedagogical and philosophical dimensions of nursing science. Close academic supervision enables theoretically grounded and socially relevant contributions to the ongoing development of nursing discourse.

current doctoral study

Pia Madeleine Haug is a research associate in the project "Requests for Assisted Suicide by Older People in Inpatient and Outpatient Long-Term Care – Professional Nursing Response and Suicide Prevention (Attention) ". She completed her B.A. in Nursing Education (2022) and her M.A. in Nursing Science (2024) at Esslingen University of Applied Sciences. In 2015, she successfully completed her training as a registered nurse at the Protestant Education Center for Health Professions (Evangelisches Bildungszentrum für Gesundheitsberufe Stuttgart).

As part of her doctoral research, Pia Madeleine Haug focuses on the participatory and consensus-based development of ethical and practical guidelines for the professional nursing response to the desire to die, requests for assisted suicide, and suicide prevention in long-term care settings. Key guideline elements—developed on the basis of two literature reviews and focus groups within the Attention project—are evaluated through a two-round Delphi consensus process involving nurses working in inpatient and outpatient long-term care. The findings enable a practice-oriented refinement of the guideline elements and contribute to ensuring their applicability and acceptance in nursing practice.

ORCID: 0009-0009-0355-3974

 

Foto: Hochschule Esslingen

Karen Klotz is a research associate in the project “Requests for Assisted Suicide from Elderly People in Inpatient and Outpatient Long-Term Care – Professional Care and Suicide Prevention. She graduated with a B.Sc. in General Nursing from University College Cork (Ireland) in 2019 and earned her M.A. in Nursing Science from Esslingen University of Applied Sciences in 2023. She is currently a doctoral candidate within the Attention research project.

Doctoral Project:
As part of her cumulative doctoral project, she focuses on the topic Moral Distress and Moral Self-Efficacy among Nurses in Long-Term Care When Confronted with Desires to Die” (working title). The dissertation includes four scientific studies: a systematic review, the translation and adaptation of a survey instrument, qualitative focus groups, and a qualitative-descriptive interview study.
The overarching aim of the dissertation is to explore the significance of the specific moral challenges faced by nurses when confronted with desires to die – including requests for assisted suicide. It further seeks to analyze how these experiences affect the nurses’ moral integrity and contribute to moral distress. In this context, the project investigates how moral self-efficacy influences the experience of moral distress among nurses in inpatient and outpatient long-term care.
The overarching research question is: How do (older adults) desires to die and nurses’ moral self-efficacy influence the experience of nurses’ moral distress in long-term care settings?

Klotz, K., Seidlein, A.-H., Riedel, A. (2025) Todes- und Suizidwünsche. Ethische Herausforderungen in der Pflege. Springer essentials.

ORCID: 0000-0002-1540-3350

Andreas Küpper is a research associate in the field of interdisciplinary collaboration between nursing, medicine, and technology, as part of the HE-Personal project. He holds a B.A. in Nursing Education (2018) and an M.A. in Nursing Science (2019) from Esslingen University of Applied Sciences, and completed his training as a registered nurse at Rems-Murr-Klinikum Backnang (2009). Within the HE-Personal project, he is pursuing his doctorate at the Faculty of Medicine, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen.

Doctoral Project

Andreas Küpper’s research explores how nurses and physicians in intensive care units negotiate clinical decisions and how ubiquitous medical devices influence these processes.
A scoping review forms the basis for an ethnographic field study. Using participant observations and episodic interviews in two intensive care units, he aims to gain a deeper understanding of interprofessional clinical decision-making in everyday practice from a social science perspective.

Küpper, A., Schmucker, M., Elsbernd, A., Mader, D., Kitto, S., & Mahler, C. (2024). Technische Geräte als Elemente interprofessioneller Entscheidungsprozesse von Pflegefachpersonen und Ärzt:innen auf Intensivstationen: Ein Scoping Review. 23. Deutscher Kongress für Versorgungsforschung (DKVF). 

Küpper, A., Schmucker, M., Elsbernd, A., Mader, D., Kitto, S. & Mahler C. (2025). Technical devices and interprofessional clinical decision-making in the intensive care unit: a scoping review. Journal of Interprofessional Care. 

ORCID: 0009-0007-3044-0567

zum Profil von Andreas Küpper

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