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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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?
Nadja Körner is a research assistant working on the projects „Sustainable Practices in Nursing Education: Curricular Integration of Planetary Health and Digital Literacy“ (Naht link: www.hs-esslingen.de social-work-education-and-nursing/research/projects/ongoing-projects/sustainable-action-in-nursing-education-curricular-integration-of-planetary-health-and-digital-competence-naht) and „Climate Health in Living Environments – Development of Strategies and Approaches to Promote Resilience through Bottom-Up Approaches“ (KliBUp link: bigso.de/KliBUp/). She completed her B.A. in Nursing Education (2021) and M.A. in Nursing Science (2023) at Esslingen University of Applied Sciences. She completed her training as a health and paediatric nurse (2016) and further training as a practice instructor (2018) at Kreiskliniken Reutlingen. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in the KliBUp project.
Doctoral project:
The increasing transgression of planetary boundaries poses an existential threat to human health, requiring a paradigm shift in line with the planetary health concept and a ‘great transition’ across society as a whole. The health sector bears a special responsibility in this regard, as it is both affected by the consequences and a contributing factor. As the largest professional group in the health care system, nursing professionals have a key role to play as change makers due to their professional ethos and social position. An empirical foundation for this role, as well as concepts and implementation strategies to unleash this potential within the complex structures of the health care system, are not yet available.
Against this backdrop, Nadja Körner's dissertation project examines the opportunities for nursing professionals to participate in the development of sustainability strategies, using maximum care hospitals as an example. The qualitative research design, anchored in the research project ‘Follow-up project to Naht’ (AN*NA link www.hs-esslingen.de/soziale-arbeit-bildung-und-pflege/forschung/projekte/laufende-projekte/anna), a sub-module of the KliBUp research network, comprises case studies of two hospitals. A scoping review, problem-centred expert interviews, qualitative methods yet to be defined and a group Delphi will be used to identify facilitating and inhibiting factors as well as conceptual approaches for successful integration.
The central focus of interest is the analysis of the role of nursing professionals in the implementation process of planetary health principles and the mechanisms by which bottom-up transformation initiatives initiated by nursing staff can be linked to top-down sustainability strategies of management in order to generate effective co-implementation structures. The work makes an innovative contribution to nursing science by closing the gap between theoretical and moral claims and practical implementation, and deriving concrete recommendations for action for the participatory integration of planetary health into hospital practice.
Körner, N., Wihofszky, P., Mazurek, C. & Kelm, K. (2025). Green Hospital – Wenn Pflege und Kliniken gemeinsam ökologisch denken. Dr. med. Mabuse, 269(3), 60–63.
Andreas Küpperis 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.
Schmucker, M., Küpper, A., Mahler, C., & Elsbernd, A. (2024). The usability of rollators as part of the human-centred quality of mobility devices: a systematic narrative literature review. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology. https://doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2024.2368651
