PhD (f/m/d) (2548-WMA-Psychologie)

At the German Sport University Cologne, a position at the Institute of Psychology, Department of Performance Psychology is to be filled on April 1st, 2026 as

Part-time (50%), with a regular weekly working time of currently 19 hours and 50 minutes, fixed-term for 36 months for an initial appointment at the German Sport University Cologne.

This is a qualification position within the meaning of the Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz (WissZeitVG), intended to support a doctoral project. The position is limited to the duration of the doctoral project, but initially for a maximum period of three years.

The topic of the PhD is open, but should match the research topics investigated at the Department of Performance Psychology, Institute of Psychology. Supervision will be in one of the groups of Performance Psychology (Prof. Dr. Dr. Markus Raab):

1. Performance Psychophysiology (PD Dr. Dr. Sylvain Laborde)
2. Sensorimotor Expertise (PD Dr. Florian Loffing)
3. Applied Sport Psychology (Dr. Babett Lobinger).

The Department of Performance Psychology belongs to the active research groups in the field of sport psychology. The department and lab language is English. The department puts its several laboratories and technical support at disposal and offers an intensive training for post-graduates. (https://www.dshs-koeln.de/en/institute-of-psychology/performance-psychology/research/)

• Completing a PhD program
• Implementation of a project agreed upon and supervised by a senior researchers
• Conducting experiments and publishing the results in peer-reviewed scientific journals
• 2h of teaching per week
• Supervision of theses (Bachelor’s and Master’s) and examination duties
• Participation in the institute’s self-administration

• Completed university Master degree in science, preferably in psychology or sport science
• Interest in the areas related to the research at the Department of Performance Psychology
• Motivation to work scientifically in a Research Group
• Very good English knowledge (oral + written)

• Experience in at least one experimental methods (e.g., lab-based, psychophysiological, or field study)
• Knowledge of data acquisition systems (e.g., heart rate variability, EEG, eye-tracking, motion capture)
• Skills in statistics (e.g., JASP, SPSS) and/or experience with statistical programming languages (e.g, R, Python, MATLAB)

Where personal and collective agreement requirements are met, classification will be up to pay group 13 TV-L. Further information on salary levels can be found here. Salary step assignment is based on relevant professional experience.

Teaching duties

The position includes a teaching load of 2 contact hours per week (SWS) according to the Teaching Load Regulation of North Rhine-Westphalia (Lehrverpflichtungsverordnung NRW).

The German Sport University Cologne aims to increase the proportion of women and therefore expressly welcomes applications from qualified female candidates. Women will be given preferential consideration in accordance with the Landesgleichstellungsgesetz (State Equal Opportunities Act).

Applications from persons with severe disabilities and those of equal status are welcome and will be given preferential consideration in accordance with statutory provisions.

The German Sport University Cologne supports its employees in balancing family and work life.

Please send your complete application (including all documents : motivation letter, CV, master's degree certificate 1-page project proposal on a topic that relates to our research group) in a single PDF file (as well as Master Thesis in a separate file) to bewerbung@­dshs-koeln.de by January 19, 2026. The reference number of the application is 2548-WMA-Psychologie.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Prof. Dr. Dr. Raab at Tel. +49 221 4982 5491. For questions about legal or procedural matters, please contact Ms. Ziemann at Tel. +49 221 4982 7601. Visit our website at www.dshs-koeln.de for more information.

Information on the processing of your personal data for application purposes can be found at https://www.dshs-koeln.de/datenschutz/