Alumni and alumnae
The ultimate goal of the RTG SMiP is the success of the doctoral and postdoctoral researchers. The immediate success criteria for the RTG include publications in leading peer-reviewed journals, contributions to relevant national and international conferences, and excellent quality of SMiP dissertation projects that are ideally completed within a period of 3 years. Additional long-term success criteria are attractive placements of SMiP alumni and alumnae, significant contributions of SMiP graduates to research and academic teaching on statistical modeling in psychology as well as to society and industry outside academia, fostering international collaboration of structured doctoral programs, and new research perspectives emanating from the SMiP program.
The SMiP postdoc as well as former doctoral researchers with positions or independent projects at one of the SMiP centers can select two SMiP PIs as academic and personal mentors. The mentors hold regular meetings with the early-stage researchers, in which they discuss the scientific progress and the next steps of academic development. The mentors also inform the mentees about funding opportunities and relevant job openings, and they offer coaching and feedback on the young researchers’ projects, manuscripts, grant proposals, presentations and teaching experiences.
Former doctoral researchers:
Cohort 2017
Dr. Franziska Bott joined the SMiP group in October 2017, graduated in September 2020. She now holds a position as senior statistician at a pharmaceutical company.
Dr. Raphael Hartmann joined the SMiP group in October 2017, graduated in January 2021, and now holds a position as postdoctoral researcher at the University of Freiburg.
Niels Kukken joined the SMiP group in October 2017. His dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Dr. Martin Schnuerch joined the SMiP group in October 2017, graduated in February 2020, and started working as postdoctoral researcher at the RTG SMiP, University of Mannheim. Since August 2025 he holds a postdoctoral position at a pharmaceutical company.
Dr. Mischa von Krause joined the SMiP group in October 2017, graduated in April 2021, and now holds a position as postdoctoral researcher at the University of Heidelberg.
Dr. Anne Voormann joined the SMiP group in October 2017, graduated in January 2021, and now holds a position as postdoctoral researcher at the University of Freiburg.
Cohort 2018
Dr. Maike Arnold joined the SMiP group in October 2018 and graduated in January 2024. She now works as a consultant in Mannheim.
Dr. Susanne Frick joined the SMiP group in October 2018, graduated in December 2021, and now holds a position as postdoctoral researcher at the TU Dortmund.
Dr. Gloria Grommisch joined the SMiP group in October 2018, graduated in January 2022, and works now at the University of Rostock.
Dr. Kilian Hasselhorn joined the SMiP group in October 2018 and graduated in July 2023. He now holds a position at a publishing company.
Dr. Luisa Horsten joined the SMiP group in October 2018 and graduated in May 2023. She now holds a position as postdoctoral researcher at the RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau.
Dr. David Izydorczyk joined the SMiP group in October 2018 and graduated in December 2022. He now holds a position as postdoctoral researcher at the University of Mannheim.
Dr. Stefan Radev joined the SMiP group in October 2018, graduated in May 2021, and now holds a position as assistant professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Dr. Fabiola Reiber joined the SMiP group in October 2018, graduated in November 2021, and now holds a position as data scientist at a mobility company.
Dr. Nikoletta Symeonidou submitted her thesis in May 2022, graduated in August 2022, and currently works as reasearcher at the University of Mannheim.
Dr. Monika Wiegelmann joined the SMiP group in November 2018 and graduated in June 2023. She now holds a position as junior consultant.
Cohort 2019
Dr. Marie Hunsmann joined the SMiP group in October 2019 and graduated in December 2022. She now works at the University of Heidelberg.
Dr. Theresa Koch joined the SMiP group in March 2020 and graduated in December 2023. She now works as psychotherapist.
Dr. Ruben Laukenmann joined the SMiP group in October 2019 and graduated in December 2023. He now holds a position as postdoctoral researcher at the University of St Gallen.
Dr. Maren Mayer joined the SMiP group in October 2019 and graduated in September 2022. She now holds a position at the Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM), located in Tübingen.
Dr. Constantin Meyer-Grant joined the SMiP group in October 2019, graduated in February 2023 and now works as researcher at the University of Freiburg.
Dr. Nils Petras joined the SMiP group in October 2019 and graduated in July 2024. He now holds a position as postdoctoral researcher at the University of Mannheim.
Dr. Marcel Schreiner joined the SMiP group in October 2019 and successfully defended his dissertation in January 2023. He now holds a postdoctoral position in the group “Cognition and Behavior” at the University of Wuerzburg.
Dr. Annika Stump joined the SMiP group in October 2019, graduated in October 2023 and now works as postdoctoral researcher at the University of Freiburg.
Cohort 2020
Dr. Julius Fenn joined the SMiP group in October 2020, graduated in March 2024. He now works as data analyst.
Robert Johansson joined the SMiP group in October 2020 and handed in his dissertation thesis in July 2026.
Xiaotong Liu joined the SMiP group in October 2020 and plans to complete her dissertation project in 2026.
Dr. Viola Merhof joined the SMiP group in October 2020 and successfully completed her dissertation project in May 2024.
Dr. Julian Quevedo Pütter joined the SMiP group in October 2020 and successfully completed his dissertation project in October 2024.
Dr. Tobias Rebholz joined the SMiP group in October 2020 and successfully completed his dissertation project in April 2023. He now works as researcher at the University of Tübingen.
Dr. Marcel Schmitt joined the SMiP group in October 2020 and successfully completed his dissertation project in July 2025. He now works at the KIT in Karlsruhe.
Dr. David Scholz joined the SMiP group in October 2020 and successfully completed his dissertation project in September 2024.
Dr. Lukas Schumacher joined the SMiP group in October 2020, graduated in April 2024 and now works as researcher at the University of Basel (Switzerland).
Dr. Parker Smith joined the SMiP group in October 2020 and successfully completed his dissertation project in July 2026.
Simon Stuber joined the SMiP group in October 2020 and decided to leave the SMiP program before completing his PhD. In 2026, he resumed working on his dissertation project.
Cohort 2021
Dr. Emre Alagöz joined the SMiP group in October 2021 and successfully completed his dissertation project in April 2026. He keeps on working as researcher at the University of Mannheim.
Dr. Caroline Böhm joined the SMiP group in October 2021 and successfully completed her dissertation project in August 2026.
Shanqing Gao joined the SMiP group in April 2022. Her dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Dr. Franziska Henrich joined the SMiP group in October 2021 and successfully completed her dissertation project in January 2026. She now works as statistician at the Bundesnetzagentur.
Jan Killisch joined the SMiP group in October 2021. His dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Dr. Rebekka Kupffer joined the SMiP group in October 2021 and successfully completed her dissertation project in January 2025.
Julia Liss joined the SMiP group in October 2021. Her dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Dr. Anna Neumer joined the SMiP group in October 2021 and successfully completed her dissertation project in August 2026.
Katja Pollak joined the SMiP group in October 2021. Her dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Dr. Carolin Streitberger joined the SMiP group in October 2021 and successfully completed her dissertation project in May 2026.
Cohort 2022
Steven Bißantz joined the SMiP group in October 2022. His dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Sabrina Ecker joined the SMiP group in October 2022. Her dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Dr. Lasse Elsemüller joined the SMiP group in October 2022 and successfully completed his dissertation project in October 2025.
Tuğba Hato joined the SMiP group in October 2022. Her dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Johanna Höhs joined the SMiP group in October 2022 and handed in her dissertation thesis in June 2026.
Charlotta Jacobsen joined the SMiP group in October 2022. Her dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Marie Jakob joined the SMiP group in October 2022. Her dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Dr. Timo Seitz joined the SMiP group in October 2022 and successfully completed his dissertation project in March 2026. He now works as researcher at the University of Mannheim.
Cohort 2023
Alicia Gernand joined the SMiP group in October 2023. Her dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Paul Kelber joined the SMiP group in October 2023 and handed in his dissertation thesis in April 2026.
Franziska Leipold joined the SMiP group in October 2023. Her dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Luise Metzger joined the SMiP group in October 2023. Her dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Moritz Pischel joined the SMiP group in October 2023. His dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Nicola Schneider joined the SMiP group in October 2023. His dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Florian Scholten joined the SMiP group in October 2023 and plans to complete his dissertation project in 2026.
Désirée Schönung joined the SMiP group in October 2023. Her dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Dominik Vollbracht joined the SMiP group in October 2023. His dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Tian Zhou joined the SMiP group in October 2023. His dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Cohort 2024
Vincent Fischer joined the SMiP group in October 2024. His dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Sarah Forst joined the SMiP group in October 2024. Her dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Kim Keller joined the SMiP group in October 2024. Her dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Malin Müller joined the SMiP group in October 2024. Her dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Hannah Pongratz joined the SMiP group in October 2024. Her dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Selina Zajdler joined the SMiP group in October 2024. Her dissertation project continues after the Research Training Group's termination in September 2026.
Former postdoctoral researcher:
Prof. Dr. Daniel Heck joined the SMiP group in October 2017 as postdoctoral researcher at the University of Mannheim. Since October 2019 he is Professor of Psychological Methods at the Philipps-Universität Marburg.
Dr. Martin Schnuerch started as postdoctoral researcher at the University of Mannheim in March 2020. Since August 2025 he holds a postdoctoral position at a pharmaceutical company.
Dr. Anne Voormann was the Research Training Group's postdoctoral researcher from April 2022 to September 2022. She now holds a postdoctoral position at the University of Freiburg.