Johanna Ott
Johanna Ott is a third-year PhD student in Educational Psychology at the University of Augsburg and working as a researcher and lecturer at the University of Freiburg. She is doing her PhD on Researchers Motivation investigating trajectories as well as contextual and individual determinants. At the University of Augsburg she worked in the DFG funded project „ZiFo – Researchers Achievement Goals“ led by Prof. Dr. Markus Dresel and Prof. Dr. Martin Daumiller in cooperation with the University of Mannheim with Prof. Dr. Oliver Dickhäuser and PD Dr. Stefan Janke. Here focus is on achievement goal development throughout several academic stages, as well as associations with researchers performance and daily experience of goal striving, goal attainment and well-being.
Research Experience
| Position | Institution | Supervisor(s) | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| PhD Student | University of Augsburg | Prof. Dr. Martin Daumiller & Prof. Dr. Markus Dresel | From March 2024 |
| Research Assistant | University of Augsburg | Prof. Dr. Martin Daumiller & Prof. Dr. Markus Dresel | December 2021 – February 2024 |
| Research Assistant | University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt | Rebecca Pape | October 2022 – December 2022 |
| Research Intern | University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt | Rebecca Pape | March 2022 – August 2022 |
Education
| Course | University | Thesis Topic |
|---|---|---|
| Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) | The University of Freiburg | Combining Constructive Learning and Retrieval Practice to Promote Lasting Learning in Physics |
| Master of Science Cognitive Psychology, Learning and Working | Uni Freiburg | Investigating Psychologists’ Attitudes Toward Big Team Science |
| Bachelor of Science Psychology | Fresenius University of Applied Sciences | The Unresponsive Climate-Bystanders: Why Don’t They Help? |
Current Projects
ZiFo-Project “ZIFO – Achievement Goals in Research: In-depth Analysis” with Prof. Dr. Martin Daumiller, Prof. Dr. Markus Dresel (University of Augsburg), Prof. Dr. Oliver Dickhäuser (University of Mannheim), PD Dr. Stefan Janke (University of Mannheim), Ronja Steinhauser (University of Mannheim
Funding: DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft),
Publications
Daumiller, M., Ott, J., Ramasubramanian, M., Frein, A., Steinhauser, R., Janke, S., Dickhäuser, O., &Dresel, M. (2026). Perceived academic freedom of researchers and relationships with motivation and well-being: A mixed-methods study. International Journal of Educational Research, 138, Article 102990. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2026.102990.
Steinhauser, R., Merkle, B., Ott, J., Daumiller, M., Dresel, M., Dickhäuser, O., & Janke, S. (2026). Will I be successful in my PhD? The role of person–environment fit for doctoral success [Advance online publication]. Higher Education, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-026 01656-8.
Presentations
Nadeem, W., Ott, J., Steinhauser, R., Janke, S., Dickhäuser, O., Dresel, M., & Daumiller, M. (2026, July). Goal conflict and synergy: Domain configuration impacting faculty’s emotions [Paper presentation]. 30th Annual JURE Conference for Research on Learning and Instructionw, University of Tartu Delta Centre, Tartu, Estonia.
Ott, J., Daumiller, M., Dresel, M., Steinhauser, R., Janke, S., & Dickhäuser, O. (2026, June). Motivation, time use, and success in academia: Performance and well-being across countries [Poster presentation]. 19th International Conference on Motivation, Lisbon, Portugal.
Ott, J., Dresel, M., Daumiller, M., Steinhauser, R., Janke, S., & Dickhäuser, O. (2026, June). Short term joyandlong-termanxiety–Relationofgoalconflict andsynergies with faculty emotions [Paper presentation]. 19th International Conference on Motivation (ICM), Lisbon, Portu gal.
Daumiller, M., Ott, J. M., Ramasubramanian, M., Frein, A., Steinhauser, R., Janke, S., Dickhäuser, O., & Dresel, M. (2026, April). Academic freedom as a psychological resource: A mixed method study across three countries [Poster presentation]. 2026 American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA.
Ott, J., Steinhauser, R., Janke, S., Dickhäuser, O., Rinas, R., Dresel, M. & Daumiller, M. (2025, September). Motivation und Wohlbefinden bei Wissenschaftler:innen – eine internationale Vergleichsstudie. 20. Tagung der Fachgruppe Pädagogischen Psychologie, Jena.
Ott, J., Steinhauser, R., Janke, S., Dickhäuser, O., Rinas, R., Dresel, M. & Daumiller, M. (2025, August). Achievement Goal Development within the Doctorate – Results from two Longitudinal Studies. European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction Conference 2025, Graz.
Steinhauser, R., Dickhäuser, O., Daumiller, M., Ott, J., Dresel, M., &Janke, S.(2025, August). How supervisors shape phd students’ achievement goals and emotions: A threewavelongitudinal study [Paper presentation]. 21st Biennial EARLI Conference for Research on Learning and Instruction, Graz, Austria
Ott, J., Steinhauser, R., Janke, S., Dickhäuser, O., Rinas, R., Dresel, M. & Daumiller, M. (2025, April). Doctoral Researchers: Changes In Achievement Goals. AERA Annual Meeting 2025, Denver.
Chen, M., Lee, S. Y., Huang, Y., Ott, J. M., & Daumiller, M. (2025, April). Postsecondary faculty professional development approaches: A systematic review on characteristics and impacts [Paper presentation]. 2025 American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, Denver, CO.
Ott, J., Steinhäuser, R., Janke, S., Dickhäuser, O., Dresel, M., & Daumiller, M. (2025, January). Veränderungen der Zielorientierung in der Transition von der Promotion in die Postdoc Phase [Changes in Achievement Goals During the Transition from Doctoral Studies to the Postdoc Phase]. In M. Daumiller, J. Ott, & R. Steinhäuser (Chairs), Transitionen und Karriereverläufe in der Wissenschaft [Transitions and Career Paths in Academia] [Symposium]. 12th Convention of the Society for Empirical Educational Research (GEBF), Mannheim.
Steinhäuser, R., Merkle, B., Ott, J., Dickhäuser, O., Dresel, M., Daumiller, M., & Janke, S. (2025, January). Promovieren oder nicht? Zur Bedeutung von Fit-Prognosen für Wohlbefinden, wahrgenommenen Fortschritt und Abbruchintention bei Promovierenden [To Pursue a PhD or Not? The Role of Fit Predictions for Well-Being, Perceived Progress, and Dro pout Intentions Among Doctoral Candidates]. In M. Daumiller, J. Ott, & R. Steinhäuser (Chairs), Transitionen und Karriereverläufe in der Wissenschaft [Transitions and Career Paths in Academia] [Symposium]. 12th Convention of the Society for Empirical Educatio nal Research (GEBF), Mannheim.
Ott, J., Steinhauser, R., Janke, S., Dickhäuser, O., Rinas, R., Dresel, M. & Daumiller, M. (2024, September). Erst die Angst, dann das Vergnügen? Emotionen von Wissenschaftler:innen unterschiedlicher Karrierestufen im Vergleich. DGPs Tagung 2024, Wien.
Chen, M., Lee, S. Y., Huang, Y., Ott, J., & Daumiller, M. (2024, August). Professional development approaches impacting postsecondary faculty motivation: A systematic review [Paper presen tation]. 18th International Conference on Motivation, Bern, Switzerland.
Steinhauser, R., Merkle, B., Dickhäuser, O., Daumiller, M., Dresel, M., Ott, J., & Janke, S. (2024, August). Predicting PhD students’ well-being through motivation/skill-fit-forecasts and practical experience [Paper presentation]. 18th International Conference on Motivation, Bern, Switzerland.
Urdan, T., Ott, J., Dresel, M., & Daumiller, M. (2024, August). Teacher identity development: A comparison of greek and german middle grades teachers [Paper presentation]. 18th Interna tional Conference on Motivation, Bern, Switzerland.
Ott, J., Steinhauser, R., Janke, S., Dickhäuser, O., Rinas, R., Dresel, M., & Daumiller, M. (2024, July). Basic need satisfaction and frustration of researchers: A gender perspective [Poster presentation]. 2024 Gender & STEM Conference 2024, Heidelberg.
Steinhauser, R., Ott, J., Daumiller, M., Dickhäuser, O., Rinas, R., Dresel, M., & Janke, S. (2024, July). More similar than different? Research self-efficacy, imposter syndrome and long-term career plans of men and women planning to do a PhD [Poster presentation]. 2024 Gender & STEM Conference 2024, Heidelberg.
Ott, J., Urdan, T., Dresel, M., &Daumiller,M.(2024,April).Changeinteacheridentity andteacher student relationship quality in germany [Paper presentation]. 2024 American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.
Peer Review
Open Science Projects
Winter Semester 2025/26
Seminar Educational Psychology
Summer Semester 2026
Seminar Pädagogik für Psychotherapeut:innen
Master Thesis Co-Supervision
Internship Supervision
Winter Semester 2025/26
Teacher education (State exam) Thesis Co-Supervision
Summer Semester 2025