Grasp and shape it, where substance would otherwise be lost.
The crisis sorts. Many keep their heads down and wait for it to pass. It will not pass. So step out of the cocoon: those who show their substance instead of merely managing it are more sought-after than ever. The Scientific Trainer Program makes your expertise visible and your impact demonstrable.
For L&D leaders, in-house trainers and independent consultants and coaches who want to give their work scientific substance.
13 learning units12 evening webinars, 3 hrs each · final dayTÜV Rheinland · ISO/IEC 17024from €2,900 net
THE PROGRAM AT A GLANCE
A TÜV-certified online professional development, die neuroscience, psychology, systems theory and AI/EdTech makes usable for experienced trainers, consultants, coaches and L&D.
13 learning units: 12 evening webinars (6–9 pm) + final day · part-time · personnel certification to ISO/IEC 17024
THE MARKET IN 2026
The market is not shrinking. It is sorting.
And it sorts out those who wait. Whoever takes cover now, hoping the old mode returns, sorts themselves onto the losing side. The old mode is not coming back.
Budgets are shrinking, AI makes the average cheap, and the interchangeable is the first to go. What becomes both scarcer and more sought-after: real substance that can be shown. The market is redistributing, and on the winning side stands whoever makes their impact visible.
The interchangeable falls away
Cost pressure and AI push the price of average toward zero. Whatever is interchangeable is cut first.
Substance is in demand
What demonstrably works is in demand. Those who show real depth get booked, not cut.
Impact decides
The market sorts by visible substance. Those who have it and show it are among the sought-after.
„Science makes you strong, against myths, bullshit and waffle. For work that has substance and takes effect.“
Bianca Grünert
Powerful with words
CURRICULUM
13 learning units in three modules.
Neuroscience, psychology, AI-based instructional design and empirical impact measurement, applied by you to your own practice. Two modules of 6 learning units as online live sessions, plus the full-day course finale. Demanding, and concretely applicable from the very first unit.
Science transfer & critical thinking
Spot pseudo-science, expose trainer myths, argue from evidence.
AI tools for L&D
ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity: using them in a methodologically sound way.
Neuroplasticity & synaptogenesis
How the brain learns and changes, at the cellular and molecular level.
Neuroanatomy you can grasp with your hands
The anatomy of the brain through modelling it yourself in clay, memorable and lasting.
Neuropsychology
How perception, emotion and intuition decide, and how to use that in your training.
Bio-psycho-social system levels
Understanding three levels in an integrated way, from cell to social system (Luhmann, autopoiesis).
Neuroscience-informed learning design & future skills
12 principles for brain-friendly learning, and which future skills really count.
Artificial intelligence in L&D
AI competence in two directions: as a tool for your own work and as a learning goal for the organisation.
Evaluating impact and ROI
Measuring training effects with validated instruments and checking impact so it holds up.
Neuropsychotherapy & evidence-based coaching
The Grawe model and its consequences for coaching practice.
Behavioral economics & neuroleadership
The SCARF model, behavioral economics: understanding leadership through neuroscience.
Neuro-systemic change processes
Orchestrating change in a brain-friendly way: bio-psycho-social change logic.
One full day to close the course: you present your transfer concept, as the course finale and as a dress rehearsal for the TÜV defense.
Presentation & pitch of the transfer concepts
Presenting your own transfer concept in pitch-deck logic, a dress rehearsal for the TÜV defense and for clients.
After the twelve sessions and the final day you receive the certificate of attendance: Scientist Practitioner Foundations.
Exclusive preparation Saturday (revision course) and person certification according to ISO/IEC 17024, exam fee included. Booked together with the course 1,000 € net, booked later 1,200 €.
Your qualification: Scientific Trainer with TÜV Rheinland certified qualification.
And your key card to the Masterclass.
For the duration of the programme you book any open seminar at the participant rate. Topics and dates are listed further down.
„Suited to anyone who genuinely wants to learn. Not for those merely looking for a few buzzwords.“
Prof. Dr. Anke van Kempen
Professor of research, innovation and transfer
In 30 seconds
The program in a nutshell.
„This is how learning becomes enjoyable. The three-level perspective helped me integrate my competences into a coherent business model.“
Dr. Tobias Pfaller
Medicinal chemistry (pharma), resilience trainer
THE METHOD
Soft skills with hard facts.
Scientific Trainers do not begin their transfer concept with psychology or neuroscience. They start with the business hard facts: what does an intervention demonstrably achieve? In which figures, metrics and studies can that be shown?
The neuroscientific and psychological explanation follows afterwards, as a deepening. Soft skills thereby stop being soft. They become measurable and defensible before management and controlling.
For you as an L&D leader this means: your development measures can be substantiated. For independent trainers, consultants and coaches: you gain the language with which you convince demanding clients.
„The neurobiological foundations are exactly what I need to bring things together and establish connections.“
Rolf Allemann
Psychologist (Dipl., FH/SBAP), career counsellor
THE TERM
„Scientist Practitioner" is a method, not a label.
The concept goes back to the Boulder model of clinical psychology (Raimy, 1950) and is internationally established: people who use scientific methods not as decoration but as a tool of their practice.
They read studies themselves, test claims, measure their own impact and build their offerings on an empirically robust foundation.
Applied to L&D this means: every concept rests on evidence, pseudo-science does not withstand scrutiny, efficacy becomes visible and measurable. That is the difference Scientific Trainer graduates make in the market.
„I learned so much from Franz that I can apply especially well right now. He knows exactly what he is doing.“
Anna Momber
Facilitation, consulting & lectures
„Franz Hütter is like a bag of surprises. In his Scientific Trainer program he passionately pulls something new out of the hat again and again: on brain research, neuroscience-informed learning design, on science, on VR technology and on using AI. The way he sees the world and leads people into well-founded depth is addictive. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to work on a scientific basis and prove the impact of their own work."
Prof. Dr. Axel Koch
Die Transferstärke-Methode
WHAT THE RESEARCH SHOWS
Three findings that hold up.
Three findings from peer-reviewed research. We name the studies and state their status honestly. That separates scientific substance from pop pedagogy.
AI is only as good as the person who judges it
In the pre-registered BCG field experiment, consultants using AI completed 12% more tasks, 25% faster and at 40% higher quality. On tasks outside AI's strengths they were 19 percentage points less likely to deliver a correct solution, because they uncritically adopted wrong AI answers. What is decisive is whether the person can judge the results. That is what this program builds.
Source: Dell'Acqua et al. 2023, Navigating the Jagged Technological Frontier (BCG, pre-registered)
Analytical thinking is the top skill through 2030
The WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 (around 1,000 employers from 55 countries) ranks analytical thinking first among core competences. An independent machine-learning forecast reaches the same result by an entirely different method: critical and systemic thinking are among the clearest winners across methods.
Source: WEF 2025; Bakhshi et al. 2017 (Pearson/Nesta)
The demand is already measurable here
95% of German organizations consider problem-solving a central competence, 83% creativity. They see the largest competence gaps in creativity and digital-ethical reflection.
Source: Stifterverband, Kirchherr et al. 2021 (n = 500)
TRANSFER CONCEPTS FROM OUR SCIENTIFIC TRAINERS
What graduates have put on a scientific footing.
Real projects from their practice, across industries. Anonymized: project, field, academic title.
Head of Learning (pharma), MBA
Negotiation expert, Mag./MBA
former university chancellor, M.A.
Expert in digital transformation, Dipl.-Ing.
Local government, Dipl.-Päd./MPH
Trauma prevention (rail), Dipl.-Sozarb.
Supervisor, Dipl.-Sozpäd.
Coach, Dipl.-Bankbetriebswirtin
Diagnostics, Dipl.-Päd.
Business psychologist/lecturer, M.A.
Leadership coach
Leadership in the Mittelstand, Dipl.-Betriebswirtin
Consultant, online presence
Negotiation, Dipl.min./M.A.
Neurocoach
„A game-changer with a wow effect on clients. I barely need to do any cold acquisition anymore.“
Xenia Gerresheim
Coaching-Scheune Hamburg
WHAT THE QUALIFICATION OPENS UP
With the TÜV certificate, four paths open up.
Personnel certification to ISO/IEC 17024 is not the end point. It is the starting point for everything you build with it.
Evidence Check & PEF (Pragmatic Empirical Framework)
Access to the scientific pro tools. Used via a separate license per tool, bookable in addition to the program.
Senior Scientific Masterclass
A three-year deepening program. Your own transfer concepts become market-ready programs with your own signature.
Innovation community
Access to the award-winning L&D innovation community (German Demography Award 2022).
A publicly visible quality signal
An entry in the public TÜV Certipedia. Directly verifiable for clients and funding bodies.
„I now design my trainings so that even more knowledge transfer and lasting effect are possible. Absolutely recommended.“
Birgit Thedens
Chair of the board, dvct
FOR L&D LEADERS
Three concrete steps for your trainer strategy.
Set ST as the minimum standard
Set the Scientific Trainer standard as the minimum qualification for external trainers in sensitive training areas.
Qualify your in-house people
Send in-house trainers and L&D leaders to the program.
Use the TÜV certificate externally
Use the TÜV certificate as a publicly visible quality signal towards clients, partners and management.
Are you self-employed? The same program is your scientific upgrade for demanding assignments. Exactly the language with which you convince L&D leaders in companies today.
„The brain seminars are informative, intelligent, inspiring, entertaining and new every time.“
Vivien Marsch
Human Resource Development
YOUR TRAINER
Who guides you through the program.
Dr. Franz Hütter
SCIENTIFIC DIRECTOR · BRAIN-HR
Dr. rer. medic., M.A. Doctorate on the genetic determinants of empathy (University of Duisburg-Essen). Teaches Applied Cognitive Neuroscience at the HAM. Teacher Status Member of the American Psychological Association (APA). Over 60 academic publications, three books.
Designs, leads and accompanies the Scientific Trainer Program personally, throughout the entire program.
„I was able to put my knowledge straight into a real project. I am thoroughly delighted and recommend the program without reservation.“
Iris Teicher
Higher education consulting, former university chancellor
VIDEO VOICES
Eight graduates tell their story.
How the Scientific Trainer Program changes the business: straight from trainers, coaches and consultants who completed it. Click a video to start it.
Applies the Scientific Trainer know-how in his global deployments to address training and change aspects better.
After the program he pursued further neuroscientific study intensively and built a strong network.
Moving into corporate learning for a pharmaceutical company in oncology, where the Scientific Trainer background is worth its weight in gold.
Experiences the Scientific Trainer as a breakthrough that works immediately with clients: I barely need to do any cold acquisition anymore!
Highlights the individual project support and benefits from the immediately usable, neuroscience-informed content.
Through the program she brought her book into its third edition and her trainings to a neuroscientifically grounded level.
Through the Scientific Trainer Program he achieved noticeably more ease and a much faster transfer of science into practice in a very short time.
Took from the Scientific Trainer Program an understanding of how lasting change arises in the brain. For him the program combines scientific depth with surprising, practical insights beyond the usual textbooks.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What else you want to know.
Yes. From 7 participants a dedicated cohort makes sense. We tailor dates, format and thematic focus to your company. The TÜV defense runs individually per participant. We discuss in-house terms in the intro call.
For 2 to 6 people, a 5% volume discount applies from the 2nd person in an open cohort.
No. Our participants come from very different backgrounds. Some are professors or hold a relevant doctorate, others never studied and are self-taught. Some had leadership responsibility for thousands of people, others always worked freelance or as employed people-development specialists.
Your formal education and career history says nothing about how comfortable you will feel or how much you will benefit from the Scientific Trainer Program.
Practical experience in designing or delivering trainings, coaching, consulting, L&D programs or people development. The program is a science upgrade for the experienced, not a beginner's course. Equally suited to in-house L&D leaders, external trainers, coaches and conceptual people-development specialists.
Anyone who designs or is responsible for seminars, workshops, e-learnings, coaching and process consulting, HR- or OD-concepts or L&D strategies. You gain the scientific clarity to recognize outdated habits and passing fads faster and more reliably and to avoid costly misinvestment. You also gain the scientific lens to develop new, pattern-breaking concepts.
In other words: the Scientific Trainer Program is for the shapers of tomorrow's L&D.
The number of participants is usually between 6 and 18. From 10 participants, a certified Scientific Trainer joins additionally as co-facilitator.
This ensures sufficient diversity for interdisciplinary, cross-industry dialogue while enabling individual support for every single participant.
ISO/IEC 17024 is the international standard for the certification of persons. Unlike mere certificates of attendance, TÜV Rheinland assesses each person's individual competences externally. The certificates are viewable in the public TÜV Certipedia and are internationally recognized.
For clients, funding bodies and management this means: a reliable, verifiable quality signal.
„THE professional-development innovation. A synergy of three concepts. If at all possible: do not miss it.“
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Lenz
Business psychologist
DATES 2026
Autumn 2026: starting Monday evenings, still open for booking.
Online workshops on Monday evenings, 6–9 pm. Each cohort concludes with the specialist TÜV exam and the defense of your own transfer concept. It is the person who is certified (ISO/IEC 17024); the transfer concept is your signature project: your own business model, scientifically grounded.
Outlook 2027: The first English-language Scientific Trainer starts on Monday, 11 January 2027 (twelve Monday evenings, with a break for the Easter holidays). The German course starts on Tuesday, 12 January 2027 (twelve Tuesday evenings).
To the English cohort → · To the German cohort →
These dates become official after coordination with TÜV Rheinland.
5% volume discount from the 2nd person.
Book Course V →Dates become official after coordination with TÜV Rheinland.
To course ST-EN-1 →Dates become official after coordination with TÜV Rheinland.
To course ST-DE-1 →Special terms?
5% volume discount from the 2nd person. From 7 people, a dedicated in-house cohort. Enquire by email →
Jede Sitzung, jedes Datum, vorab einsehbar.
Der nächste Kurs steht offen. Die weiteren klappen Sie mit einem Klick auf.
All dates, Course V · Monday evenings from 7 September 2026
Course duration: 7 September to 12 December 2026 · TÜV certification the week after
Associate module · know-how phase · 6 Monday evenings, 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Advanced module · transfer phase · 6 Monday evenings, 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Final day · 1 day online
TÜV personnel certification (online): Exam Mon 14 Dec 2026, 9 to 10 am · colloquium (1 hour) by arrangement between 14 and 18 Dec 2026
Plus: an implementation office hour every Friday, 11:30 am to 1:00 pm.
All dates · Course ST-EN-1 · Monday evenings from 11 January 2027 (English)
Course duration: 11 January to 12 April 2027, final day on 19 April 2027. All sessions 6:00–9:00 pm.
Foundations module · six Monday evenings
Transfer module · specialisation Learning & Development · six Monday evenings
Course finale: Mon 19 April 2027, 9:00 am–4:45 pm · presentation of the transfer concepts.
TÜV person certification bookable separately (1,200 €); dates after coordination with TÜV Rheinland.
All dates · Course ST-DE-1 · Tuesday evenings from 12 January 2027 (German)
Course duration: 12 January to 13 April 2027, final day on 20 April 2027. All sessions 6:00–8:55 pm.
Foundations module · six Tuesday evenings
Transfer module · specialisation Learning & Development · six Tuesday evenings
Course finale: Tue 20 April 2027, 9:00 am–5:00 pm · presentation of the transfer concepts.
TÜV person certification bookable separately (1,200 €); dates after coordination with TÜV Rheinland.
OPEN SEMINARS
Bookable at a reduced rate for the duration of the programme.
For participants of the programme each open seminar costs 450 € instead of 600 € net. Full day, live online, bookable individually.
DIRECT REGISTRATION
Register the classic way instead of booking online.
Fill in the form and we confirm personally. Binding, or first as a non-binding pre-reservation of your place.
Transmission is TLS-encrypted. Your data is processed in line with the GDPR on our own server in Germany, without third-party form services, and used solely to handle your registration. Details in the privacy policy.
DOWNLOADS
Read up at your own pace.
Two PDFs to download directly. Pitch deck (14 slides) for institutes and corporate L&D on request.
Scientific Trainer brochure 2026
All the details of the programme, 14 pages (PDF, 3.3 MB).
Scientific Trainer module handbook 2026
All learning units in detail, 11 pages (PDF, 1.8 MB).
Pitch deck (14 slides) for institutes or corporate L&D? Ask in the intro call.
25 minutes with Franz Hütter, and you will know whether Scientific Trainer fits.
In the intro call we clarify your situation, answer open questions and check whether the next cohort or an in-house variant fits you. Yes, we would be glad to have you in a cohort, we say that openly. And still, no one pushes you: an honest read of your situation and a few impulses that hold up even if you do not join.
YOUR NEXT STEP
After certification it continues: the Senior Scientific Masterclass, three years of part-time deepening.
To the Masterclass →Get to know us first? The Science Lunch: Fridays at 12 noon, online, one hour, free.
To the Science Lunch →