We coach bachelor and master theses, in German or English, in a broad range of topics in the field of public management and governance. Have a look at our research projects to see what we can coach you about. We also welcome new topics, as long as they have high relevance from a public management and governance perspective

We mainly coach bachelor theses in:

• Bachelor program: ‘Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften in den Studienzweigen Betriebswirtschaft und Internationale Betriebswirtschaft‘ (WISO)
  A WISO bachelor thesis is attributed with 8 ECTS credits, which correspond to approximately 200 working hours or 25 full-time working days. Further information (submission procedures, forms, etc.) can be found in the WU Bachelor Thesis Guide (WU Bachelorarbeitsguide). In this bachelor program you can at our institute write your thesis in German or English. As the author of a bachelor thesis at our institute, you should attend the course ‘Grundlagen wissenschaftlichen Arbeitens’ at our institute or at the Department of Management, and ideally complete it in advance. For a WISO bachelor thesis, students should be able to formulate an interesting research question, show its contemporary relevance, frame it in the relevant literature, and answer the research question based on an extensive literature review and/or an own empirical analysis.

• Bachelor programme:  ‘Business and Economics (BBE)‘
  A BBE bachelor thesis is attributed with 10 ECTS credits, which correspond to approximately 250 working hours or 32 full-time working days. Further information (submission procedures, forms, etc.) can be found in the WU Bachelor Thesis Guide. In this bachelor program, we coach theses only in English and the thesis itself should be written in English.  For a bachelor thesis, students should be able to formulate an interesting research question, show its contemporary relevance, frame it in the relevant literature, and answer the research question based on an extensive literature review and an own empirical analysis.
  In the BBE program, given the higher ECTS credits (compared to WISO), an own empirical analysis is necessary (e.g. own interviews, data survey, etc.).
   

• Master programme: ‘Management‘
  A master thesis is attributed with 20 ECTS credits, which correspond to approximately 500 working hours or 63 full-time working days. In this master program, we coach theses in German and in English. Further information (submission procedures, forms, etc.) can be found in the WU Master Thesis Guide. Please, pay particular attention to the information on Learn@WU, which is provided specifically for your management master program and covers the entire master's thesis process. Participation and registration in the master thesis coaching session at the institute are required. For a master thesis, students should be able to formulate an interesting research question, show its contemporary relevance, frame it in the relevant literature, and answer the research question based on an extensive literature review and an own empirical analysis. Given the expected high-quality level of a master thesis, students should develop a robust and extensive empirical part to answer their research question.
      

Choice of topics and supervisor

The selection of a suitable topic is the first step of your work. Therefore, we expect you to prepare before contacting us by developing a topic proposal – on your own initiative – that fits the research area of the institute or its staff.

Please contact one of the following staff members who researches and/or teaches in this field by e-mail with your most concrete topic proposal (see also Research topics):

• Katharina Dinhof

• Monika Knassmüller

• Lisa Hohensinn

• Shefali Virkar

• Jurgen Willems

In any case, your proposed topic should include:

1. The general context and overall topic of your thesis

2. The more concrete problem that you want to deal with within this general context

3. The concrete research question you will focus on (given the problem you identified)

4. Why it is currently for public managers, policy makers, and/or citizens important to answer that research question

5. How do you plan to answer the research question, i.e. expected methodology (empirical component of your thesis): qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, based on what kind of data (survey, interviews, document analysis, etc.).

 

In order to be able to assess whether your project can be supervised within the framework of a thesis, the problem definition will be further narrowed down in consultation with the possible supervisor and in consideration of his or her ideas and will be developed into a proposal. In a first meeting, we can openly discuss the five steps as postulated above, and give you an insight in available material and further steps.