Awards and Distinctions

Sub auspiciis graduation at WU

17/09/2021

City Council member Veronica Kaup-Hasler presented Timo Goßler with the Ring of Honor of the Republic of Austria.

“A WU degree is always something special, as it lays an important foundation for later life. I especially congratulate Timo Goßler on his graduation with President’s Honors. Not only for his impressive achievement, but also for his patience, as his graduation ceremony had to be postponed due to the pandemic. This makes it all the more gratifying to be standing here today,” said WU Rector Edeltraud Hanappi-Egger in her welcoming address. The laudatory address was held by WU professor Tina Wakolbinger. City Council member Veronica Kaup-Hasler held a speech and presented the Ring of Honor on behalf of the Austrian President.

Timo Goßler

About the graduate

Timo Goßler (35) graduated from the Leibniz upper secondary school in Altdorf near Nuremberg (Germany) with honors. He then studied industrial engineering at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, graduating with honors in 2011. From 2012 (until 2018), Timo Goßler worked at Accenture in Munich as a strategy and management consultant in different areas. He completed his Doctoral Program in Social and Economic Sciences at WU in the period from 2016 - 2019.
 He also completed this degree with honors, with a dissertation on “Outsourcing in humanitarian logistics: analytical and empirical guidance for policy makers and aid agencies” under the supervision of the two WU professors Tina Wakolbinger and Gerald Reiner. In his work, Timo Goßler focused on the importance of logistics outsourcing for humanitarian organizations, which is crucial for the success of global aid missions, but which only a minority of aid organizations perceive as efficient. He provides recommendations for action for policy makers and aid organizations, laying the foundation for more successful outsourcing in humanitarian logistics and ultimately more efficient aid operations. From 2018 - 2020, Timo Goßler also worked as a Project Manager at the United Nations World Food Programme in Rome and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania). Subsequently, he attended the University of Cambridge and earned a Certificate in Business Sustainability Management. Since the end of 2020, he has been a Sustainability Strategy Consulting manager at Accenture in Vienna.

About the Promotio sub auspiciis – Graduation with Federal President’s Honors

The promotio sub auspiciis, or graduation with Federal President’s Honors, is regulated in the Federal Law on the Awarding of the Doctorate under the Auspices of the Federal President from the 1950s. The prerequisite for a “Promotio sub auspiciis Praesidentis rei publicae” is a graduation with honors from all levels of upper secondary school, the passing of the matriculation examination with honors, completion of undergraduate and graduate degrees in which all areas of the bachelor's and master's examinations as well as the master's thesis are graded with top marks (“excellent”), and completion of the dissertation and thesis defense examination with excellent grades. The last graduation with Federal President’s Honors at WU took place in 2018.

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