Our working group preferably supervises theses with a focus on organisational, innovation or transition research. Spatial aspects and the interaction of regionalisation and globalisation often play a role. We do not provide specific topics for theses, as we believe that the academic writing process also includes defining a suitable topic. The following explanations are intended to give you an indication of which research areas our working group deals with and which can therefore also be supervised.

In the field of organisational research, we are interested in questions relating to the interaction of heterogeneous actors and cooperation within and between organisations (e.g. companies, NGOs, universities, etc.). For example, formal and informal rules, communication processes, decisions or power relations can be analysed. In multinational companies, internal complexity is additionally increased by spatially distributed and culturally heterogeneous constellations.

In the field of innovation research, the recombination of knowledge and the resulting creation of new products, processes or services are of particular interest. Experts from a wide range of disciplines often work together for this purpose and are faced with the challenge of meaningfully combining different specialised knowledge in the innovation process. Here too, spatial distribution and intercultural aspects complicate the already complex collaboration. Questions focus on the underlying processes of knowledge integration, on power and decision-making processes or on organisational learning and therefore often have links to organisational research.

In the field of transition research, the focus is on explaining social change, in particular towards a more sustainable economy and way of life. Our group focuses on the energy transition, although changes in other sectors (e.g. mobility) or processes of digitalisation can also be analysed in theses. The interaction between actors and institutions or the underlying institutional change as well as negotiation processes between heterogeneous fields such as politics, business and science offer exciting starting points. Interactions between different spatial units (regional, national, global) also offer a variety of starting points for research questions.

We particularly welcome empirical work. Our own work is primarily qualitative, whereby one or more expert interviews are often a good option as part of a final thesis. Of course, other (qualitative and quantitative) methodological approaches are also possible.

If you are interested in having your thesis supervised by our working group, please send an email to Prof Dr Jannika Mattes. Please briefly state your background and research interests and outline your initial ideas regarding the topic or research question of your thesis. To ensure good supervision, a regular colloquium is held for final theses.