In today’s fast-evolving digital landscape, the importance of low code development is evident as it enables companies to rapidly deliver innovative solutions. By empowering non-technical (business) employees to create applications efficiently, low code development enables companies to rapidly deliver innovative solutions, despite the growing scarcity of skilled IT-personnel.

The concept of mental models describes what people “think” about the system at hand, whereas this subjective perspective does not necessarily align with the “actual” capabilities of this system. Currently, little is known about users’ mental models of low code development platforms, namely what they think about those systems, what they expect, and, how those internal representations impact the usage.

This master’s thesis aims to investigate (e.g., by conducting experiments) how the mental models of IT professionals differ from those of non-IT professionals. This will enable us to better tailor low code solutions to the needs of the respective target groups.

We at the Institute of Information Management (IWI-HSG) offer you close supervision and the opportunity to be a part of large-scale academic studies. If you are interested, please send your CV, transcript of records, and a brief description of your motivation to Olivia Bruhin ().

Due to increasing digitalization, the volume of issues handled by the IT service desk has grown significantly and maintaining a good service level has become increasingly challenging. To this end, our case company wants to deploy a chatbot to simplify information search regarding IT problems to enable effective self-service. For the successful implementation, however, some questions still require scientific investigation: How can documentation from internal knowledge management be used to train the chatbot-facilitated search functionality? How can large language models be used to improve the chatbot-facilitated search functionality? How must the interactions between chatbot and employee be designed to facilitate efficient information retrieval? In collaboration with our case company, this master thesis aims to clarify these questions and to develop a chatbot to improve internal information search in the IT service desk. Specifically, the student will derive design requirements based on desk research and user interviews, train and design a chatbot based on these requirements, and evaluate the chatbot’s effectiveness in improving employees’ information search in a user study.

You should

– have good programming skills in Python

– have preferably experience in the area of natural language processing and large language models

– have preferably a basic understanding of human-centered design methodologies

– be passionate about designing good software

– be interested in working together with an industry partner (i.e., our case company)

We (i.e., Dr. Naim Zierau and Kevin Schmitt) offer you close supervision and the opportunity to develop conceptual and practical skills in the area of large language models, chatbots and information search. If you are interested, send your CV, transcript of records, and a brief description of your motivation to Kevin Schmitt ().

What:

How to unleash the full potential of a technology that is mainly used for incremental process improvement? How might process mining foster explorative innovation? How should process mining be embedded in an ambidextrous organization? – And how is all this linked to the organization’s BPM capability?

Undertaking a thesis on process mining for ambidexterity is an exciting opportunity to explore a cutting-edge topic that has the potential to make a significant impact on the business world. The concept of ambidexterity refers to an organization’s ability to balance exploration and exploitation activities, allowing them to both innovate and optimize their operations. Process mining is becoming increasingly relevant for organizations as it allows them to gain insights into their (operational) processes, but the full potential of this technology on an organizational level is not yet fully understood.

This is your chance to come up with your own specific research ideas combining two highly relevant but yet disjunct topics. By doing so, you will not only contribute to the academic discourse but also make a valuable contribution to practice. This thesis will challenge you to think critically, creatively, and innovatively to come up with unique ideas and solutions to real-world challenges.

How:

There are several methodological options available to you. Qualitative (interviews, case study) and quantitative approaches (survey…) as well as mixed methods are feasible. If the research question is suitable, a design science research approach may also be considered. In any case, a rigorous analysis of the existing literature is expected, which will form the foundation for the further procedure.

I am curious about your ideas.

Key-Facts:

• Close supervision, with regular review meetings, feedback discussions, etc.

• Thesis can start immediately but should be completed within the next ±6 months

• Possibility of making a real impact through publishing in a scientific outlet

Next Step:

If your are interested, send your CV, transcript of records, and a brief desription of your motivation with a first research idea to Benedict Lösser ()

I’m looking forward to hearing from you! 🙂

Literature:

Gross et al. (2020) – Process Mining Supported Process Redeign: Matching Problems with Solutions (https://research.wu.ac.at/ws/portalfiles/portal/18945590/paper3.pdf)

vom Brocke et al. (2021) – A Five-level Framework for Research on Process Mining (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12599-021-00718-8)

Badakhshan et al. (2022) – Creating business value with process mining (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0963868722000415)

About this master thesis:
Recently, firms are starting to experiment with adopting digital human technologies. Digital humans are human-like, virtual AI characters that almost look and interact like human beings. However, it’s not clear which use-cases are particularly suitable for implementing digital humans. In collaboration with our practice partner, this master thesis aims to identify, scope, and assess the potential of digital human use-cases across different industries. Specifically, your task is to conduct a market study on digital human technologies providers and to develop and apply a use-case assessment framework based on a case study research approach.

You should…
– have a good understanding of business strategy combined with a passion for AI technologies
– have preferably some experiences in a business development and or innovation management role
– have preferably experience with qualitative research methods
– be excited about working together with an industry partner

We offer you close supervision and the opportunity to develop conceptual and practical skills in the area of AI strategy. If you are interested, send your CV, transcript of records, and a brief description of your motivation to Dr. Naim Zierau ().

The Situation:
Are you interested in exploring the different types of biases that exist in AI systems and their impact on society? Do you want to learn how to mitigate these biases and contribute to the creation of better AI systems? If so, then this thesis on bias in AI is for you!

Objective of the Thesis:
The thesis could cover topics such as the definition of AI bias, types of AI bias, examples of AI bias, and debiasing strategies. Research fields could include analyzing datasets for bias, developing algorithms that are less prone to bias, exploring the role of bias in AI models such as ChatGPT, or investigate the role of bias in algorithms for the grant selection of scholarships. You’ll have the opportunity to work with experienced researchers in the field of AI and machine learning, and to contribute to cutting-edge research on this important topic. The thesis could focus on either technical bias or societal bias.
Your thesis could either entail qualitative (expert interviews, case studies, …), quantitative (Survey, Field-Experiment, …), literature-based research(systematic literature research), or the development of an application / PoC (model development, Python, R, …).

About You:
You should
– have a strong interest in AI and machine learning, and a desire to contribute to cutting-edge research in this field.
– are a self-starter who can work independently
– be a communicative and open person
– work in an accurate way
– have scientific writing skills in English

Experience with programming languages such as Python, R, or Java could be advantageous depending on the field of research and/or research method.

About Me:
I will offer you
– a close supervision, with regular review meetings, feedback discussions, etc.
– to start immediately, but the thesis should be completed within +- 6 months
– the possibility of publishing your thesis (e.g., European Conference on Information Systems) as long as the results are worth publishing

Application:
If you are interested in this opportunity, please apply with the following documents:
– CV
– Transcript of records
– An estimated timeline for the thesis
– Max. 150 word motivation

Contact: Alexander Meier ()

If you want to learn more about bias in AI:
https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/artificial-intelligence/tackling-bias-in-artificial-intelligence-and-in-humans
https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/SpecialPublications/NIST.SP.1270.pdf

Are you passionate about software development and eager to learn about cutting-edge technologies?

Consider pursuing a master thesis in the exciting area of low code development platforms and enterprise architecture!
This field offers endless opportunities to optimize software development processes and streamline enterprise architecture.

By choosing this topic, you will delve into the benefits and challenges of low code development platforms and their impact on enterprise architecture.

You’ll have the chance to explore important research questions such as:

How can low code development platforms be integrated into existing enterprise architecture frameworks?
What are the benefits and limitations of using low code development platforms in the context of enterprise architecture?
How do low code development platforms affect the overall architecture of an enterprise system?
Pursuing this master thesis will provide you with invaluable insights into the latest trends in software development and enterprise architecture. You’ll have the opportunity to gain practical skills and knowledge that will set you apart as a sought-after professional in the industry. Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity to make your mark in the world of technology!

You should…

• have a basic understanding of low code platforms and their underlying technologies
• have a basic understanding of theories and theorizing
• have a basic understanding of qualitative research methods and an interest in such research designs
• have scientific writing skills in English or German

Key Factors:

• Collaboration will take place in close supervision, with regular review meetings (biweekly), feedback sessions, etc.
• Work can be started immediately
• Possibility of making a real impact through publishing in a scientific journal

If you are interested, please send a mail to Edona Elshan. Look forward hearing from you!

The Situation:
While the circle of the ever falling and rising Bitcoin and NFT-Art prices dictate the news headlines when it comes to blockchain related topics, the emergence of blockchain applications in other domains is still a niche. At IWI we are researching how blockchain based systems could influence learning and education. Possible fields for deploying NFTs could be micro-credentials. Micro-credentials are a form of certification. The biggest challenge for universities and employers has always been verification. NFTs could depict a tamper proof way of documenting academic or applied skill records. Hence using the decentralized nature of a blockchain could tackle multiple trust, transparency, and incentivization related challenges in education for numerous stakeholders.

Objective of the Thesis:

Your thesis should entail a systematic literature review on applications of Blockchains in the field of education using the methodology of Webster and Watson (2002) and Vom Brocke et al. (2009; 2015)

About You:
You should
– be interested in NfTs/Blockchain
– have a basic understanding of qualitative research methods (i.e., semi-structured interviews)
– be a communicative and open person
– work in an independent and accurate way
– have scientific writing skills in English

About Me:
I will offer you
– a close supervision, with regular review meetings, feedback discussions, etc.
– to start immediately, but the thesis should be completed within +- 6 months
– the possibility of publishing your thesis (e.g., European Conference on Information Systems) as long as the results are worth publishing

Application:
If you are interested in this opportunity, please apply with the following documents:
– CV
– Transcript of records
– An estimated timeline for the thesis
– Max. 150 word motivation

Contact: Alexander Meier ()

If you want to learn more about NFTs in education:
https://medium.com/the-future-of-learning-and-education/nfts-in-education-957ce434047c

Literature:
– Webster, Jane, and Richard T. Watson. “Analyzing the Past to Prepare for the Future: Writing a Literature Review.” MIS Quarterly, vol. 26, no. 2, 2002, pp. xiii–xxiii. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4132319
– vom Brocke, J.; Simons, A.; Niehaves, B.; Riemer, K.; Plattfaut, R.; Cleven, A. (2009): Reconstructing the Giant: On the Importance of Rigour in Documenting the Literature Search Process. In: Proceedings of the 17th European Conference on Information Systems. Eds. 2009, pp. 2206–2217.

Do you want a tool that knows it all or many that all know something?

Background:
Many modern systems rely on the integration of different modules (e.g., Alexa skills). Do users prefer if such systems are presented as unitary multitalented agents or is there a benefit to be had in splitting a system up into many experts? Possible benefits include quarantining against generalization of negative impressions caused by submodules of a system or more leeway against perceptions of, e.g., arrogance in self-praise.
A possible, although not mandatory, theoretical entry to hypothesis formation comes from research on social stereotypes. Interaction and social perception are heavily influenced by stereotypes (Snyder 1977). This effect is diluted if stereotype-irrelevant information is presented as well (Dreu 1995). As some positive effects of expertise rely on stereotypes, the construal of conversational agents may suffer if too many skills are categorized under one persona. In choosing this thesis, you will try to inform future research and practice whether and how technological skills should be split or united in their presentation.

How?
First, you will review the relevant literature.
Depending on your findings, you will then carry out an interview series (if you think more exploration is necessary) or a hypothesis testing survey (if you think current research only needs to be extended).

If you are interested in this Bachelor thesis, please send an email to to discuss how to start.

References
Dreu, Carsten K.W. de; Yzerbyt, Vincent Y.; Leyens, Jaques-Philippe (1995): Dilution of Stereotype-Based Cooperation in Mixed-Motive Interdependence. In Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 31 (6), pp. 575–593. DOI: 10.1006/jesp.1995.1026.
Snyder, Mark; Tanke, Elizabeth Decker; Berscheid, Ellen (1977): Social perception and interpersonal behavior: On the self-fulfilling nature of social stereotypes. In Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 35 (9), pp. 656–666. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.35.9.656.

What is a chatbot? Do they simulate people or simply conversation? And are all of them the same?

Background:
Virtual agents are often treated as social actors (Nass & Moon, 2000). Therefore, state-of-the art projects in the space of chatbot technology often use insights from anthropomorphism theory (Epley, 2007) to inform their design choices. However, there is considerable variance in how people think about chatbots. This variance is found between distinct kinds of chatbots and between different sets of people.
Skilled conversation (e.g., counselling) is a kind of work that has not been automated to the same degree as less skilled conversation (e.g., customer support). Besides technical challenges, this may also be explained by a certain reluctance in people trusting any such replication effort. A principal factor where such doubt persists is the replication of human-to-human professional relationships in bot-to-human conversation.
There may be multiple pathways to resolve this tension. However, it is yet unclear whether efforts should flow to anthropomorphism, as some believe, or whether chatbots may be framed differently to circumvent the issue, e.g., as tools. In choosing this thesis, you would work to clarify where automation of skilled conversation can achieve the best “bang for buck” and thus contribute to the acceleration of progress in this domain.

How?
Building on existing interviews, you will explore the framing of chatbots as tools relationship versus potential relationships.
Depending on your skills and interests, this work can take different forms.
You may continue the qualitative road and extend our knowledge with a more specialized interview series you develop and carry out.
Or you can prepare a survey-driven experimental approach to inform the decision.

If you are interested, please send an email to to discuss how to start.

References
Epley, Nicholas; Waytz, Adam; Cacioppo, John T. (2007): On seeing human: a three-factor theory of anthropomorphism. In Psychological review 114 (4), pp. 864–886. DOI: 10.1037/0033-295X.114.4.864.
Nass, Clifford; Moon, Youngme (2000): Machines and Mindlessness: Social Responses to Computers. In J Social Isssues 56 (1), pp. 81–103. DOI: 10.1111/0022-4537.00153.

Would you rather give a straight answer than tick dozens of boxes?

Background:
In roughly the last hundred years, questionnaires with rating scales have enjoyed widespread adoption in many domains encompassing everything from basic social science to market research. They are used to collect data for quantitative purposes (Rowley 2014). The methodology has two distinct benefits: questionnaires require little effort to fill in and are straight-forward to analyse.
However, questionnaires come with drawbacks too. For one, scale construction for valid questionnaires is very labour intensive, and many already validated questionnaires are hard to find or must be licensed. Participants are forced to choose between close-ended answers or must rely on abstractions like numbers to relay their actual thoughts or feelings. Maybe most importantly, as easy as it is to fill in a questionnaire, rating long item lists gets tedious.
Recent advances in natural language processing allow it to retain most of what is good with questionnaires without these drawbacks. Transformer-embeddings can be used to model constructs traditionally inferred from rating scale questionnaires with answers to simple questions (Kjell 2022). However, it is yet unclear how these advances can be applied in a way that allows large-scale adoption. In choosing this thesis, you will try to make innovative technology accessible to researchers and companies who want open ended answers they can count on.

How?
Learn how the technology works doing a short narrative literature review.
Define a target demographic and conduct interviews to inform the design of an application embedding the technology.
Build the application (e.g., a website).
Evaluate your work using user feedback.

If you are interested, please send an email to to discuss how to start.

References
Kjell, Oscar N. E.; Sikström, Sverker; Kjell, Katarina; Schwartz, H. Andrew (2022): Natural language analyzed with AI-based transformers predict traditional subjective well-being measures approaching the theoretical upper limits in accuracy. In Scientific reports 12 (1), p. 3918. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-07520-w.
Rowley, Jenny (2014): Designing and using research questionnaires. In Management Research Review 37 (3), pp. 308–330. DOI: 10.1108/MRR-02-2013-0027.

Analysing processes and digitalisation in the private equity industry.

Why

After an unprecedented period of growth in the last decade, today private equity funds hold more than 6.3 trillion dollars in assets under management and have become a staple in portfolios of institutional investors ([1] McKinsey, Global Private Markets Review, 2022). As this rise was fuelled by astonishing profitability (it consistently outperformed all other asset classes in the last decade ([1])), research in the last years has mainly focused on explaining the reasons for this outperformance ([2] Kaplan and Schoar, 2003; [3] Harris et Al, 2012; [4] Demaria, 2015). However, few studies look at the processes necessary to achieve this performance. The question becomes a multi-dimensional one when realizing that the processes of a fund are probably not only dependent on its type but also on its investment strategies and degree of technological maturity.

Scope

We at the IWI aim to combine sophisticated academia and practical insights. While building on profound research, your thesis should generate actionable insights with practical applicability. This can be done with a multitude of scientific methods such as desk research, reviewing scientific literature, and conducting hands-on case interviews.
However, to write an exceptional thesis it is necessary for you to find a topic, which excites you and fits your skills and interests. Therefore, the following topics are for inspiration only and I am looking forward to your ideas:

• Analysis of the impact of a private equity fund’s investment strategy on its internal processes and use of technology.
• Use and potential of new technologies in different stages of the private equity investment process.
• Examination of how target companies, general partners and limited partners interact with each other and which structures and technologies they are using for it.

While the questions mentioned above are more suited for qualitative research, I am happy to discuss more quantitatively focused theses as well, if they should better fit your skill profile.

What we expect

• You have an organized, conscientious and result-oriented working attitude
• You want to write a best-in-class master thesis which contributes to state-of-the-art research
• The thesis can start immediately but should be completed within the next ±6 months

What we offer

• Close supervision and support with regular review meetings, feedback sessions and discussions
• Access to experts in the field
• Possibility of making a real impact through publishing in a scientific journal

If you are interested just book a slot with me (https://calendly.com/fabian-karst/master-thesis-consultation) and I am looking forward to your thesis ideas.

Why?

The metaverse has become an interesting phenomenon in the last year and has attracted lots of attention.

However, it is unclear whether our behavior will differ the metaverse from our real-life behavior. In particular, it is interesting to investigate, if we disclose information differently.

Your bachelor’s/master’s thesis will contribute to the understanding of how a metaverse should be designed in the future to ensure data privacy.

What is the metaverse?

Metaverse and its “combination of technological, social, and economic drivers […] is leading to explosive interest.” (Moy and Gadgil 2022, p. 5) While some see Metaverse as the next evolutionary stage of the Internet, others still doubt its value proposition (Stokel-Walker 2021).

Currently, companies are racing to be among the first to provide a metaverse: While Meta, formerly known as Facebook, plans to invest about $10 billion annually for the next 8 years, Microsoft just spend $68 billion in an acquisition to realize their version of a metaverse. While a platform’s success depends on the quantity and quality of members (also known as complementors) (Parker et al. 2016), clearly, these companies must expect to attract more and better complementors to their metaverse as their opponents. For a complementor, the platform’s facilitation-capabilities in its value creation are of utmost importance in the decision to join a platform. (Gawer 2021; Hein et al. 2020) Therefore, to understand metaverse success, it is imperative to investigate value facilitation mechanisms and how metaverse providers are planning to implement those.

How.

– We plan to conduct an experiment on a metaversion in collaboration with the University of Rotterdam to analyze how people disclose information.

You should…

• have a basic understanding of metaverses and their underlying technologies
• have a basic understanding of theories and theorizing
• have a basic understanding of quantitative research methods and an interest in experimental design
• have scientific writing skills in English

Key Factors:

• Collaboration will take place in close supervision, with regular review meetings (biweekly), feedback sessions, etc.
• International team in cooperation with the University of Rotterdam.
• Work can be started immediately, while the experiment is planned for the autum semester
• Possibility of making a real impact through publishing in a scientific journal

If you are interested, please send a mail to Edona Elshan and Dr. Roman Rietsche. We look forward hearing from you!

Unfortunately…

… there are currently no published master thesis on ‘metaverse’ available. However, should you be interested and passionate about ‘metaverse’ and are keen to write your thesis with us, I still want to encourage you to reach out! If you and your topic-idea convince us, there is no reason why a thesis with us shouldn’t be possible! However, please already include a concrete research idea and methodology in your initial request.

Background

Technologic development is changing the World-Wide-Web as we know it. The current version of the “Internet of Information”, used primarily to seemingly exchange information, increasingly evolves to an “Internet of Value”, also called web3, which empowers people to transact items of value with one another. (Tapscott and Tapscott 2017) Indeed, there are key technologies to permit value creation and value exchange in an online setting like cryptocurrencies, NFTs, native coins, and self-sovereign interoperable identities. However, there needs to be a platform so that people can experience web3 and interact with one another. A platform that makes web3 ‘tangible’ is metaverse.