Course Catalog - Winter Semester 25/26

• Type: A/I
• Description: The course Basic Readings in Management deals with an in-depth examination of different approaches in social and economic sciences. Participants work on individual theoretical approaches that are being discussed throughout the course.
• Dates:
  • 13.10.25 (10-12)
  • 25.11.25 (14-18)
  • 26.11.25 (14-18)
• Course Pages: Institute

• Type: A/I
• Description: This course is meant to serve as a rigorous introduction to experimental methods. Its focus is on the current state of the literature in experimental and behavioral economics and on the methodology of economic experiments. In a nutshell, the objectives of the course are to develop among participating students an interest in experimental and behavioral economic research; to acquaint them with some broad fields of research where experiments have been used extensively; and, finally, to equip them with the skills that are necessary in order to understand the relevant literature in depth and be able to conduct experiments on their own in the future. Besides experimental economics methods, the course also covers other experimental approaches from management, marketing and psychology.
• Dates:
  • 06.10.25 (10-15)
  • 07.10.25 (10-15)
  • 08.10.25 (10-15)
  • 09.10.25 (11-16)
  • 19.01.26 (10-17)
  • 20.01.26 (10-17)
• Course Pages: Syllabus (PDF, 201 KB)

• Type: A/I
• Description: The course serves to make students familiar with basic statistical methodologies and econometric methods that are nowadays applied throughout all research areas in business administration and economics. It follows a “hands-on” principle throughout, i.e. all statistical methods will be illustrated and trained by practical applications using econometric packages, primarily MATLAB.
• Dates:
  • 17.12.25 (10-18)
  • 19.12.25 (10-18)
  • 14.01.26 (10-18)
• Course Pages: Institute

• Type: A/I
• Description: The course will provide PhD students with a comprehensive understanding of contemporary causal inference techniques. Focusing on quasi-experimental methods such as Difference-in-Differences, Regression Discontinuity Design, and Synthetic Control Methods, the course will emphasize both theoretical foundations and practical applications. Participants will engage in hands-on empirical exercises relying on datasets from published papers from Economics and Management journals. The course aims to enhance students' ability to conduct robust causal analysis in their research.
• Requirements: Students must (i) have participated in the course Quantitative Methods before participating in QMCI or (ii) be enrolled in Quantitative Methods in Winter Semester 25/26.
• Dates:
  • 23.01.26 (9-16)
  • 26.01.26 (9-16)
  • 27.01.26 (9-16)
  • 30.01.26 (9-16)
  • Exam:
    • 27.02.26 (9-12), or
    • 06.03.26 (9-12)
• Course Pages: Syllabus QMCI (PDF, 529 KB)

• Type: A/I
• Description: This course provides an introduction to qualitative research in business and management, equipping MBR students with the conceptual understanding and methodological skills necessary to design and conduct qualitative studies. Students will explore the philosophical foundations of qualitative research, its suitability for different research questions, and key quality criteria. The course will cover ethnographic methods and qualitative interview studies, guiding students step by step through research design, sampling, data collection, qualitative data analysis (including software applications), and theorizing based on qualitative data. The integration of qualitative and quantitative methods will also be discussed.
• Dates:
  • 15.10.25 (9-18)
  • 16.10.25 (8:30-18)
  • 17.10.26 (8:30-12)
• Course Pages: Syllabus (PDF, 70 KB)

• Type: A/I
• Description: This course provides an introduction to the design and implementation of surveys as a research method. Students will learn how to collect primary data via surveys. This includes topics such as the search for suitable scales in the literature, own scale development, test theory and test quality criteria, questionnaire design and programming, sampling methods, sample acquisition, data protection, ethical issues, open science, and analysis options. Moreover, the course will cover the use of existing secondary survey data. As part of the course, students will develop their own questionnaire on a topic of their choice. We will also explore whether secondary data are available and how they can be used for students’ selected research topics. Grades will be based on discussion participation, questionnaire development, and a short presentation of an existing survey or panel that academics can use for their own research.
• Dates:
  • 26.11.25 (9-13)
  • 10.12.25 (9-14)
  • 21.01.25 (9-14)
  • 04.02.25 (9-14)
• Course Pages: Syllabus (PDF, 114 KB)
• Important note: Survey Research Methods is offered as part of the A/I "General Research Courses". The course Survey Research Methods is added to the pool of elective methods courses (which includes for example Qualitative Methods, Microeconomic Modelling Methods, Quantitative Methods for Causal Inference, Experimental Methods).

• Type: A/I
• Description: In this course, students are introduced to the "publication game". The course deals with thoughts about how to generate research ideas and how to plan a research project, how to position a paper and how to manage the R&R process. The pros and cons of different publication strategies are discussed. Students will also learn on which criteria editors and reviewers base their decisions about a submission. Therefore, the course helps students to understand and to manage the publication process. Emerging developments, trends, and issues in conducting and publishing academic research will be discussed.
• Dates:
  • 21.10.25 (9-11)
  • 10.11.25 (13-17)
  • 11.11.25 (13-17)
  • 9.12.25 (9-12)

• Type: A/I
• Description: The course provides an overview of the purpose, type, and benefits of third-party funding in science. The course explains the opportunities and requirements of different types of third-party funding and how a successful application for third-party funding is made. The focus here is particularly on third-party funding applications to the German Research Foundation (DFG).
• Dates:
  • 14.10.25 (15-18)
  • 08.12.25 (15-18)
  • 02.02.25 (15-18)
• Course Pages: Institute

• Type: A/II
• Description: During the course of Presentations & Reports, students will deepen and broaden their understanding of academic topics of interest by attending relevant seminars, and gain greater knowledge of the academic process of peer review, including by writing a review themselves.
• Dates:
  • Kick-Off: 23.10.25 (10-12)
• Course Pages: Syllabus (PDF, 438 KB)

Important note: For students taking the course Presentations & Reports from Winter Semester 25/26 onwards, new rules apply. For further details, please refer to the FAQs.

• Type: A/II
• Description: The course provides an introduction to the core concepts and practices of open science alongside an overview of the developments that fostered the open science movement and its current directions. The course specifically focuses on open science practices that are useful in business research. These include preregistration and registered reports as well as the preparation of replication packages that contain open materials, open data, and open code. In addition, further practices such as preprints and open peer review are discussed.
  In this course, students are familiarized with the objectives and concepts of open science, learn to navigate open science practices, and discuss how to apply them to their own research projects.
• Remark: This course is mandatory for all new MBR students starting in Winter Semester 25/26. Remaining spots will be distributed to MBR students who started before Winter Semester 25/26 with their MBR and applied for the course. Further details can be found in the FAQ section.
• Dates:
  • Kick-Off: 13.10.25 (16-18)
  • 20.10.25 (9-15)
  • 27.10.25 (9-15)
• Course Pages: Syllabus (PDF, 162 KB)