Level: Bachelor and Master

We are happy to consider applications from students who are passionate about corporate environmental sustainability and have demonstrated excellent academic performance.

Thesis topics may be in the area of sustainability management at corporate level such as: the role and behaviour of boards of directors, CEOs and managers; governance structures and mechanisms; skills and capabilities companies develop; external institutional pressure and activism (including shareholder activism); stakeholder management; supplier relations; circular economy; business models for sustainability.

Our team has a special interest in sustainability within the fashion-, mining-, and agri-commodities industries, as well as corporate brand value and identity, and corporate reporting.

You may also propose a topic of your own choice as long as it is related to corporate sustainability strategy.

Masters and Bachelors Theses topics in Sustainable Mining

The demand for minerals, be it for promoting emerging cleaner energy technologies, supporting existing traditional mineral uses or for luxury purposes, keeps growing. For instance, a study by Vidal et al (2017) predicted that more metals will be produced in the next 30 years than in the past 100 years. This accelerated growth comes against climate emergency targets and calls for biodiversity protection. Mining takes place in ecologically sensitive environments and is, at the same time intrinsically harmful to the environment. Several topics are hereby suggested with a focus on how to sustainably conduct mining in this era of serious global challenges. PhD student Gift Dembetembe, at the Chair for Sustainability Management, is looking for interested Masters and Bachelors students to consider researching the following topics:

• The role of (eco-)labeling and responsible sourcing in mining, and how this can be governed;
• Cutting-edge biodiversity/natural environmental strategies of mining companies;
• Resource efficiency practices of artisanal and small scale miners (ASM), both in terms of extraction practices (tunning, trenching, pits) and tailings; and
• Understanding the “resource curse” of economically developing countries, and why the most resource-rich countries are some of the poorest and least sustainable.

Interested students should write convincing proposals according to the guidelines provided at the IWOe website.

Level: Bachelor and Master

At the Chair of Management of Renewable Energies, we are currently experiencing high levels of student interest in writing Master or Bachelor theses. While we are excited about the interest on these important topics, our capacity prevents us from satisfying every request for supervision. We will selectively consider new requests if they have a close link to our team’s research focus, and if the candidate can demonstrate dedication and commitment to investigating a novel topic related to managing renewable energy and climate solutions. All else being equal, students who have already familiarized themselves with the topic in one of our courses will be given priority in the application process.

Do you think you have what we are looking for? Then please take a moment to check the website of the eligible supervisors in our team:

• Dr. Karoline Gamma
• Dr. Merla Kubli
• Prof. Dr. Moritz Loock
• Dr. Adrian Rinscheid
• Prof. Dr. Rolf Wüstenhagen

Once you have identified the lecturer who is the best match with your research interest, contact her/him with a short CV, motivation letter, grade transcript and short description of 1-2 proposed thesis topic(s).