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 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.

Call for Master thesis: Environmental Sustainability in Boards of Directors of SMEs

According to the World Bank, 90% of businesses are small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and are an essential part of supply chains. SMEs are therefore central to achieving green transformation on topics such as carbon neutrality, circular business models, and biodiversity loss. At the same time, SMEs face many challenges including financial survival in the context of COVID-19. Leaders of such organizations can be overwhelmed with the question of how to embed sustainability into the company’s strategy, setting suitable short and long-term targets, and how to monitor and assess the company’s sustainability activities.

This Masters research thesis aims to investigate the question: How can boards directors of Swiss SMEs become savvy on environmental sustainability? The role of board directors is supervisory by definition, and for many board directors, sustainability or ESG is a new topic. Even among large companies, only 6% of board directors have experience on environmental topics and 20% on social topics.

We are seeking a Master’s student to study this topic, which was designed in collaboration with industry partners in Switzerland. Questions that the student will explore include understanding how Swiss SME board directors acquire the necessary knowledge on environmental sustainability, how they monitor the SME’s sustainability activities, and the reporting measures, tools, and methods used. The study will likely adopt a qualitative approach via interviews with board directors of Swiss SMEs. The aim is to identify challenges and best practices that provide pragmatic insights.

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).