We are happy to present the Annual Review of the Department of Business and Economics, covering the academic year 2024/2025.
This year marks an exciting milestone in our ongoing efforts to enhance our academic offerings. We have comprehensively updated and expanded our Bachelor programs to better reflect the diverse interests and career aspirations of our students. Our existing Bachelor program Business and Economics has been revised and now offers an even broader selection of courses across both fields, allowing students to deepen their knowledge and tailor their studies more flexibly. In addition, we are proud to introduce two new Bachelor programs. The Bachelor in Economics provides a solid foundation for understanding the functioning of economies and economic policy, while the Bachelor in Business Administration offers comprehensive insights into the structures and processes that drive modern organizations.
We hope you enjoy reading this year’s Annual Review. We would like to thank everyone who contributed an article to this issue. We end our special thanks to Kai Pastor for designing the new layout, to Isabel Arndt for initiating the process, and to Eva Pfundt and Jona Wrobel for their editorial support.
We wish you an inspiring, successful, and productive new academic year.
Yours sincerely,
Prof. Philipp Harms
Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Law, Business and Economics
Professor of International Economics
Prof. Christopher Koch
Professor of Corporate Governance and Auditing
Prof. Karolin Kirschenmann is the new Professor of Economics with a focus on Empirical Banking at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. The joint appointment with ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research Mannheim was made as part of the Leibniz Association’s Leibniz Professorship Program. Kirschenmann continues to work at ZEW as deputy head of the field of research “Pension Plans and Sustainable Financial Markets”.
“I am extremely pleased about the appointment as Leibniz Professor. With ZEW and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, I have excellent partners at my side. With them, I will be able to further develop my research projects on the role of the financial sector in the green transformation.”
Prof. Karolin Kirschenmann
JGU is also delighted with the new addition:
“With Karolin Kirschenmann, Economics at Johannes Gutenberg University is gaining a proven expert in empirical banking research who addresses key issues relating to the stability of the financial system and sustainable transformation. Her perspective will enrich our research and provide important impetus for teaching and transfer.”
Prof. Philipp Harms, Deputy Dean at the Faculty of Law, Business and Economics
Prof. Karolin Kirschenmann’s research focuses on the propagation of crises through global banking networks, the behavior of savers in uncertain times and the role of banks in financing a carbon-neutral economy. Her work appears in leading journals such as Review of Finance, Journal of Financial Intermediation and Journal of Money, Credit and Banking.
We warmly welcome Prof. Karolin Kirschenmann to JGU Mainz!
Dr. Klaas Staal has joined our department as a lecturer in Mathematics, Statistics, and Econometrics. Before coming to JGU, he was an Associate Professor at Karlstad University in Sweden, where he taught courses in International Trade Theory, Econometrics, Advanced Microeconomics, and Public Economics and Politics at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Dr. Staal earned his PhD in Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam and has also held academic positions at the University of Bonn, first as a postdoctoral researcher (2004–2011) and later as a senior lecturer (2011–2015). He also served as a guest lecturer at the University of the Federal Public Administration in Brühl from 2021 to 2024.
His teaching and research focus on public economics, political economy, and quantitative methods, contributing to a broader understanding of how institutions and policies shape economic outcomes. His theoretical and empirical work has been published in journals such as European Economic Review, International Tax and Public Finance, Regional Science and Urban Economics, and Public Choice.
We are pleased to announce that Volker Hampel, long-standing lecturer at the Department of Business and Economics, has been appointed Honorary Professor at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.
In October 2025, University President Prof. Georg Krausch and Vice Dean Prof. Philipp Harms presented the certificate to Volker Hampel, formally conferring upon him the title of Honorary Professor.
Volker Hampel, who holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Duisburg-Essen and a degree in business administration from Goethe University Frankfurt, brings to his teaching decades of professional experience in corporate governance and internal auditing. He currently serves as Head of Internal Audit at KPMG Germany, where he has held various leadership positions since 2017. Previously, he was Managing Director of the German Institute of Internal Auditing (DIIR), Managing Director at Voith Paper Automation, and Partner at Ernst & Young, where he led the firm’s Internal Audit Services in Germany.
For more than ten years, Volker Hampel has enriched our curriculum with his highly regarded course “Praxis der Corporate Governance,” which bridges academic insights and professional expertise. We warmly congratulate him on this well-deserved recognition and look forward to continuing our successful collaboration.
In November 2024 and June 2025, our department hosted its graduation ceremonies, welcoming a combined total of more than 800 attendees. Prof. Jana Oehmichen (Professor of Organization, Human Resources, and Management Studies) and Prof. Andrej Gill (Professor of Corporate Finance) delivered inspiring keynote speeches.
The Alumni Mainz e.V. recognized the top-performing students from each study program with special awards, honoring their outstanding academic achievements. In addition, Mazars sponsored prizes for the best bachelor’s and master’s theses in the field of corporate governance and auditing.
Following the ceremonies, the student council graciously provided drinks and snacks, giving everyone an opportunity to celebrate together in a relaxed atmosphere.
We extend our heartfelt congratulations to all our graduates who successfully completed their studies in the past academic year!
Photos of the graduation ceremonies can be viewed and downloaded on the new Alumni Mainz e.V. website: www.alumni-mainz.de
On October 28, 2024, the MIEPP farewell ceremony brought together students who had graduated from the Master’s program in International Economics and Public Policy in the academic year 2023/24, their friends and family, as well as MIEPP faculty members. The evening included speeches by former MIEPP students David Blum and Lydia Haupt (Deutsche Bundesbank), as well as welcome words and the solemn presentation of graduation certificates by MIEPP program chairmen Prof. Daniel Schunk and Prof. Philipp Harms. Moreover, it gave graduates an opportunity to meet former fellow students and friends, and to talk about their experiences during and after their time at JGU. The financial support by the Deutsche Bundesbank, which made this event possible, is gratefully acknowledged.
On Thursday, June 26, 2025, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz hosted its annual Open House event, Tag der offenen Uni. The event offered insights into more than 250 study programs and attracted around 8,000 prospective students, mostly high school students from across Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse. It gave visitors a chance to experience life at the largest university in the region.
The study office organized four pavilions dedicated to Business and Economics, Business Education, Law, and the German-French degree programs, with the latter located on the Forum alongside other international services. Information sessions for the different study programs took place throughout the day, and individual consultations were available at each pavilion. Faculty members and current students supported the event by answering questions and providing personal guidance.
This year, our two new Bachelor of Science programs, BWL and VWL, were introduced alongside the already established Wirtschaftswissenschaften program. They were presented both in the introductory sessions and at the pavilion.
A special highlight was an interactive trading game introduced by Prof. Hett, designed to give prospective students a hands-on taste of economics. Participants received a set number of coins and had to trade with each other in order to maximize their outcomes, experiencing first-hand how negotiation, exchange, and market dynamics work. While only a small group took part, the activity was great fun and left everyone wanting more. With some tweaks, it is planned to be offered again in the future.
Overall, the Tag der offenen Uni was once again a success. Careful planning and the dedicated support of the study office, faculty, and students ensured a smooth day that gave prospective students a vivid picture of the diverse academic opportunities at the Faculty of Law, Business and Economics.
The academic year 2024/25 was once again a successful and eventful year for the PROF team. As in previous semesters, our core workshops such as the tutor training, the time management workshop and the learning strategies workshop were held on a regular basis and attracted many participants. These sessions continue to equip students with valuable skills and methods that help them manage their studies successfully.
Beyond our workshops, we were delighted to host another edition of our lecture series Startup Night. This year’s event took place in May 2025 and featured the founders of Frohnibär, Imke Frohnhoff and Dr. Stephan Frohnhoff. Their company operates innovative vending machines for ice cream, including one located right on our campus. They gave inspiring insights into their entrepreneurial journey and the challenges of building and scaling a business. The event was once again met with great enthusiasm by our students.
In November 2024, our second lecture series Let’s talk about focused on the topic of management consulting and auditing. The evening was moderated by Professor Dr. Christopher Koch and featured an exciting panel of industry professionals:
- WP/StB Thomas Lüdke (Audit, Deloitte)
- Leonie Kopetzki, M.Sc. (Consulting, Strategy&)
- WP Alexandra Rabinovych (Audit, Forvis Mazars)
- Dr. Simon Rosa (Financial Accounting Advisory, EY)
The panelists shared valuable insights into their daily work, career paths, and current developments in the consulting and auditing sectors. Students actively engaged in discussions and took the opportunity to network with the speakers after the event.
With these highlights and our ongoing workshop program, the PROF team looks back on another year of strong student engagement and enriching events. Planning for the upcoming winter semester is already underway, and we look forward to continuing to support students with our diverse program.
The project “Internationalization,” now in its final year, continues to make an impact in attracting international students and improving their overall experience at the Department of Business & Economics.
To increase visibility of our English-speaking master programs, MIEPP and QDEM, we have again placed both programs on the DAAD International Programmes site. Based on our evaluation, we decided to focus on DAAD going forward, as it shows a significantly higher rate of student recruitment compared to Keystone/Masterstudies. It is strongly recommended that our presence there continues beyond the end of the project. In addition, both programs were once again presented at DAAD Online Hochschulpräsentationen, which has proven effective in expanding our reach.
In summer 2025, Ms. Michaelis from FB 03’s internationalization project also joined forces with FB 08 and FB 09 at a recruitment fair in Barcelona. This was a valuable opportunity to represent our programs internationally and engage directly with prospective students.
New media formats were introduced as well. A current Master student is creating the video series “Our Man in Mainz,” which highlights what the Department of Business & Economics and our campus have to offer while also openly addressing challenges international students may face and possible solutions. Moreover, students have updated the “Unofficial Student Handbook,” giving incoming internationals a practical guide to everyday life and study in Mainz. To further strengthen our online presence, a professional photographer was again commissioned to take new pictures of our diverse student body, complementing the photos taken two years ago for the new departmental website.
The international evening events remain a highlight each semester. Organized by the study office, they provide an important space for international students to meet, network, and connect, consistently receiving positive feedback from participants.
We also continue to conduct questionnaires at the beginning and end of each semester to collect feedback from international students. While participation remains strong at the start of the semester, response rates at the end are lower. A consolidated analysis of results across multiple semesters is expected to be available in late fall/winter 2025.
The Department of Business and Economics at JGU offers students a wide range of possibilities to study abroad, including the Erasmus+ program, which offers more than 190 places at 44 European partner universities in 17 countries, as well as various double-degree programs.
To inform students about available opportunities, the Erasmus Office at the Department of Business and Economics (Erasmus-Büro Wirtschaftswissenschaften) organized the annual information fair on studies abroad (Auslandsinfobörse) on November 6, 2024. For an entire day, contact persons for various exchange programs were on site and available for questions:
- Erasmus Office at the Department of Business and Economics (Information on individual Erasmus+ partner universities of the Departement of Business and Economics, on the application process for Erasmus+, etc.)
- International Office Department of Business and Economics (International programs in business and economics, double degree programs, etc.)
- International Office at the Department of Law (Erasmus+ for law students, integrated German-French programs, LL.M. Glasgow, etc.)
- International Office JGU (Erasmus+, non-European agreements, PROMOS, FORTHEM, etc.)
- EU-ServicePoint (Erasmus+ internships)
The next annual information fair on studies abroad (Auslandsinfobörse) is planned to take place on Tuesday, November 4, 2025.
In the academic year 2024/25, the International Office of the Department of Business and Economics successfully continued and deepened its long-standing cooperation projects with the partners in Poland, France, China and Japan.
Japan
The Department’s newest partnership with the Kyoto University of Advanced Science (KUAS) in Japan (represented by Prof. Andranik Tumasjan) is gaining momentum following its initiation in early 2024. After welcoming the first incoming student from KUAS to JGU Mainz in winter term 2024/ 2025, the entire project team is now looking forward to sending the first two Master’s students to Japan, who have been invited by our partner for a one semester exchange within the MBA program of KUAS.
Poland
At the end of winter term 2024/ 2025, Dr. Thomas Bleicher, who for many decades supported our intensive cooperation with the Warsaw School of Economics (Double Degree Program at Master’s level and exchange program at Bachelor’s level, represented by Prof. Daniel Schunk)) by leading the German language courses for Polish incoming program students at JGU Mainz, retired. He was bid farewell in a small ceremony led by the then Dean, Prof. Roland Euler. Starting in September 2025, the project team is now happy to have found two new language lecturers in collaboration with the Master’s program “German as a Foreign Language”.
France
As part of the Bachelor’s Double Degree Program with the partner Université Paris Nanterre (represented by Prof. Klaus Wälde), the 2nd German-French alumni event of the Department took place in November 2024 on campus (Alte Mensa). After an exciting series of presentations by various program graduates on the topic of “What became of …”, the evening turned into an informal get-together over good food, wine and live music.
The German-French Double Degree Program at Master’s level with the Université Clermont-Auvergne (represented by Prof. Philip Sauré) offers all students of the “Master of Sc. in International Economics and Public Policy” (MIEPP) the unique opportunity to earn two national Master’s degrees by completing a joint track of courses at both universities. Following the first graduate in summer term 2024, we are very delighted to soon be able to congratulate our second Mainz Double Degree graduate. In addition, at the start of the 2025 summer term, our Department welcomed its first program student from Clermont-Ferrand.
China
The project team around Prof. Thorsten Schank is pleased to announce that outgoing numbers in both China programs (Dongbei University of Finance and Economics Dalian and Tongji University Shanghai) have again reached a high and stable level, and is especially excited that, after a longer break, the Department will be welcoming a student group of six from Dalian in winter term 2025/2026, whose applications and enrollment to JGU Mainz have been closely guided during the summer of 2025.
The Faculty of Law, Business and Economics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz has launched a new certificate programme in Entrepreneurship, coordinated by Prof. Jana Oehmichen. The programme offers students an interdisciplinary introduction to entrepreneurial thinking and action, combining insights from strategic management, marketing, and corporate finance.
Over two semesters, participants learn to identify business opportunities, develop and test innovative business models, and explore financing options such as crowdfunding and business angels. Emphasis is placed on sustainable and responsible entrepreneurship, with students applying methods like design thinking, rapid prototyping, and agile project management.
The programme is open to Master’s students and advanced students in the State Examination programme, fostering an entrepreneurial mindset across disciplines and supporting the university’s mission to strengthen innovation and practical relevance in teaching.
For more information, visit zertifikate.uni-mainz.de.
Approval of Erasmus+ KA171-project (DAAD): Mobility with Universitas Indonesia (UI): This cooperation will involve research exchange and two workshops in the fields of international trade, urban economics and development on each Campus between professors Andrea Lassmann (JGU) and Rizki Nauli Siregar (UI) and three incoming PhD student visits from UI (2 months each).
Katharina Hartinger, assistant at the Professorship of Public and Behavioral Economics, received the GLK teaching award in November of 2024 for her highly popular courses in the MIEPP program. It is her third teaching award, following the WFI teaching award in 2020 and the European Economic Association’s award for excellence in teaching in 2022.
Organized by the Professorship of International Economics (Prof. Philipp Harms), four presentations in the academic year 2024/25 demonstrated how expertise in economics can be applied in practice. On November 11, 2024, Dr. Thilo Kröger from the German Council of Economic Experts summarized the Council’s Annual Report. On November 28,2024, Dr. Mark Ruszel from Destatis presented the institution’s approach to measuring inflation. On May 6, 2025, Katharina Will from the Deutsche Bundesbank discussed the relevance and implementation of macroprudential regulation, and on May 21, 2025, Laura Fleckenstein from Destatis described her role in processing and providing educational statistics. At all these events, presenters not only shared their thoughts and expertise, but also talked about their individual career choices and paths, giving the audience an idea what an economist’s professional biography might look like.
In the summer semester of 2025, a cooperation took place between Landeshauptstadt Mainz and the Professorship of Management and Social Media (Prof. Oliver Emrich). As part of two master’s theses, students investigated the influence of different types of social media contents on the perceived service quality and employer attractiveness of Landeshauptstadt Mainz. Mayor Nino Haase and his teams from Landeshauptstadt Mainz also took part in the final presentations. The findings of the experimental studies will now be further explored in a planned collaboration as part of the “Dream Labs” project seminar. To this end, students in the master’s program Management will work with design thinking techniques to gain further insights into the mechanisms and effects of social media communication in rapid development cycles.
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Hartinger, Katharina; Resnjanskij, Sven; Ruhose, Jens; Wiederhold, Simon. (2025). Individualism and the formation of human capital, Journal of the European Economic Association, forthcoming, ssrn.com/abstract=4114359.
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Tumasjan, Andranik; Mergele, Lukas; Rüter, Ines; Zierow, Larissa; Ismail, Ismail (2025). The influence of economics education in school on future entrepreneurial behavior. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, advance online publication, doi.org/10.1177/10422587251328602.
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Wiese, Christopher W.; Dormann, Christian; Vaziri, Hoda; Tya, Louis; Wille, Bart; Chen, Job; Moran, Lauren H.; Li, Yuhua (2025). Happy work, happy life? A replication and comparison of the longitudinal effects between job and life satisfaction using continuous time meta-analysis. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 46, 487-511, doi.org/10.1002/job.2861.
Edenhofer, Ottmar; Gerster, Andreas; Gessner, Johannes; Myers, Erica; Pahle, Michael; Palmer, Karen (2025). Targeted policies to break the deadlock on heating bans. Nature Climate Change, 15, 578-580, doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02343-9.
Eyting, M; Xie, M., Michalik, F., Heß, S., Chung, S., & Geldsetzer, P. (2025). A natural experiment on the effect of herpes zoster vaccination on dementia. Nature, 1-9.
Hanelt, André; Firk, Sebastian; Zapadka, Patryk; Oehmichen, Jana. (2025). Artificial intelligence boundary resources: a relational view on leveraging “AI-as-a-Service.” European Journal of Information Systems, doi.org/10.1080/0960085X.2025.2473952.
Pomirchy, Michael; Bommer, Christian; Pradella, Fabienne; Michalik, Felix; Peters, Ruth; Geldsetzer, Pascal (2025). Herpes zoster vaccination and dementia occurrence. Journal of the American Medical Association, doi.org/10.1001/jama.2025.5013.
Brinkman, Sally A.; Lam, Benjamin; Dawson, Shane; Marrone, Rebecca; Schunk, Daniel; Winkel, Kirsten; Hermes, Henning; Gabriel, Florence; Fowler, Sam; Engelhardt, David. (2025). Pragmatic clustered randomised control trial to evaluate a self-regulated learning intervention to be implemented in South Australian primary schools—study protocol, Trials, 26, 120, doi.org/10.1186/s13063-025-08814-w.
Brückner, Sebastian; Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, Olga. (2024). Effects of teacher students’ study progress on their gaze behavior while solving of an economics knowledge test. Empirical Research in Vocational Education and Training, 16, doi.org/10.1186/s40461-024-00172-2.
Brückner, Sebastian; Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, Olga. (2024). The role of confidence in the gaze bias effect among economics trainee teachers – results from a digital assessment of economic content knowledge. Empirical Research in Vocational Education and Training, 16(2), doi.org/10.1186/s40461-024-00156-2.
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Hülsemann, Mareike J.; Kaurin, Aleksandra; Kollmann, Bianca; Chmitorz, Andrea; Ahrens, Kira F.; Schenk, Charlotte; Plichta, Michael M.; Lutz, Beat; Basten, Ulrike; Fiebach, Christian J.; Kalisch, Raffael; Lieb, Klaus; Reif, Andreas; Tüscher, Oliver; Hermes, Henning; Schunk, Daniel; Wessa, Michèle (2025). Self-oriented affective empathy is associated with increased negative affect, Scientific Reports, forthcoming, doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-09860-9.
Kunz, Ann-Kathrin; Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, Olga; Schmidt, Susanne; Nagel, Marie-Theres; Brückner, Sebastian. (2024). Investigation of students’ use of online information in higher education using eye tracking. Smart Learning Environments, 11(44), doi.org/10.1186/s40561-024-00333-6.
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Vaccination to prevent shingles also reduces the risk of developing dementia in later life, according to a research paper published recently in Nature. This conclusion is based on the analysis of data collected in connection with the introduction of a shingles immunization program launched in Wales in 2013. Economists with their special expertise in statistical analyses have made a significant contribution to the corresponding study. “We were able to apply our capabilities in statistics to medical data, thus forging a bridge between these two fields,” said Dr. Markus Eyting of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), lead author of the study. Together with co-lead author Dr. Min Xie, a postdoctoral researcher at the Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, he demonstrated that the shingles vaccination was associated with a 20 percent reduction in the probability of a new dementia diagnosis over a period of seven years. As noted in the article, “A natural experiment on the effect of herpes zoster vaccination on dementia,” this could raise various new possibilities for dementia prevention.
Dr. Min Xie identified the groundwork of what would represent a “natural experiment” created by the introduction of a herpes zoster vaccination program in Wales about two years ago. In the program, the eligibility to receive the vaccine was determined by an individual’s exact date of birth. Those born before 2 September 1933 were automatically ineligible for life, while those born on or after 2 September 1933 were entitled to receive the vaccine. “We can speak of a natural experiment in this context because this setting gives us the opportunity to compare individuals who had just turned 80 with those who had not quite reached 80 years of age,” Eyting explained. Because the individuals in the study cohort were only a few weeks apart in age, the researchers could assume that vaccination was the only factor that set the groups apart. “We then looked at the risk of developing dementia over the next seven years,” Eyting continued.
One of the main goals of the analysis was to identify a potential causal effect rather than just a correlation. In other words, the researchers were looking for a causal relationship between the shingles vaccine and the risk of developing dementia, not just a random connection between the two factors. In economics, threshold values and target dates – in this case, the individuals’ birthdays – are often employed to test for causal effects using regression discontinuity designs. “This method is widely used in economics but has not yet been adequately recognized as a tool for clinical research,” Eyting added. In his view, regression discontinuity analyses offer many opportunities for evaluating the effectiveness of public health measures.
Markus Eyting is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Business and Economics of Mainz University and at the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE in Frankfurt. His research focuses on experimental methods and survey and administrative data to study the interplay of beliefs and individual decision making with applications relating to health, discrimination, and machine learning. Also involved in the study were Dr. Simon Heß of the Vienna University of Economics and Business, who supported the data analysis with his expertise in econometric methodologies, as well as researchers from Stanford University. Eyting received the 2023 Young Economist Award from the European Economic Association (EEA) for a paper on the cause of discrimination.
Starting October 1, 2024, the research project INNOFIB – Lifelong Learning and Innovative Financial Education for All will begin. The project will run for three years and is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the Empirical Educational Research (EBF) program, with a total grant of approximately 1.25 million euros. The goal of this collaborative project is to explore new ways to sustainably improve financial education in Germany.
The project is coordinated by Prof. Christine Laudenbach from the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE in Frankfurt am Main and is carried out jointly with Prof. Andrej Gill and Prof. Florian Hett from the University of Mainz, as well as Prof. Oscar Stolper from the University of Marburg.
In several subprojects, the research team will examine how financial education can be better integrated into both school-based and extracurricular learning contexts. Among other things, the following questions will be addressed: Which measures are suitable for integrating financial education comprehensively into schools? Which innovative approaches outside traditional educational environments can help strengthen financial literacy? What role will AI-supported financial decisions play in the future, and how can consumers cope with the increasing complexity of financial products?
Prof. Stefan Irnich (Professor of Logistics Management) received two research grants from the German Science Foundation (DFG) totaling nearly €500,000 for projects addressing complex optimization problems in logistics and operations research.
The first project, “SPRP-SS: Single Picker Routing Problem with Scattered Storage” (€248,000), develops advanced mathematical models and algorithms to optimize picker routes in modern warehouses using scattered storage systems, as commonly found in e-commerce logistics. The research aims to enhance the efficiency of manual and hybrid order-picking operations by providing faster and more powerful solution methods.
The second project, “BiPISh: Bin Packing with Irregular Shapes” (€250,000), investigates optimization techniques for two-dimensional packing problems involving irregularly shaped items—challenges relevant to industries such as manufacturing, logistics, and transport. The project applies innovative integer programming and combinatorial algorithms to improve resource efficiency and reduce material waste in industrial applications.
Together, these projects strengthen JGU’s research in optimization, logistics, and sustainable operations, contributing to both academic advancement and practical impact in industrial planning and automation.
From 2025 to 2028, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) funds the project “Scrutinizing Time Lags Between Psychosocial (Risk) Factors at Work and Mental Health: A Data-Driven Intensive Longitudinal Approach” with CHF 179,199. The project, led by Prof. Andreas Krause, Dr. Sarah Kuhn, Dr. Lukas Meier, and Prof. Christian Dormann, investigates how psychosocial work factors influence mental health over time using advanced longitudinal data methods.
Together with Prof. Siham El Kihal, Prof. Oliver Emrich has received funding from Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien („WU-Projects (WU-Jubiläumsstiftung)“). The research funding is for experimental studies on how to reduce product returns.
Prof. Thorsten Schank received 91,200 Euro from the Adecco Stiftung for the project “Effects of the Ahrtal Flooding Event on the Labour Market and Regional Labour Mobility”.
Nadja Hartmann (Professorship of Statistics and Econometrics) has been admitted to the Hans-Böckler-Foundation doctoral scholarship program for her project “Early life exposure to extreme weather shocks and later life health and human capital”.
Reinhard Selten Stipendium (German Association for Experimental Economic Research e.V.) – 1.500 EUR (Katharina Hartinger, Maria Krempl, Isabell Zipperle)
Research Grant (Diligentia Foundation for Empirical Research) – 42.000 EUR (Katharina Hartinger (PI), Maria Krempl, Isabell Zipperle)
Joachim Herz Fellowship for Interdisciplinary Economics – 12.000 EUR (Katharina Hartinger)
DAAD Scholarship – ca. 8.500 EUR (Erik Sarrazin (Professorship of Public and Behavioral Economics, Prof. Shunk) for his research stay at the University of Chicago, USA)
DAAD Scholarship – 9.000 EUR (Katharina Hartinger for her research stay at UC Berkeley)
DAAD Scholarship – 8.400 EUR (Niklas Witzig for his research stay at Oxford University)
In 1995 EURO introduced the EURO Excellence in Practice Award (EEPA) for outstanding accomplishments in the practice of OR. The winners of the 2025 EEPA are: Dr. Katrin Heßler, Dr. Timo Hintsch (former members of the Professorship of Logistics Management), and Lukas Wienkamp (Schenker AG) with their project “BinPACKER” at DB Schenker. The award was presented at the closing session of the EURO 2025 Conference in Leeds (UK). BinPACKER addresses one of the biggest challenges in transportation, i.e., loading a transport unit, such as a container, a truck, or a pallet, in a way that minimizes empty space and thus reduces costs. Manual planning is difficult and requires a lot of time. BinPACKER automizes this task subject to several practical constraints such as load stability, consideration of non-stackable items, and weight distribution requirements. This not only leads to a significant reduction of empty space and transport costs but also considerably reduces manual planning effort.
See: https://www.euro-online.org/web/pages/209/excellence-in-practice-award-eepa
Editor’s Choice selection (representing the best science in each area of this discipline): Cho, E.; Meier, L. L.; Dormann, C.; Allen, T. D. (2025). Toward a dynamic understanding of work-family boundary management: A control theory perspective. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 30 (2), 63-76, doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000399.
Van Tran (Professorship of Statistics and Econometrics) received an award from the Netherlands Epidemiological Society (VvE) during the annual WEON conference. In awarding the Poster Award 2025, the VvE cited her visually attractive poster, enthusiastic presentation and the novel topic of her study.
Nominated for Best Paper in the ONE division at the Academy of Management for Brandl, E.M., Weck, M.K., Mitzinneck, B.C. Playing It Safe at What (Environmental) Cost? CEO Prevention Focus, Shareholderism, and Misconduct.
Endrit Ademi’s and Andranik Tumasjan’s paper “Strategic Interfaces and the Legitimacy of New C-Level Executives: An Experimental Study” has been nominated for the Strategic Management Society (SMS) Annual Conference Best Paper Prize in 2025.
Dr. Yves Ruhs (Professorship of Accounting and Auditing, Prof. Stefan Rammert) was awarded the Deutsche Bundesbank Special Prize at the University of Mainz for his dissertation on “The American and European bail-in procedures for the financial revitalisation of distressed banks – comparison and economic analysis of resolution law, resolution initiation procedures and bail-in strategies”. In his thesis, Mr Ruhs analyses the extent to which bail-in, in its current legal form in the EU and the USA, is suitable as an instrument for resolving a systemically important bank whose existence is threatened, in order to achieve the primary objective of maintaining or restoring financial market stability. The prize is awarded for outstanding work in the fields of banking supervision, monetary policy, cash and non-cash payments, and financial stability. It is endowed with 4.000 euros.
Dr. Denis Federiakin (Professorship of Business and Economics Education, Prof. Olga Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia) wins the Alfred-Teves-Stiftung prize for dissertations. The award ceremony took place as part of DIES ACADEMICUS in June 2025.
Prof. Andranik Tumasjan was appointed as a member of the Digital Council of Rhineland-Palatinate. The council acts as a strategic advisory body to the state government to provide input and ideas for Rhineland-Palatinate’s digital transformation.
Prof. Jana Oehmichen was appointed Editor of Corporate Governance: An International Review and member of the Editorial Review Board of the Journal of Management Studies.
Dr. Sebastian Brückner completed his habilitation procedure at the Faculty of Law , Business and Economics at JGU Mainz with his habilitation lecture on 27 January 2025. The title of the lecture was ‘Modelling and digitally supported promotion of (subject) didactic skills in business education teacher training’. The colloquium awarded him the venia legendi for the subject ‘Educational science with a focus on vocational and business education’. His habilitation thesis is entitled ‘Diagnostik textuell-graphisch repräsentierter Konzepte im wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen und wirtschaftspädagogischen Studium – Eine Eye Tracking-basierte Analyse unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Domänenspezifität’.
BAM Network is a joint project by JGU Mainz, TU Darmstadt and Goethe University Frankfurt. It’s supported by Rhein-Main University Alliance Funding line „ECR“ in RMU Initiative Funding for Research.
BAM’s main activities in academic year 2024/25:
- The 1st BAM Workshop, which included seminar-style presentations from network members and ideas exchange market, took place at TU Darmstadt in September 2024.
- Lecture series with Eva Labro took place at JGU Mainz in February 2025.
Eva Labro (Michael W. Haley Distinguished Professor of Accounting, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) held an inspiring interactive talk on “Building Bridges in Accounting Research”. Stimulating discussions were centered around creating synergies between theory and empirical research in accounting: how theory can guide empirical work and how empirics can direct theory’s focus. Eva also shared her rich publishing and editorial experience in the “Meet the editor session”.
Annual Retreat and Workshop at state parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate
In November 2024, the Research Unit Interdisciplinary Public Policy (IPP) conducted its tenth annual retreat in Osthofen, close to Mainz. The two-day event started with a welcome and an update about IPP activities by Prof. Daniel Schunk (Professor of Public and Behavioral Economics and spokesperson of the IPP), various presentations by IPP members (e.g., on democracy research) as well as a knowledge café on the acquisition of third-party funding. Tome Sandevski (Coordination Policy Dialogue Programs, RMU) presented the ENGAGEgreen Policy Engagement Toolkit at the IPP, to whose development several IPP members contributed. On September 3 2024, several IPP members, including Prof. Salvatore Barbaro (Professor of Collective Decision-Making) and Prof. Daniel Schunk (Professor of Public and Behavioral Economics) from the Department of Economics, presented their research to representatives of the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament and explored opportunities for future cooperation in research and teaching in a joint discussion.
Promotion of Young Researchers
A particularly important aspect of IPP’s mission is the promotion of young researchers. In addition to supporting individual research projects, conference and summer school attendance, IPP has sponsored several international research visits:
- Mohsen Shaeyan (Professorship of International Finance) visited Prof. Mathieu Couttenier at Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, October-November 2024
- Niklas Witzig (Professorship of Public and Behavioral Economics) visited Prof. Max Kasy at University of Oxford, October – Dec 2024
- Paul Witte (Professorship of Statistics and Econometrics) will visit Prof. Larry V. Hedges at the University of Chicago, August – November 2025
MABELLA
The Mainz Behavioral and Experimental Laboratory (MABELLA), run by the IPP and Prof. Schunk (Professor of Public and Behavioral Economics), a core facility of JGU Mainz equipped with state-of-the-art technology for conducting surveys and laboratory experiments, participated in the JGU Sustainability Day on July 15.
The other panelists were: Marc Gruber (EPFL, Switzerland), Caterina Moschieri (IE Business School, Spain), Amy Y. Ou (Hong Kong Polytechnic U., Hong Kong), Sandro Cabral (Insper Institute of Education and Research, Brazil), and Ralf Wilden (Macquarie U., Australia)
“Beer, Pretzels, and Ice Cream”: Startup Night with Frohnibär – zusammen mit Oliver Emrich und Andranik Tumasjan
Panelists: Abayomi Baiyere (Queen’s University), David Bendig (University of Münster), Kenneth Guang-Lih Huang (National University of Singapore), Sebastian Krakowski (Stockholm School of Economics), Sascha Kraus (University of Siegen), Mareike Möhlmann (Bentley University), Emmanuelle Vaast (McGill University), Henk Volberda (University of Amsterdam).
Organized
On February 14, 2025, a nine-member delegation from Ivane Javakhishvili University and Shota Rustaveli University in Georgia visited the Professorship of Business and Economics Education. In addition to a presentation of the business education degree programs and a tour of the campus, a joint colloquium was held during which the Professorship’s current research and teaching projects were presented.
Over the past academic year, the DFG-research group FOR CORE leaded by Prof. Olga Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia (Professor of Business and Economics Education) has made a strong impact at renowned national and international conferences. With a focus on Critical Online Reasoning (COR) and AI-literacy in higher education, the CORE team presented innovative studies, organized symposia, and engaged in scholarly debate across Europe and the United States.
At the Annual Meeting of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI 2025) in Graz, Austria, the FOR hosted two CORE-symposia addressing the assessment of students’ COR skills in the open and closed information settings. Contributions examined, e.g. how economics and medical students navigate online information, the impact of epistemological beliefs on reasoning processes, and the role of narrative approaches in evaluating students’ digital information practices.
Earlier in the year, the group was represented at the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) Conference 2025 in Denver, where presentations highlighted methodological innovations in assessing COR skills. Studies showcased eye-tracking analyses of high- and low-performing students, the effects of ChatGPT-assisted problem-solving on task performance, and the influence of vocational education on students’ media usage skills.
At the EARLI SIG 20 & 26 Joint Conference 2024 in Berlin, the CORE team contributed both presentations and posters. Topics ranged from the interplay of scientific reasoning skills and epistemological beliefs to the role of AI-tools in shaping students’ reasoning performance. Poster sessions further illustrated the potential and challenges of integrating AI-based support into the assessment of economic COR skills.
Through this extensive engagement, the CORE research group not only advanced the scientific understanding of critical information use and reasoning in the digital age but also positioned itself as a leading voice in the international debate on Critical Online Reasoning in Higher Education. The breadth of contributions and collaborations underscores the group’s commitment to both interdisciplinary scholarship and practical relevance in today’s rapidly evolving educational landscape.
From September 10–12, 2025, the DFG Research Unit CORE hosted its Fifth Roundtable and the International Young Researchers Conference at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. Bringing together members of the Research Advisory Board (RAB), international Principal Investigators, and the group’s Critical Friends, the meeting served as a key platform for strategic exchange on Critical Online Reasoning (COR) and AI literacy in higher education.
Over three intensive days, participants discussed the central results of the first funding phase, covering the breadth of CORE’s nine research projects. The dialogue was enriched by critical input from internationally renowned scholars such as Patricia Alexander (University of Maryland), James Pellegrino (University of Illinois), Kai Cortina (University of Michigan), Daniel Koretz (Harvard University), and Guillermo Solano-Flores (Stanford University), alongside leading experts from Germany and Europe.
The constructive feedback from the RAB and Critical Friends provided essential impulses for refining CORE’s research agenda. By combining rigorous empirical results with forward-looking perspectives, the Fifth Roundtable reaffirmed the group’s ambition to advance international research on students’ critical information use and the integration of AI into higher education.
Together with colleagues from Uni South Australia, the University of Munich and the University of Koblenz, Prof. Schunk (Professor of Public and Behavioral Economics) has started a collaboration on “Self-Regulation, wellbeing and equity”, which is generously financially supported by the Australian Government – National Health and Medical Research Council. The project includes a large-scale cooperation with the Department for Education of South Australia and takes an existing field experimental project initiated at the University of Mainz in 2010 to a new level by scaling it up. After a kick-off conference and joint scientific workshop taking place at JGU Mainz from 15 to 18 September 2024, the research teams has had their second joint workshop at University of Koblenz from 31 August to 3 September 2025, co-funded by the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung.
Katharina Hartinger and Erik Sarrazin (Professorship of Public and Behavioral Economics, Prof. Schunk) have engaged in a cooperation with one of the largest German savings bank: In a field experiment with more than 27,000 clients, they evaluated different training interventions to foster internet banking adoption in an elderly target group.
The Professorship of Management and Digital Transformation hosted Prof. Takahiro Inada from the Kyoto University of Advanced Science (KUAS) from September 1 to September 3, 2025. Together with Prof. Tumasjan, he had initiated the new student exchange program between JGU and KUAS.
IPP-Workshop SLR (10.07.25):
On July 10, 2025, the second workshop on systematic literature reviews took place. Once again, it was organized by the IPP and designed and conducted by Prof. Tumasjan together with colleagues from the university library.
Strategic Management Society (SMS) 44th Annual Conference Istanbul (19.-22.10.24):
The Professorship of Management and Digital Transformation presented two current research projects at the Annual Meeting of the Strategic Management Society (SMS) in Istanbul, Turkey:
- “Getting More ‘Likes’: Toward a Theory of Signaling Feedback”
(Authors: Constantin Lichti, Andranik Tumasjan, und Brian Connelly) - “Attentional Alignment: The CEO-CFO Interface and Strategic Change”
(Authors: Endrit Ademi und Andranik Tumasjan)
Academy of Management (AoM) 85th Annual Meeting Copenhagen (25.-29.07.25):
The AOM is the world’s most important scientific conference in the field of management. Endrit Ademi from the Professorship of Management and Digital Transformation presented the study “Strategic Interfaces and the Legitimacy of New C-Level Executives: An Experimental Study”.
Andrea Lassmann was interviewed on the impact of US tariffs on the European and German economy in SAT.1 17:30 live in April 2025.
Gleichstellung FB03 organized a workshop on publication and submission strategies with Rachel Griffith, Professor of Economics at the University of Manchester, Co-Director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and Editor at the Journal of Political Economy. This workshop was targeted at female PhD students and Postdoctoral Researchers and took place in January 2025.
The Marketing Analytics Professorship was represented at the 2025 Annual Conference of the European Marketing Academy (EMAC) in Madrid with a total of three research papers. Laura-Sophie Grunert, Tatjana Heiser and Jacqueline Veith each presented their joint research project with Prof. Frank Huber and spoke to an audience consisting of leading professors, dedicated doctoral students and experts from the business world. The conference, which took place from 25 to 30 May in Madrid, Spain, focused on the topic ‘Human and Smart Marketing: Understanding and Enhancing Our Future’. The EMAC event is considered one of the world’s most prestigious conferences in the field of marketing and provides an outstanding platform for the exchange of forward-looking ideas and research results.
Issued by:
Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Law, Business and Economics
Department of Business and Economics
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Jakob-Welder-Weg 9
55128 Mainz
https://rewi.uni-mainz.de
Edited by:
Professor of Corporate Governance and Auditing
Department of Business and Economics
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Jakob-Welder-Weg 9
55128 Mainz
https://www.cg.bwl.uni-mainz.de
christopher.koch AT uni-mainz.de
