If you are interested in completing your thesis under our guidance and supervision, the first step is always to think about a topic you want to work on. We do not hand out topics to students because we believe a thesis topic is a fundamental opportunity for students to select and engage with a topic that they think is relevant for their own future.

Once you have some ideas about a potential topic, please check whether your idea fits with our areas of interest and expertise. If so, simply contact us to schedule a meeting to discuss your thesis project, our available supervision capacity, and potential thesis topics.

Once we agree to supervise your thesis project, prepare the forms that have to be handed in at the academic office relevant to your degree and signed by us, the academic office and you. For example, if you study business adminstration, relevant forms from the Academic Office in the Department of Business Administration are available here.

Next, please note that registering for a thesis involves identifying a suitable second examiner for your thesis. Please check your relevant degree regulations in advance about what requirements exist for the second examiner. Please note that only members of the university - unfortunately no company employees - can be chosen as examiner. If you write in cooperation with a company, please be aware that the NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) has to include the possibility for the acadamic office members to be allowed to read your theses.

Once the thesis has been registered, you can start working on your project. You may check the offer of the Writing Center of the Universität Hamburg for workshops and write-ins to improve your academic writing. By the stated submission deadline, you will need to hand in your thesis in accordance to your relevant course regulations.

Thesis research in cooperation with us can be completed using a variety of research methods. However, we strongly prefer topics written in cooperation with a company, empirical qualitative or quantitative projects. We decline literature review-only topics.   We typically discuss with you what the best approach is in relation to your stated objective and available options.

Irrespective of the method and approach you end up using, it is fundamentally important that you identify your own topic area and research question that you would like to pursue.

Once you have an idea for your thesis, you can approach us with your idea if it fits our research expertise and interests. Principally, we are happy to supervise theses in the areas of

• Managing AI: the development, use, and impact of artificial intelligence in organizations
• Digital innovation: creation of new products, processes, or services embodied in or enabled by digital technologies.
• Digital transformation: digitally-enabled or -embodied change of incumbent organizations.
• Digital entrepreneurship: digitally-enabled or -embodied new venture creation through entrepreneurial initiatives.
• Digital solutions for sustainable development: digital tools or procedures that assist organizations or individuals to make more sustainable choices or decisions.

If finding a research topic for your thesis proves difficult for you, it may help you to identify a research quetsion in a problem domain that one of our industry partners currently faces. Such a thesis project will be completed in cooperation between us, you, and an industry partner firm who will assist with selecting a research topic, supervising the project, and providing access to cases, data, insights, and experts (interviewees). Collaboration thesis projects are available to master students only. The thesis language will be discussed together with the industry partner but generally, both English and German theses are possible. The following collaborations are available at the moment:

	Retail	Challenges and opportunities of data sharing in a cooperative enterprise Digitalization and automation of retail processes Smart fridges and other digital tools to promote sustainable shopping behaviors Digitalization and automation of central financing processes
	Sustainable packaging	Dynamic pricing Digital nudging Predictive analytics Optimization of logistics processes
	Food Production	Sustainable digital transformation of purchasing, production, and sales
	Software	Development of AI-based smart assistants for executive decision-making Scalability of AI solutions Agentic software engineering

Useful guidelines for planning and executing your research project and writing your thesis can be found in the books below.

• Hemmer, M. & Fröhlich, T. (2025). The Art of Thesis Writing: From Understanding Research to Writing Success. Unchained Intellect Press
• Recker, J. (2021). Scientific Research in Information Systems: A Beginner's Guide (2nd ed.). Springer.
• Bhattacherjee, A. (2012). Social Science Research: Principles, Methods and Practices (2nd ed.). Global Text Project.
• Evans, D., Zobel, J., & Gruba, P. (2011). How To Write A Better Thesis (3rd ed.). Melbourne University Press.

• Template for seminar papers and theses - Deutsch
• Template for seminar papers and theses - English