The Chair of Finance & Banking supervises theses in the field of finance with a reference to issues of financial risk management, banking or behavioral finance. Bachelor theses are usually literature reviews with a focus on recent scientific topics; in the case of Master theses, we mostly offer empirically-oriented theses with a focus on the latest scientific topics. However, this does not preclude occasional literature reviews for master's theses as well.

In addition to the necessary interest in financial issues and the corresponding knowledge acquired during their studies, students should be able to handle statistical analysis software (e.g., R or STATA), especially for empirical work (especially relevant for master's theses).

The supervision of theses in cooperation with firms is generally possible - preferably in cooperation with consulting companies, providers of financial services, and insurance companies.

Theses can be written in German or English, regardless of the topic.

Prerequisite for the preparation of a Master's thesis

•     Successfully completed seminar with a focus on financial economics

Below are some possible topics:

Bachelor theses:

• A review of the state-of-the-art of automated trading strategies
• Are peer effects good or bad?
• Die Zukunft des Bargeldes: Auswirkungen der Digitalisierung auf die Verwendung von physischem Geld
• Die Inversion der Zinsstrukturkurve: Implikationen und Signale für das Finanzwesen
• Emotions in financial markets
• Finanzielle Bildung als Schlüssel zur finanziellen Teilhabe: Eine kritische Untersuchung und Bewertung
• How do retail investors select their stocks?
• On the potential of AI-based financial fraud detection
• Peer effects in finance
• Retail investors and the usage of leverage
• Revisiting Credit Default Swaps: a literature study
• Revolution oder Hype? Eine Analyse der Auswirkungen von Blockchain-Technologien auf das traditionelle Finanzwesen
• Risk factors and pricing of cryptocurrencies
• Social interactions in behavioral finance research
• State of the art of AI-based financial advice
• The effect of investor activism on sustainable finance
• The determinants of IPO pricing
• The implications of investors’ attention for trading behavior
• When do investors perceive assets to be risky?

Master theses:

• A review of the state-of-the-art of automated trading strategies
• A literature review on machine learning-based portfolio optimization
• An examination of crypto data consistency and possible implications: comparing different sources for crypto data
• Are people biased against sustainable investments?
• CSR and financial performance
• ESG uncertainty - Systematic literature Review
• Finanzielle Bildung als Schlüssel zur finanziellen Teilhabe: Eine empirische Untersuchung und Bewertung
• How do retail investors select their stocks?
• How do investors react to Elon Musk’s Twitter activity?
• How do retail investors react to news?
• Retail investors and the usage of leverage
• Textual analysis of WallStreetBets posts: Do investors feel the mood of the market?
• Textual analysis on financial reports using NLP: Relationship between words and performance
• The effect of investor activism on sustainable finance
• The Oprah Winfrey effect: Investigating the influence of celebrity endorsements on investor behavior
• The pricing of exchange-traded CFDs
• The value of crowdsourced earnings forecasts
• Über die Gesprächsfähigkeit von Investitionsalternativen
• Unbundling E, S and G: Should ESG be reduced to just emissions?
• When do investors perceive assets to be risky?

Other topics and suggestions are available upon request.

We assign topics for theses on a quarterly basis. Please submit your own topic suggestions or 3 preferences from our suggested topics in the week before April 01, July 01, October 01, and January 01, respectively. Please send your Transcript of Records with your application. In the transcript, you will find the indication whether you are eligible for a thesis. If this indication is missing from your Transcript of Records, but you are convinced that you do meet the requirements, please contact the Examination Office first.

If you have proposed a topic of your own, please submit a short synopsis in which you describe what you imagine the topic to be and, if applicable, provide initial literature references. Within approximately 2 weeks after this date we will be able to provide you with a topic proposal. Registrations for Bachelor's theses will be made on the 1st of the following month, registrations for Master's theses will be arranged separately.

At the beginning of each registration phase there is also an introductory meeting for all thesis writers. The respective date will be published on our website (next meeting: October 11, 2023, 11:00 AM, LB 117). We also offer the possibility of an interim presentation about halfway through the thesis. The date will also be announced via our websites and via Moodle.

Nina Klocke (nina.klocke@uni-due.de) is available as your contact person. Please approach us with suggestions for topics in which you are interested.