Starting with the winter term 2024/25, the faculty will allocate theses centrally: Central allocation procedure. The first registration phase runs from September 9 to 13, 2024.

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 / Ein Überblick über den Stand der Technik bei automatisierten Handelsstrategien
• Are peer effects good or bad? / Sind Peer-Effekte gut oder schlecht?
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Investor Engagement  for Carbon Reduction / Vor- und Nachteile des Engagements von Investoren für die Verringerung des Kohlenstoffausstoßes
• ChatGPT and LLMs in finance / ChatGPT und LLMs in Finance
• Cultural influences on preferences for (sustainable) equity investments / Kulturelle Einflüsse auf die Präferenzen für (nachhaltige) Aktienanlagen
• Implications of the inversion of the yield curve / Die Inversion der Zinsstrukturkurve: Implikationen und Signale für das Finanzwesen
• Financial education as the key to financial inclusion: An empirical investigation / Finanzielle Bildung als Schlüssel zur finanziellen Teilhabe: Eine kritische Untersuchung und Bewertung
• On the potential of AI-based financial fraud detection / Über das Potenzial der KI-gestützten Erkennung von Finanzbetrug
• Past and Future of Technical Analysis / Vergangenheit und Zukunft der technischen Analyse
• Powerful prompts for ChatGPT in finance and banking / Leistungsstarke Prompts für ChatGPT im Finanz- und Bankwesen
• Retail investors and the usage of leverage / Kleinanleger und der Einsatz von Leverage
• Revolution oder Hype? Eine Analyse der Auswirkungen von Blockchain-Technologien auf das traditionelle Finanzwesen / Revolution or hype? An analysis of the impact of blockchain technologies on traditional finance
• Risk factors and pricing of cryptocurrencies / Risikofaktoren und Preise von Kryptowährungen
• Social interactions in behavioral finance research / Soziale Interaktionen in der verhaltensorientierten Kapitalmarktforschung
• State of the art of AI-based financial advice / Stand der Technik bei der KI-gestützten Finanzberatung
• Structured financial products: An overview / Strukturierte Finanzprodukte: Eine Übersicht
• Structured financial products and retail investor trading / Strukturierte Finanzprodukte und Handelsaktivitäten von Retail-Investoren
• Success factors for (sustainable) crowdfunding campaigns / Erfolgsfaktoren für (nachhaltige) Crowdfunding-Kampagnen
• The diversification and welfare effects of robo-advising / Die Diversifizierungs- und Wohlfahrtseffekte von Robo-Advising
• Financial products for sustainable finance / Finanzprodukte für Sustainable Finance
• The impact of advances in artificial intelligence on corporate information disclosure / Auswirkungen von Fortschritten bei künstlicher Intelligenz auf die Informationsveröffentlichung von Unternehmen
• LLMs in finance / LLMs im Finanzwesen
• Finfluencer: Exploring the impact of financial influencer on social media / Finfluencer: Erforschung des Einflusses von Finanzinfluencern in den sozialen Medien
• Should we move from behavioral finance to social finance? / Sollten wir von der verhaltensorientierten Finanzierung zur sozialen Finanzierung übergehen?
• CEO character and firm performance / CEO-Charakter und Unternehmensperformance

Master theses:

• Robust Inverse Volatility Portfolio Selection / Robuste Portfolio-Optimierung auf Grundlage inverser Volatilität

• A review of the state-of-the-art of automated trading strategies / Ein Überblick über den Stand der Technik bei automatisierten Handelsstrategien
• A literature review on machine learning-based portfolio optimization / Eine Literaturübersicht über die auf maschinellem Lernen basierende Portfolio-Optimierung
• Active and passive portfolio management: do we need more active ETFs? / Aktives und passives Portfoliomanagement: Brauchen wir mehr aktiv-gemanagte ETFs?
• ChatGPT and LLMs in finance / ChatGPT und LLMs in Finance
• CSR and financial performance / CSR und finanzielle Performance
• ESG uncertainty - Systematic literature Review / ESG-Unsicherheit - Eine systematische Literaturübersicht
• Financial education as the key to financial inclusion: An empirical investigation / Finanzielle Bildung als Schlüssel zur finanziellen Teilhabe: Eine empirische Untersuchung und Bewertung
• How do retail investors pick their stocks? / Wie wählen Kleinanleger ihre Aktien aus?
• How do investors react to Elon Musk’s Twitter activity? / Wie reagieren die Anleger auf Elon Musks Twitter-Aktivitäten?
• How do retail investors react to news? / Wie reagieren Kleinanleger auf Nachrichten?
• Powerful prompts for ChatGPT in finance and banking / Leistungsstarke Prompts für ChatGPT im Finanz- und Bankwesen
• Structured financial products: An overview / Strukturierte Finanzprodukte: Eine Übersicht
• Textual analysis of WallStreetBets posts: Do investors feel the mood of the market? / Textanalyse von WallStreetBets-Beiträgen: Fühlen Anleger die Stimmung des Marktes?
• Textual analysis on financial reports using NLP: Relationship between words and performance / Textuelle Analyse von Finanzberichten mit NLP: Beziehung zwischen Worten und Performance
• The Oprah Winfrey effect: Investigating the influence of celebrity endorsements on investor behavior / Der Oprah-Winfrey-Effekt: Untersuchung des Einflusses von prominenter Werbung auf das Anlegerverhalten
• On the communicability of investment alternatives / Über die Gesprächsfähigkeit von Investitionsalternativen
• When do investors perceive assets to be risky? / Wann empfinden Anleger Vermögenswerte als riskant?
• The impact of advances in artificial intelligence on corporate information disclosure / Auswirkungen von Fortschritten bei künstlicher Intelligenz auf die Informationsveröffentlichung von Unternehmen
• Finfluencer: Exploring the impact of financial influencer on social media / Finfluencer: Erforschung des Einflusses von Finanzinfluencern in den sozialen Medien
• Crowdsourcing von Peer-Informationen zur Änderung des Ausgabeverhaltens / Crowdsourcing peer information to change spending behavior

Other topics and suggestions are available upon request.

Having received a slot to write your thesis at the chair of finance and banking, please submit your own topic suggestions or 3 preferences from our suggested topics. 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 we will be able to provide you with a topic proposal. You will then have 2 weeks to prepare a short synopsis of your topic and submit it to your supervisor, who will return it to you for any necessary revisions. Once the exposé has been satisfactorily revised, the thesis can be registered.

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: June 25, 2024, 10:30 AM; we will announce the room shortly / following meeting October 2024). 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.

FAQ

Can I apply for a thesis outside the deadlines mentioned above?

• No, it is not possible to apply outside the above-mentioned deadlines.

Can I start my Bachelor's thesis at a different time?

• It is only possible to apply at a different time in very well-founded exceptional cases. Please contact Ms. Klocke for this.

What happens if my exposé has not yet been accepted?

• We will give you time to revise your exposé. If no improvements are apparent, we reserve the right not to register your work. In this case, you will have to reapply in the next application phase.

Which style sheets should I follow? How do I cite correctly?

• You can find detailed information on this in the slides from the introductory event and the guidelines for theses. Both are available in the Moodle course.

The chair is not listed in the MSM document on writing scientific papers. Which guidelines do I follow?

• All formatting requirements can be found in the documents provided in the Moodle course.

Do I have to attend the interim presentation? Are there any negative consequences if I do not attend?

• The interim presentation is an offer from our chair that you can use to receive feedback on your work and to clarify open questions. Participation is voluntary. Nevertheless, we would like to encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity.

How should I hand in my thesis?

• The thesis must be handed in as specified by the examination office. You will find information on this in your respective examination regulations. In addition, please send the paper as a PDF to Prof. Pelster and your supervisor.