Two young academics from the Business School at the University of Mannheim receive scholarships for their contributions to independent research

Moritz Appels and Florian Pethig, both research assistants at the Business School – University of Mannheim, were able to win the “Fellow Program Free Knowledge” of Wikimedia Germany with their projects. The program is aimed at young researchers from all disciplines who contribute with their work to the production of free knowledge. The winners receive financial and ideal support for eight months.

In his project, Moritz Appels is building an open database for variables in strategy research in order to lower entry barriers, especially for young researchers. He is currently working on his dissertation at the Chair of Stustainable Management of the Business School and his research is primarily focused on the interaction of political and economic players.

Florian Pethig examines the question of how novel open source tools for data change detection can support the reproducibility of empirical research projects. In his dissertation at the Chair for Enterprise Systems, he is working on the social effects of information technology.

The Fellow Program Free Knowledge

With the Fellow Program Wikimedia Germany promotes free knowledge in science to improve the exchange and cooperation between science and society. The program also tackles the question of how open an “open science” actually is and how principles of diversity and equity can be established. As a global social movement, Wikimedia is particularly committed to ensuring that communities gain access to knowledge that were previously excluded from it due to power structures and privileges. During the eight months of the scholarship, the Fellows receive mentoring, qualification and networking opportunities as well as financial support of up to 5,000 euros.