Master-Thesis
To graduate in the Mannheim Master in Management (M.Sc.) program, a successful completion of a master's thesis is mandatory. In their master's thesis, students prove that they acquired the skills and proficiency to work independently on a problem of their field of study in a limited time period employing the scientific methods available
The Chairs of Business Taxation of Professor Spengel and Professor Dörrenberg offer students the opportunity to write their master's thesis on research issues in corporate taxation. Master's theses at our chairs can be methodologically versatile; empirical and analytical as well as qualitative and normative studies may be used. Individually chosen topics and organizational flexibility characterize a master's thesis at the chairs of business taxation.
You will find further information below and in our guidelines for master theses.
Scope and Procedure
At the chairs of business taxation, you may start your master thesis at any time. The preparation time is 20 weeks. The volume should not exceed 50 pages. The successful completion of the master's thesis is remunerated with 24 ECTS points.
The master's thesis can be written in English or German.
Besides being supervised by one of our research assistants, each student will present and discuss their research question and research approach within the framework of a master colloquium. The master colloquium aims to provide students with support for their remaining work on their thesis and to identify possible areas for further development. The colloquium usually takes place in the middle of the writing time upon individual agreement.
Topics
Master’s theses at our chairs deal with topics in the field of business taxation. The research focuses of our chairs and the contents of our master TAX courses provide guidance. Interfaces to other areas of business administration or economics are also possible.
The topic is chosen based on a students' topic proposal. Empirical and analytical as well as qualitative and normative studies are possible. The starting point is the development of a research question by the students, which is then further elaborated by the support of a research assistant. You will find further information in our guidelines and under registration.
Below you will find a list of exemplary topics from past semesters.
Registration and Contact
If you want to apply for a master’s thesis at the chairs of business taxation, please fill out the application form and send it to the contact person at our chairs. Please hand in applications no later than three weeks before your desired starting date. You may start your master’s thesis at any time.
We kindly ask you to develop your one master's in the form of a short thesis proposal (max. 1 page). Your topic proposal should include the following elements:
WHAT?
What is (are) the research question(s) that you plan to tackle? What is the essence of the study?
WHY?
Why is the research question relevant? Why is it a problem or puzzle?
HOW?
How do you plan to address the research question(s)? What is your intended research design and/
or methodology? Additionally, we would like you to include two relevant research articles on which your topic proposal is built on.
Based on the topic proposal we try to find the supervisor who best matches the student’s scientific interests.
Requirements
A prerequisite for the assignment of a master thesis at the chairs of Professor Dörrenberg and Professor Spengel is successfully completing the seminar “TAX 730 – Seminar in betriebswirtschaftlicher Steuerlehre”. The successful completion of another seminar in the Area Accounting and Taxation may also be sufficient. Prior knowledge of corporate taxation by taking further master courses offered by the tax chairs is recommended.
