How to be an MA student and young researcher at the same time

Starting in the winter semester 2015, selected students from all over Europe will have the opportunity, under the auspices of a Student Research Fellowship, of joining a research team under the Hilti Chair of Business Process Management at the University of Liechtenstein. The closing date for applications is 30 April 2015.

Already today highly qualified students are being employed at the Hilti Chair as assistants to lecturers in their fields of research, or to provide support for the work of the Institute. Now Student Research Fellowships are being created, with the deliberate aim of attracting students who will be commencing an MA course in Information Systems in September 2015. During their studies, which normally last for two years, they will be fully integrated with a specific research project and can make an active contribution to it.   


Subsidising study by research

In this way students will be given the chance of acquiring their first experience of research work. ‘We are always on the lookout for new talents, with a view to boosting research efforts in our various fields,’ said Professor Jan vom Brocke, Holder of the Hilti Chair of Business Process Management and Pro-Rector for Research at the University of Liechtenstein. Distinguished results in a BA degree course are essential for those wishing to be taken on as a Student Research Fellow. Jan vom Brocke stresses that young researchers can also develop important skills for a career in industry: ‘Research work trains many skills which are of the greatest relevance to employers in the free market economy – like the capacity for abstraction, and analytical, networked thinking.’  



Along with the BPM Winterschool, the University of Liechtenstein now also offers a Student Research Fellowship for MA students of Information Systems.


Practically relevant and with international links

Current research projects at the Hilti Chair are concerned with Business Process Management, Big Data Analytics, Green Information Systems and Human-Computer Interaction. The research is always carried out in close dialogue with cooperation partners on international networks. The composition of the research team always plays a major part: publications are a joint effort, which reflect the areas of expertise of the individual team members. Competence Centres with industrial partners from the region, like Hilti, Hoval, ThyssenKruppPresta and Ivoclar Vivadent, contribute further to the close links between theoretical research and practical challenges. 


Financing studies and launching a career 

Dr Bernd Schenk, Lecturer at the Institute for Information Systems and a prime mover of the Student Research Fellowship, is confident that the programme will meet with a positive reception, especially with international students. ‘We are not just preparing our Fellows for the time following the conclusion of their studies, and for their starting a career in the region. Students will also have regular employment at the Chair while they are with us, which will give them useful financial support for their studies.’ Moreover students can focus on specific subject areas, and study in greater depth with the help of a research project. The first highly promising applications for the winter semester of 2015 are already being received.  

Further information about the Student Research Fellowship may be found at www.uni.li/student-research-fellowship.