Award winners

Great success for former Landshut University of Applied Sciences student Veronika Uebe. The Lower Bavarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce awarded her a prize for her Bachelor's thesis on the topic of "Centralised and decentralised organisation of treasury functions using the example of the Siemens Group". She wrote her thesis during her studies at the Faculty of Business Administration under the supervision of Peter Murer from Siemens as her practical mentor and Prof Dr Bernd Mühlfriedel, CFA, from Landshut University of Applied Sciences as her academic mentor and examiner. They celebrated this success in glorious weather at Landshut University of Applied Sciences (from left to right in the photo) Prof Dr Bernd Mühlfriedel, Veronika Uebe and Peter Murer.

The IHK prize is awarded to graduates whose work is not only characterised by a high academic level, but also by a strong connection to the economic region of Lower Bavaria and the topics of its companies. "Research and science that does not revolve around itself but has an impact in business practice is honoured" - this is how IHK President Thomas Leebmann put it at the award ceremony.

Wolfgang Kirzeder won the 2021 IHK Prize of the Lower Bavaria Chamber of Industry and Commerce for his bachelor's thesis analysing the private pension situation of young academics from the state of Bavaria in a low-interest environment. Kirzeder chose the topic because, as a private and business customer advisor at a regional bank and from conversations with fellow students, he had found that younger people have little contact with the topic of retirement provision or have little knowledge of it. He surveyed a total of 269 young academics. Their interest in retirement provision was higher and they were more willing to take risks with investment strategies than expected. The academic supervisor of the work, Prof Dr Bernd Mühlfriedel, was delighted with Kirzeder's award. Kirzeder's thesis was also selected as one of the finalists for the student prize 2021 of the business journal "Wirtschaftszeitung".

Among the 13 graduates from universities in Lower Bavaria who received the IHK Prize 2014, which is endowed with 1,000 euros, a total of three graduates from Landshut University of Applied Sciences were honoured for outstanding academic achievement in their final theses, including Judith Körber and Florian Ziegler. Judith Körber from the Faculty of Business Administration was supervised by Prof Dr Speidel and dealt with the topic of dementia. Her findings were incorporated into the "Dementia Context Landshut" research project and can therefore be put directly into practice. Florian Ziegler from the Faculty of Electrical and Industrial Engineering took a look at the vehicle fleet of Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co KG at the Teisnach plant. "Evaluation and optimisation of the vehicle fleet, taking into account the potential of alternative drive concepts, in particular electromobility" was the title of his project, which, according to his supervisor Prof. Dr Kumpf, can also be transferred to other companies.

Since March 2020, Prof Dr Mühlfriedel has been appointed to the Advisory Board of the Elite Network of Bavaria by Science Minister Bernd Sibler - initially for the period 2020-2022 and a second mail for the period 2023-2025, which corresponds to the maximum Advisory Board term. In 2002 and 2003, the Elite Network of Bavaria developed a concept that provides the best possible support for particularly talented students and young academics. The Elite Network of Bavaria is responsible for elite study programmes, international doctoral colleges, international junior research groups and the "Max Weber Programme Bavaria" and "Research Scholarships" funding lines developed in accordance with the Bavarian Elite Funding Act (BayEFG). Mühlfriedel's mandate was initially for three years and was then extended by Science Minister Markus Blume for a further three years in 2023, which now corresponds to the maximum advisory board term.

Lectures don't just have to consist of frontal teaching: Games, videos and exciting exercises help to convey supposedly dry material. Prof Dr Martens is particularly committed to getting her students excited about business mathematics. To this end, she creates elaborate teaching videos, online tests and exercises and is increasingly focussing on the concept of the "flipped classroom": students work through new content at home at their own pace using online materials. A jury headed by the Vice President for Teaching and Learning selects the winners from the faculties' proposals. It consists of an external member of the University Council, the Chair of the Examination Board and three student representatives, headed by Tippmann-Krayer. Among other things, they take into account how the students rate the teaching or the practical relevance of lectures and seminars.

Landshut University of Applied Sciences awards the Teaching Prize because the quality of teaching is very important to it. Prof. Dr Mühlfriedel was awarded the "Teaching Prize" for the second time for his teaching concept "Entrepreneurial Skills".

A six-member jury headed by the Vice President for Teaching and Studies and consisting of an external member of the University Council, the Chair of the Examination Board and three student representatives selected the two award winners from the proposals submitted by the faculties. They assessed the applicants according to criteria such as high application relevance or the promotion of responsible behaviour.