Project Study or Master Thesis with Bayerisches Staatsinstitut für Hochschulforschung und Hochschulplanung (IHF)
📌 Key facts
How to apply: Send us an e-mail (at the end of this page) with your CV and a grade report.
- AI is becoming increasingly important in higher education administration.
- Administrative professionals are using AI to automate routine tasks, such as answering common questions through chatbots and managing schedules.
- AI can streamline data analysis, making it easier for administrators to extract insights from large datasets.
- AI-powered tools help improve communication within organizations, particularly in the context of remote work.
- Chatbots can help with tasks such as answering emails, booking appointments, and conducting research, allowing administrative professionals to focus on the more important tasks.
- 📌 Key facts
- 💡 Background
- 🦾Who We Are
- 🎯 Goals
- 🎯 Mission
- 🎓 Topics of Interest
- 🎓 Profile
- 📚 Further Reading
- 📄 Requirements to any Work
- 📝 How to Apply
💡 Background
With the rapid advancements in AI technology, there is a growing interest in how AI can enhance productivity and the value creation chain. However, established frameworks on how AI can be used in order to enhance business models and the value creation chain still need to be comprehensively summarized through rigorous research. In better understanding the challenges and opportunities for AI-enhances business models, we can contribute to shaping the corporate landscape, drive innovation, and ensure the effective integration of AI technologies in current and future business applications.
🦾Who We Are
The Chair for Strategy and Organization is focused on research with impact. This means we do not want to repeat old ideas and base our research solely on the research people did 10 years ago. Instead, we currently research topics that will shape the future. Topics such as Agile Organizations and Digital Disruption, Blockchain Technology, Creativity and Innovation, Digital Transformation and Business Model Innovation, Diversity, Education: Education Technology and Performance Management, HRTech, Leadership, and Teams. We are always early in noticing trends, technologies, strategies, and organizations that shape the future, which has its ups and downs. The Bavarian State Institute for Higher Education Research and Planning is a research institution of the Free State of Bavaria under the scientific direction of Prof. Dr. Isabell M. Welpe. Its purpose is to develop and improve higher education in Bavaria. The IHF engages in practice-oriented, empirical higher education research and conducts research projects and surveys according to scientific quality standards.
🎯 Goals
- Identify specific areas where AI can provide solutions. This will involve conducting comprehensive research and analysis, including interviews and surveys, to gain deep insights into the challenges and pain points of utilizing AI to enhance established business models.
- Gain a deep understanding of AI technologies and their potential to support students.
- Investigate the effectiveness of AI interventions in higher education administration, with a focus on enhancing efficiency, accuracy, and reducing human error.
- Analyze how AI can optimize workflow management and automate repetitive tasks, leading to improved productivity and allowing employees to allocate their time more effectively.
- Evaluate the use of different assessments of AI-competence to quantify the ability of AI-use across different use-cases.
- Generate an AI- Checklist to help universities to understand how they can utilize AI to enhance their administration processes.
🎯 Mission
(1) - Summarize the state of research on AI in university administration: In which areas are AI applications used, and what effects does the use of AI applications have for different task areas in administration concerning efficiency and effectiveness as well as the motivation of employees? What experience has been gained with chatbots in university administrations? How high is the proportion of student inquiries that can be answered automatically? (required for BA and MA). (2a) - Development of a student questionnaire on chatbot use through an online survey and evaluation of initial results: How satisfied are students with the answers provided by the chatbot? In which areas is there a need for optimization? Would users recommend the chatbot to other students? (MA Thesis – Option 1) (2b) - Elaboration of five to ten case studies of leading universities worldwide in the field of the use of AI in administrative processes. Application of case-study design through document analysis and expert interviews: In which areas is AI being used? What effects does the use of AI have on administrative processes in university administrations? What effects does the use of AI have on the motivational aspects of employees? What are the limits of AI in administrative processes? (MA Thesis – Option 2)
The goal of this research is to synthesize a detailed checklist that higher education institutions can utilize to understand a) how they can implement AI in higher education administration (required for BA and MA), b) where they can integrate AI into student support (MA Thesis – Option 1), c) how they can successfully implement AI applications in administration processes (Master Thesis – Option 2).
🎓 Topics of Interest
- Review: Investigate the use of AI applications to determine which tools are most effective in enhancing AI usage. Discover in which settings which type of application is the most useful and how it can be implemented.
- Student survey for chatbot users: Investigate the use of chatbots to provide on-demand guidance, answer commonly asked questions, and assist with basic tasks.
- Case study design: Investigate different universities regarding their implementation of AI applications in administration processes.
🎓 Profile
- Proficiency in conducting a student online questionnaire
- Enrolled in a Bachelor’s or Master's program related to Business Administration/Management/Consulting
- Fluent in English
- Reliable, self-driven, and motivated
- Passion for learning and conducting impactful research
📚 Further Reading
- Barrett, M., Branson, L., Carter, S., DeLeon, F., Ellis, J., Gundlach, C., & Lee, D. (2019).
- George, B., & Wooden, O. (2023). Managing the strategic transformation of higher educationthrough artificial intelligence. Administrative Sciences, 13(9), 196.
- Edelman, Benjamin G. and Ngwe, Donald and Peng, Sida (2023). Measuring the Impact of AI on Information Worker Productivity. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4648686 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4648686
- Mainstay (n. d.). Georgia State University supports every student with personalized text
- Source of content: Krstanoski, K. (n.d.). How AI is Changing the Role of Administrative
Using artificial intelligence to enhance educational opportunities and student services in
higher education. Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges, 22(1), 11.
messaging. https://mainstay.com/case-study/how-georgia-state-university-supports-every-student-with-personalized-text-messaging/
Professionals. www.linkedin.com. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-ai-changing-role-
administrative-professionals-krstanoski/
📄 Requirements to any Work
We do not want your research to gather dust in some corner of bookshelf but make it accessible to the world. Thus, we warmly encourage you to create some or all of the following:
- Infograph - visually represent some of your work (find examples here)
- Slide Deck - summarise your research and possibly present it
- Student survey - Develop a questionnaire for an online survey
Please note that these deliverables are not officially required.
📝 How to Apply
If you are interested, please contact Dr. Susanne Falk (falk@ihf.bayern.de) and Prof. Dr. Isabell Welpe (welpe@tum.de) by submitting your CV, a grade report, a short motivation and your suggested research approach.
We're greatly looking forward to hearing more about you!
Isabell Welpe (Chair for Strategy and Organisation)
Dr. Susanne Falk (Bayerisches Staatsinstitut für Hochschulforschung und Hochschulplanung (IHF))