The current research of the Professorship for Business Informatics and Business Administration focuses on applying methods of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to issues in information economics. Further research areas include metaheuristics, combinatorial optimization, and internet-based business models.
The professorship, led by Univ.-Prof. Dr. Franz Rothlauf, is part of Department 03 – Law and Economics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.
A focus of the course offerings in the bachelor’s program is on imparting fundamental IT knowledge for economists, for example, in the course Programming for Economic Decision-Making, where students learn elementary programming concepts and their application for data-driven decisions.
In addition, courses on Internet Technologies and E-Business are offered. These cover technical and business administration aspects of internet-based applications and their significance for digital business processes and online business models.
Another component of the course offerings are project-oriented courses, especially in the master’s program, for example, in the courses Development of Business Information Systems and Digital Business Processes – Eliciting, Designing, and Developing with BPMN in an Agile Environment. In these projects, students work in teams to develop their own software or web applications, practically applying system development methods.
This is complemented by the subjects Human-Computer Interaction and Web Mining and Data Visualization, which further expand the theoretical and methodological foundations.
Overall, the course offerings combine theoretical foundations with practical applications, particularly in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Information Systems, E-Business, and IT-supported optimization methods. This prepares students to understand, design, and efficiently use digital technologies in companies.
Summer semester 2026:
Winter Semester 2025/2026:
Summer semester 2026:
Winter Semester 2025/2026:
Every semester, we supervise seminar papers and theses for bachelor and master students.
In principle, we distinguish between three types of thesis or seminar papers:
- Topics offered by us: Each semester, we announce several topics that align with the research units of our employees. A list of topics is available in Moodle.
- Individually agreed topics: There is also the possibility to agree on individual topics if a member of our team agrees to supervise you. If you have your own ideas for an individual topic, you should outline your ideas on one to two A4 pages with a suggested title and a rough outline, and submit it as a basis for discussion.
- Topics with practical relevance: Some topics are offered in cooperation with companies. Since the requirements vary depending on the offer, further information on the topics offered can be obtained from us.
A project work is an independent (group) assignment. It serves to apply and deepen the knowledge, skills, and abilities acquired in the Business Informatics (and possibly Computer Science) courses regarding information management, planning, development, and implementation of application systems, handling important software development tools, and preparing and managing projects in a practical and independent manner. A key characteristic of project work is the most comprehensive possible processing of a project, including conception, design, realization, documentation, project management, interface definition, and work organization, as well as communication both within the project group and with clients and future users of the project results.
Templates, current lists of topics, etc. can be found here:
