Just as the doctoral consortium, the summer school serves multiple purposes in the students' education: Whereas the doctoral consortium aims at presenting the own work to an international audience, the summer school is supposed to deepen the students' methodological skills. In addition, working together with professors and PhD students from abroad also contributes to developing the students' social and communicative skills in an international and intercultural environment.

In preparing their proposals and applications for a summer school, students will be assisted by lecturers of the Institute of Information Systems at the University of Liechtenstein. Accepted students will take part in the summer school. A reflection of the lessons learned at the summer school together with the lecturers is also part of the module.

The primary objective of the summer school is to get further insights into the research methods applied by the PhD students and to discuss evolving questions with other young scientists.

The students will be assessed in this module through:

• competitive selection process of the summer school
• specific mechanisms of the summer school

Module availability:
On application at an internationally renown summer school, such as organised e. g. by the European Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS).

Just as the doctoral consortium, the summer school serves multiple purposes in the educational programme of the students: Whereas the doctoral consortium aims at presenting the own work in an international frame, the summer school intends to deepen methodological skills in a specific field of choice relevant to the PhD theses of the students. In addition, working together with professors and PhD-students from abroad also contributes to social and communicative skills of the students in an international and intercultural environment.

Doctorate entrepreneurship and management students participating in an international Ph.D. summer school study contemporary issues in research design and/or methodology.

The primary objective of the summer school is to get further insights into the research methods applied by the PhD students and to discuss evolving questions with other young scientists and leading experts in the field.

The students will be assessed in this module through:

• competitive selection process of the summer school
• specific mechanisms of the summer school

Module availability:
On application at an internationally renown summer school, such as organised e. g. by the Swiss National Science Foundation or Essex Summer School in Social Science Data Analysis and Collection.

Research Methods in International Financial Services can be very different, depending on the specific research area of Banking, Finance and Taxation. This module description is developed for a student with a need for advanced methods in econometrics. For students with different needs appropriate courses will be choosen and credited.

• Principles of Estimation and Testing
• Limited Dependent Variable Methods
• Longitudinal Data Models
• Stationary Time Series Models
• Stochastic Trends and Co-Integration

Lecture and self-study; presentation and paper by students is possible.

The module "Research Methods in International Financial Services " aims at deepening the students' competences regarding knowledge in their research design.

• This course should help - based on research methods offered on the master's level - to apply advanced econometric research methods, currently used by the research community.
• This course helps the student to independently develop a research concept for specific research questions.
• This course helps students to discuss methodological issues with colleagues working in the same area.

Students will be able to:

• Have an advanced overview of econometric principles for cross-sectional, panel, and time-series data sets.
• Apply econometric techniques in the area of microeconomics, macroeconomics and finance.

Required Reading:

• Copeland, T.E., Weston, J.F., Shastri , K. (2005), Financial Theory and Corporate Policy. Boston: Pearson Addison Wesley.
• Cochrane, J. (2001). Asset Pricing. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Specific articles and books on Econometrics.

The students will be assessed in this module through:

• Written exam or presentation and paper (about 4000 - 5000 words)

The module "Research Methods in Information and Process Management Science" aims at deepening the students' skills in research design. It focuses on pivotal issues of conducting and structuring research activities as part of information and process management research.

Subjects dealt with in the module comprise (but are not limited to):

• Introduction into design science
• Design science vs. behavioural science
• Rigour vs. relevance
• Design science in information systems research
• The design science research process
• Reviewing the literature
• Design science examples
• Design science challenges
• Theorizing in design science
• Publishing design science

• Lecture
• Self-study
• Presentation by students

Students successfully participating in the module will

• know how to explain the design science approach as related to 'traditional' approaches in research,
• be able to differentiate between major constructs and issues in information systems research, such as relevance, rigour, truth, and utility,
• know about the major contributions on design science published in information systems research,
• be able to structure the design science research process,
• be capable of conducting rigorous literature reviews as part of design science research,
• know about major evaluation methods,
• be aware of the role of theories in design science research, and
• know the major information systems outlets for publishing design science research.

• Required Reading:
• Hevner, A. R., March, S. T., Park, J. and Ram, S. (2004). Design Science in Information Systems Research. MIS Quarterly, 28 (1), pp. 75-105.
• March, S. T. and Smith, G. F. (1995). Design and Natural Science Research on Information Technology. Decision Support Systems, 15 (4), pp. 251-266.
• Peffers, K.; Tuunanen, T., Rothenberger, M. A., Chatterjee, S: A Design Science Research Methodology for Information Systems Research. Journal of Management Information Systems 24 (3), pp. 45-77.
• Peffers, K., Tuunanen, T., Gengler, C. E., Rossi, M., Hui, W., Virtanen, V. and Bragge, J. (2006). The Design Science Research Process: A Model for Producing and Presenting Information Systems Research. Proceedings of the First International Conference on Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technology (DESRIST 2006), Claremont, pp. 83-106.
• vom Brocke, J., & Buddendick, C. (2006). Reusable Conceptual Models. Requirements Based on the Design Science Research Paradigm. Paper presented at the First International Conference on Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technology (DESRIST 06), Claremont, CA, USA.
• vom Brocke, J., Simons, A., Niehaves, B., Riemer, K., Plattfaut, R., & Cleven, A. (2009). Reconstructing the Giant: On the Importance of Rigour in Documenting the Literature Search Process. Paper presented at the 17th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2009), Verona, Italia, accepted for publication.

The students will be assessed in this module through:

• Presentations
• Discussions

Besides a more in-depth knowledge in epistemology doctoral students in entrepreneurship and management research require an applicable base of research methods and tools.

The course will cover the following topics:
Epistemology in entrepreneurship and management research
Research design and the use of theoryResearch questions and hypotheses
Quantitative methods
Qualitative methods
Mixed method procedures
Transdisciplinary research

Participant centered learning approach consisting of individual paper development workshops

• The students will be able to clearly understand and communicate the epistemological underpinning of their research work, differentiate between different schools of thought, design research, processes corresponding to their research questions, select suitable qualitative and quantitative research methods, evaluate their own research with respect to validity, reliability and generalisability

• Selected Required Readings (a full reader will uploaded on moodle):J. W. Cresswell (2009). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Method Approaches. Thousand Oaks, California, Sage Publications Inc. (preferably the whole book)P. Johnson and J. Duberley (2000). Understanding Management Reserach. London, SAGE Publications. Chapter 1+8K. M. Eisenhardt and M. E. Graebner (2007). "Theory Building from Cases: Opportunities and Challenges." Academy of Management Journal 50(1): 25-32.A. F. Chalmers (1999). What is this thing called science?: an assessment of the nature and status of science and its methods. St. Lucia, University of Queensland Press. Selected chapters.M. Easterby-Smith, R. Thorpe, et al. (2008). Management Research: Theory and Practice. London, Sage Publications ltd.

• The students will be assessed in this module through:Paper; ready to be submitted to a scientific conference (e.g. AOM) or journal.

For all organizational details please get in touch with Dr. Ferdinand Thies (ferdinand.thies@uni.li).

The research proposal must include a description of the dissertation as a research agenda and of the methodical approach. In the colloquium on the research proposal, doctoral students shall present their dissertation project and provide reasons for their chosen approach.

Details are listed in the Implementing Provisions concerning the Doctorate Regulations

The supervisor and the co-supervisor decide on the acceptance of the research proposal and recommend a grade.

This module serves manifold competences: As a doctoral consortium it aims at deepening both, methodological and professional research skills of the students. In addition, it is designed to foster the international profile of their work.

By means of submitting their work to an internationally reknown doctoral consortium the students learn how to position themselves in a highly competitive environment.

Since successful applications are invited to be discussed by a selective academic committee the doctoral consortium also serves to further develop the communicative and social competences of the students.

Students' participating in a doctoral consortium arranged in the context of an internationally well-regarded information systems conference, therein share both the main contents of and progress in their own researches. Moreover, they benefit from listening to the other students' experiences and results and receive valuable feedback of the consortium chairs and student participants.

Students will be assisted by lecturers of the Institute of Information Systems at the University of Liechtenstein in preparing their proposal and application for the doctoral consortium. Accepted students will take part in the consortium. Also a reflection of the lessons learned at the consortium together with the lecturers at Liechtensetin is part of the module.

The primary objective of the doctoral consortium is to present and defend the PhD students' research in a competitive and international scientific environment.

The students will be assessed in this module through:

• Competitive Selection Process of the docotral consortium
• Research paper submitted to the doctoral consortium
• Assessment by the Professors discussing the proposal at the doctoral consortium

Module availability:
On application at an internationally renown doctoral consortium, e.g. at ICIS, International Conference on Information Systems; ECIS, European Conference on Information Systems; AMCIS, American Conference on Information Systems or ACIS, Australasian Conference on Information Systems.

The primary objective of the doctoral consortium or the International Conference Participation is to present and defend the PhD students' research in a competitive and international scientific environment.
Since successful applications are invited to be discussed by a selective academic committee this module also serves to further develop the communicative and social competences of the students.
Students' participating in this module arranged in the context of an internationally well-regarded doctoral consortium or a conference in International Financial Services receive critical comments and feedback on their research project by experienced faculty members and student participants. Moreover, they benefit from listening to the other students' experiences and results.

Preparation of paper and presentation

This module helps to enable the student

• to further intensify the existing knowledge and methodology needed for the dissertation project;
• to independently develop a research concept for specific research questions;
• to develop, analyze and synthesize new complex ideas;
• to develop a social, scientific and/or cultural progress for an academic or non-academic environment;
• to discuss methodological issues with colleagues working in the same area and also with laymen.

Students will be able to:

• Have an advanced and intensified overview on specific topics needed for the dissertation project;
• Develop their own research project;
• Apply the methodological structures of these specific topics for their dissertation project;
• Present, discuss and defend their research results to academics and make it understandable for laymen.

• specific articles related to the dissertation topic

The students will be assessed in this module through:

• competitive selection process

Module availability:
On application at an internationally renown doctoral consortium or conference on International Financial Services.

This course is designed to give first year PhD Students an aid for their academic endeavour. Just like in Research Design, the focus lies on methodological competences. At the same time, however, this course also aims at techniques rather than design strategies. The objective is to provide core compentences on how to craft a scientific text properly. Due to the concept of peer-monitoring applied in this course also social competencies will be trained.

During the first year students will be working on their academic writing style, they will be made familiar with normative writing styles and ways to publish tackling various kinds of genres, and they will help and learn from each other through peer-monitoring activities. As a base sample texts will be used and the texts students will be producing will be worked on. The course is built on three pillars:

• Knowledge Management:
  Working with databases, literature management softwares, etc.
• Publishing:
  How to write and publish various genres: abstracts, research papers, articles, data commentaries, reviews, project proposals, formatting, etc.
• Peer-Mentoring:
  Giving and receiving feed-back, presenting and reviewing, considering peer-feedback, joint writing activities, etc.

Workshops, one-on-one and think-pair-share sessions, individual and guided e-learning.

Students will be acquainted with principles of academic writing, normative writing, publishing, and peer-mentoring.

By the end of the course they will be able to make use of academic vocabulary, they will be able to discuss texts, tables, charts, and figures, and they will be sensitised about their personal and academic command of the English language.

They will be familiar with reference management systems, working with databases, formatting written texts, and academic values.

They will know principles of certain academic genres, like abstracts, research papers, articles, data commentaries, reviews, project proposals, etc.

They will be able to give and consider peer-feed-back, present and review, and they will be able to carry out joint writing activities, etc.

Natalie Reid (2010). Getting published. Writing strategies for European social scientists. Nova, Oslo. Chapter 4-11

• identify exemplary A-journal papers of your field
• provide own texts for review
• prepare and present reviews
• participate in text discussions
• prepare and present learning input

The research proposal must include a description of the dissertation as a research agenda and of the methodical approach. In the colloquium on the research proposal, doctoral students shall present their dissertation project and provide reasons for their chosen approach.

Details are listed in the Implementing Provisions concerning the Doctorate Regulations

The supervisor and the co-supervisor decide on the acceptance of the research proposal and recommend a grade.