This module helps the student to further broaden and intensify his knowledge and methodological skills needed for his dissertation.
This module could focus on Banking, Finance or Taxation.

Lecture or seminar or self-study, possibly combined with preparation and presentation of a paper.

Based on lectures offered on the master's level, 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 the scientific and/or cultural progress for an academic or non-academic environment.

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.

The students will be assessed in this module through:

• competitive selection process of the research seminar
• specific mechanisms of the research seminar

Module availability:
On application at an internationally renown PhD program, such as organised e. g. by London School of Economics, University of Constance, Zürich, St. Gallen, Innsbruck.

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.

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.

Students' participating in a doctoral consortium, 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 supervisors, consortium chairs and student participants.

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 doctoral 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.

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 four 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.

• Creating knowledge base on your work: Provide a short description of your thesis (from research proposal or any equivalent such as doctoral consortium proposal which is an up to date description and communicate in written form via our online learning platform
• Creating knowledge base on your discipline: Identify key papers of your discipline (fundamental to the discipline, well cited, etc.) and characterize them in forms of minutes from the class (communicate via our online learning plaftorm both collection of papers and minutes of discussion)
• Identify the conversant for your first next research project (communicate in written form via our online learning platform - Moodle)
• Participate in the discussion with our guest lecturers
• Fulfill the role of an author to submit a manuscript and bring point to point answers to the written reviews that you received. In case of oral reviews, be ready to answer to the feedback in class
• Fulfill the role of reviewer (written and/or oral) and submit your review to our platform or prepare speech if you are an oral reviewer
• Revise your manuscripts and communicate the changes via Moodle

Presence:

• From our 6 sessions please attend 5, this would allow for smooth exchange of course participants

The concepts of gamification (the use of game-design elements like badges and leaderboards to increase user engagement) and serious games (training games that do not have entertainment as a primary purpose) have become popular in professional contexts, but conventional video games have not yet found their way into practice and research. While recent studies have confirmed that being adept at video games can be an indicator of skills and abilities beyond those required for gaming, our understanding of whether and how video games can be used for skill assessment and development remains incomplete. To contribute to filling this gap, this research seminar seeks to identify the managerial and architectural skills and abilities that can be measured and developed with the help of video games, and to understand the game mechanisms that facilitate skill assessment and development. Students will be required to play video games of various genres (e.g., simulation, strategy, and building games) and to demonstrate entrepreneurial and creative abilities alike. Based on their gaming experiences, they will reflect on the lessons learned from both a business and an architecture perspective.

• Every two weeks, students will play a new video game and reflect on the gaming experiences in presentations and discussions

Students will contribute to an innovative and educational research project. After successful completion of the seminar, they will…

• know about the fundamental concepts and principles of gamification and serious games;
• leverage entrepreneurial and architectural skills and abilities for successful participation in the games;
• playfully develop these skills and abilities (e.g., architecture students will learn about the main activities of growing an entrepreneurial business, and business students will learn what it takes to plan and design infrastructures in cities, buildings, and the like);
• collaboratively analyze the video games' potential to measure and develop entrepreneurial and architectural skills and abilities; and,
• learn how to work in a research team in terms of division of labor, discussion of results, and presentation and write-up

Assessment tasks:
Part A: (10%) Performance in the games
Part B: (30%) Presentation
Part C: (60%) Seminar thesis

Compulsory attendance (min. 80%)

Passed / Failed

• Course based on continuous assessment, details see under "assessment".
• Meeting attendance obligations is an essential pre-requisite for successfully completing a course based on continuous assessment.
• Attendance must be proven for at least 80% of the stipulated contact time. Responsibility for checking and providing written proof of this obligatory attendance lies with the course lecturer who is required to store this information at least until the end of the semester.
• In the case of absenteeism that exceeds the specified limits of absence, a medical certificate is required. Responsibility lies with the head of the Coordination Office for Cross-Faculty Elective Subjects to approve the reason for the student's failure to attend.
• Participation in other activities of the university are not recognized as an excused absence.

Cross-faculty elective subject:
Notice the special Multi-stage allocation process.

Role of the module in the doctoral study plan
The module is required as a cross-faculty course in the preparation phase of the doctoral programs “Architecture and Planning” and “Business Economics”.

Description
Subject definition
This module supports formal research training at the doctoral level by focusing on fundamental aspects of research design, particularly through the lens of the special disciplines, styles of inquiry and cultures of learning at the University of Liechtenstein. It also helps to develop research management skills.
Research design describes 'the structure of any scientific work. It gives direction and systematizes the research. Different types of research designs have different advantages and disadvantages.'1 In technical terms a typical research design is a detailed outline of how an investigation will take place. A research design will typically include how data is to be collected, what instruments will be employed, how the instruments will be used and the intended means for analysing data collected.
Research management skills, or so called transferable skills, comprise the ability to manage projects, be self-motivated and autonomous, network internationally, to think analytically and to be creative, inquisitive and original. In combining both research design and management skills, the University of Liechtenstein aligns itself with aspirations of the League of European Research Universities (LERU). It calls for an innovative doctoral education that brings together cohorts of candidates and includes elements of professional development training. This combination nurtures a range of skills that help PhD candidates to be more effective in their research projects but also to nurture abilities that will be useful in their future lives and careers.

To provide a tailored program, the PhD students attend one topic of ‘Specialisation according to PhD study’ (4 taught lecture units). In addition to this, the PhD students select five topics from the pool of “General academic and technical skills” and participate in all of the topics from the pool “Personal and professional management skills”. The features of the series “Personal and professional management skills” are open lectures, and every interested staff member is invited to join and listen.

Specific academic and technical skills

• Introduction to Research Design (mandatory: two taught units)

Specialisation according to PhD study

Mandatory: One topic from this group (four taught units per topic), according to the student’s focus area

• Research Design for Business Process Management
• Research Design for Finance
• Research Design for Entrepreneurship
• Research Design for Sustainable Building
• Research Design for Sustainable Urban Design and Planning
• Research Design for Architectural Theory

General academic and technical skills
Electives: Students have to select 5 topics from this group (two taught units per topic)

• Experimental Research Design
• Concepts of Time-Series Econometrics
• Panel Data: Fixed and Random Effects
• Case Study Research and Action Research
• Mixed Methods Approaches
• Use and Types of Observations and Surveys
• Literature Review
• Big Data Skills
• Community Research / Social Science for Built Environment
• Energy and the Built Environment
• Inquiry by Design

Personal and professional management skills
Mandatory (one taught unit per topic)

• Personal Knowledge Management for PhD Students
• Self-/Time-/Stress-Management
• Leadership in Research
• Project Management
• Ethics
• Publication Process
• Grant Application Process
• International Doctoral Exchange / PhD Network

Interactive, seminar style presentations and discussions

The course aims to develop a range of skills that help PhD candidates to be more effective in their dissertation research but also to work on a broader range of transferable and widely applicable skills that will be useful in their future lives and careers, qualifying them as competent researchers beyond the assembly and execution of their particular dissertations.
By imparting skills in research design and management, and an appreciation of modes of independent modes of insight acquisition, this module pursues high academic aims. It provides an understanding of the logic and procedures involved in the discovery and formation of knowledge, of the planned development, interpretation and sharing of evidence and findings, and the conception and architecture of research programs and projects in this pursuit. It presents specific personal and
academic competencies supporting this quest. Participants will learn to appreciate the structure and performance of successful research endeavours. They will acquire conceptual and technical skills needed for designing their own research approaches, styles and methodical constructs.

After completing the module, students will be able to

• appreciate the value of a sound research design and well constructed research project architecture
• independently conduct resarch design and method recherches and evaluate and select options assemble and test research designs for their own projects, evolving dynamic models
• capable of being optimised over time embark on a self-propelled path towards mastering a range of essential time, resource and other research management skills
• speak the language of research design and management, and converse reflectively with teams in house and internationally
• develop personal yet professional and continually evolving research styles and customise management and communication options responsibly devise research programs
• pursue their funding and establish their standing in the published research communities
• appreciate the range of research styles and cultures across the University of Liechtenstein and in wider research communities

Teaching aims are to

• provide an overview about current approaches to research design
• build abilities to evaluate research design cases from a diversity of fields
• impart an ability to develop the research design for their dissertation
• develop a broader understanding of and skills in research design across different topics and styles and inquiry
• nurture the ability to initiate, fund, manage, promote and publish projects
• help participants in their quest to become more self-motivated and autonomous
• assist in developing cooperative frames locally, and networks internationally
• build confidence in analytic and creative thought
• promote curiosity, inquisitiveness and originality in research.

The students will be assessed in this module through

• a seminar paper,
• the presentation and defence of the seminar paper,
• and their participation in class.

In the seminar paper the students will be asked to outline and discuss a potential research design for their dissertation. That way, the seminar paper builds on knowledge acquired in the course, and it serves to transfer this knowledge to the students’ individual PhD project. Attendance of all mandatory and selected classes as well as the presentations is expected; 80% attendance is required for a positive grade.

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 information systems students participating in an international Ph.D. summer school study contemporary issues in information systems research design and/or methodology.

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 summer school. Accepted students will take part in the summer school. Also a reflection of the lessons learned at the summer school together with the lecturers at Liechtenstein is 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).

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 four 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.

• Creating knowledge base on your work: Provide a short description of your thesis (from research proposal or any equivalent such as doctoral consortium proposal which is an up to date description and communicate in written form via our online learning platform
• Creating knowledge base on your discipline: Identify key papers of your discipline (fundamental to the discipline, well cited, etc.) and characterize them in forms of minutes from the class (communicate via our online learning plaftorm both collection of papers and minutes of discussion)
• Identify the conversant for your first next research project (communicate in written form via our online learning platform - Moodle)
• Participate in the discussion with our guest lecturers
• Fulfill the role of an author to submit a manuscript and bring point to point answers to the written reviews that you received. In case of oral reviews, be ready to answer to the feedback in class
• Fulfill the role of reviewer (written and/or oral) and submit your review to our platform or prepare speech if you are an oral reviewer
• Revise your manuscripts and communicate the changes via Moodle

Presence:

• From our 6 sessions please attend 5, this would allow for smooth exchange of course participants

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.

In the defence the doctoral students prove whether they have fulfilled the requirements of the dissertation.

The defence can be held when the dissertation has been recommended for acceptance in the written appraisal of the supervisors and each supervisor has awarded a minimum grade of 4.0.

The Doctoral Examination Board holds the defence and determines which grade is awarded.