Jonathan Grundmann’s master’s thesis, titled “Decoding Bureaucracy: Towards a Process Mining Method for Public Administration,” has been awarded first place in the Materna Graduate Award. The Materna Graduate Award recognizes outstanding theses in the field of digitalization and supports young talents as well as innovative solutions for the digital transformation of public administration.

In his thesis, Jonathan Grundmann examines why process mining holds great potential for public administration but has rarely been used in a systematic way. The focus is organizational, technical, and structural challenges that hinder broader adoption. His analysis shows how data-driven process analysis can make administrative workflows more transparent, uncover optimization potentials, and thereby contribute to more efficient and modern administrative structures.

The thesis was supervised by Michael Räckers and Sandro Franzoi from the Department of Information Systems at the University of Münster.

Jonathan Grundmann is a graduate of the Erasmus Mundus Master of Science in Public Sector Innovation and eGovernance (PIONEER). This interdisciplinary program is a joint degree offered by KU Leuven (Belgium), Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia), and the University of Münster (Germany), and combines expertise in public administration, public management, information systems, and eGovernance.

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Materna Graduate Award

Master of Science PIONEER

Kann Deutschland noch Zukunft? Diese Frage stand im Mittelpunkt des Vortrags von Prof. Dr. Nils Foege, Leiter des Instituts für Innovation, Strategie und Organisation, beim 2. Update Wirtschaft. Kurz zusammengefasst lautet seine Antwort: Ja – wenn wir wollen und wenn wir Digitalisierung und Nachhaltigkeit gemeinsam gestalten. Wie das gelingen kann, war auch ein Schwerpunkt in der anschließenden Diskussion mit dem Publikum und Moderator Prof. Dr. Johannes Becker. Mit dem Fazit „Zukunft ist kein Zustand – sie ist eine Entscheidung“ endete eine weitere gelungene Ausgabe der Veranstaltungsreihe Update Wirtschaft.

In the Bachelor-level course “Game Theory”, Max Linden, founder of lemon.markets, and Florian Dostert, co-founder of Syntinels, discussed the practical relevance of economic and, in particular, game-theoretic concepts. During their visit, both speakers shared insights into their entrepreneurial journey. They described concrete challenges in market entry, strategic negotiation situations, and the dynamics of competitive environments. A central theme of the session was the discussion on the actual usefulness of formal economic models for entrepreneurial decision-making.

In der Bachelor-Vorlesung „Spieltheorie“ diskutierten Max Linden, Gründer von lemon.markets, und Florian Dostert, Mitgründer von Syntinels, die praktische Relevanz ökonomischer und insbesondere spieltheoretischer Konzepte. Im Rahmen ihres Besuchs gaben die beiden Einblicke in ihre Gründerreise. Sie schilderten konkrete Herausforderungen bei der Markteinführung, strategische Verhandlungssituationen sowie die Dynamik im Wettbewerbsumfeld. Zentrales Thema der Veranstaltung war die Diskussion über den tatsächlichen Nutzen formal-ökonomischer Modelle für unternehmerische Entscheidungen.

The School of Business and Economics at the University of Münster is once again ranked among the leading institutions for Business and Management in Germany. In the latest “Best Business and Management Universities in Germany Ranking 2026” by Research.com, it ranks 5th nationwide and is thus among the top tier of German Business Schools, alongside other renowned institutions such as the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management.

Two professors from the Department of Information Systems are listed among the “Leading Scientists”: Prof. Jan vom Brocke and Prof. Jörg Becker rank 12th and 20th nationally and 348th and 585th globally. A total of 9,829 researchers specializing in business and management were analyzed for inclusion in the ranking. It is based on bibliometric data and takes into account the number of publications and citations by top researchers.

Further information on the methodology and all results of the ranking can be found here.