The Scientific Advisory Board to the Federal Ministry of Finance has elected a new chair. Prof. Dr Nadine Riedel, Head of the Institute for Public and Regional Economics at the University of Münster, will take up the role of Deputy Chair of the independent advisory body from January 2027. She has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Board since 2015. Alfons Weichenrieder from Goethe University Frankfurt will take over as Chair.
Which tasks can be entrusted to artificial intelligence, and when should humans remain involved in decision-making processes? Prof. Jan vom Brocke and Dr. Thomas Haskamp from the Department of Information Systems at the University of Münster, together with Dr. Ina Sebastian and Prof. Peter Weill from the MIT Center for Information Systems Research (CISR), have developed a framework to help companies address this question. The “AI Decision Matrix” enables executives to determine, based on two dimensions, the extent to which humans and autonomous AI agents should be involved in decision-making processes.
B2B sales professionals in the Dutch-German border region meet their financial targets, but score below the European average on CRM systems, artificial intelligence, sales automation and data-driven decisions. Their willingness to pick up new technology also sits below that average. That is the outcome of a first measurement by the University of Twente and the University of Münster among 25 sales professionals on both sides of the border.
As part of the PRISM Conference 2026 “AI as Researcher, Resource, and Rival,” more than 80 students, researchers, founders and professors from Münster, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Braunschweig, Magdeburg and Bonn gathered at the Juridicum on September 23. The panel was moderated by Dr. Matthias Kiel (REACH). The conference was organized by Prof. Dr. David Bendig and Prof. Dr. Verena Rieger.
The German Research Foundation (DFG) has approved a joint research project by Prof. Dr. Markus Dertwinkel-Kalt and Prof. Dr. Christian Wey from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU). Over the next three years, the two economists will investigate how current energy and climate policy measures affect markets, companies and consumers.
At the Falling Walls Lab Münster 2026, Dr. Lea Püchel from the Department of Information Systems placed second. On September 11, eight early-career researchers presented their research and startup ideas in three-minute pitches in English at the REACH – Euregio Start-up Center. In her research, Lea Püchel examines how digital documentation software in childcare centers affects trust between educators and parents. Building on this, she is developing software designed to provide educators with guidance and greater legal certainty when handling data.
In the ‘Let's have a slice of poppy seed cake’ column of the university newspaper wissen|leben, staff from the Communications and Public Relations Unit visit university employees for each issue to talk to them about what makes their workplace special. In an interview, Olga Lunina, Head of the International Relations Centre at the School of Business and Economics, explains why she has always wanted to work in an international context and what she particularly values about her adopted home, Münster.
Prof. Dr Nadine Riedel, Head of the Institute for Public and Regional Economics, has been elected as the new President of the International Institute of Public Finance (IIPF) with effect from 2027. The Institute was founded in Paris in 1937 and, with around 600 members from 50 countries, is today regarded as the world’s leading association for public finance. Her election was announced at the end of August at the Institute’s annual conference in Lisbon, where she also delivered a keynote speech on the topic ‘Corporate Taxation in Normal Times and in Turmoil: What Do We (Not) Know?’
From August 28 to 30, Münster celebrated the 80th anniversary of North Rhine-Westphalia. Under the motto “Democracy lives. Diversity connects.”, NRW Day 2026 offered numerous opportunities to experience the diversity of the state and explore different aspects of society, science, and culture. The Department of Information Systems was also represented with a booth at the Science Mile.
