In part 25 of the Alumni Stories, we introduce Stephanie Düker. After completing her vocational training as a bank clerk at WGZ BANK AG, she studied Public Administration with a focus on European Studies at the University of Münster, including a year abroad at the University of Twente, and later earned a Master’s degree in Economics in Münster. She began her academic career as a research associate at the Institute of Cooperative Studies (IfG) before moving into cooperative consulting at Genoverband e.V. Today, she leads the educational project “Student Cooperatives – Sustainable Business, Acting in Solidarity,” supporting students in founding and running their own cooperatives based on cooperative principles.

As was the case two years ago, we achieved an excellent 4th place among universities in the latest manager magazin ranking. The ranking is published every two years and is based on assessments by numerous auditing firms as well as their clients. We are therefore all the more pleased to once again be among the leading institutions, outperforming many renowned universities as well as all universities of applied sciences.

In the article “A little help for others” in the latest edition of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, author Patrick Bernau explores the concept of “nudges” as a gentle form of reward within the framework of liberal paternalism. His argument is that many of the well-intentioned ideas in this context fail. As evidence, he cites, among other things, a study published in 2026 by PD Dr Jörg Lingens (Institute for Sustainable Market Design), Christoph Feldhaus, Andreas Löschel and Gerald Zunker.