International Economics

According to the bachelor degree regulations, every bachelor student has to write a seminar paper (“Hausarbeit”) during their course of study. You may complete this requirement by taking the seminar Case Studies in International Economics. The chair offers this seminar at least once a year. While preparing your seminar paper, we kindly ask you to adhere to the general rules of scientific writing. Please find our guidelines on scientific writing here.

The Chair of International Economics would be glad to supervise your bachelor thesis in the area of international trade or finance. If you are interested, please send a short note including your transcript of records to Paul Stricker.

Please note the following requirements:

1. General requirements according to the examination regulations, e.g., number of credit points, term paper (“Hausarbeit”), and
2. Completion of the module Foundations of International Trade or International Finance. Ideally, you have also attended the seminar Case Studies in International Economics offered by us.

If you have not fulfilled the second requirement, you can still write your bachelor thesis with us. In this case, however, we expect you to acquire basic knowledge of the subject on your own.

The registration for the bachelor thesis is done via the WiWi-BOS system of the faculty. You will receive a firm acceptance for your bachelor thesis if you have passed one of the modules Foundations of International Trade, International Finance or Case Studies in International Economics with a good or excellent grade (2.0 or better) and if corresponding capacities are available at the chair. The topic of the thesis is always (!) given by the Chair of International Economics. However, you can choose whether you prefer to write in the field of trade or finance. You may write your bachelor thesis in German or English.

Instructions for writing academic papers can be found here.

Contact for all inquiries regarding bachelor theses: Paul Stricker.

The Chair of International Economics would be glad to supervise your master thesis in the areas of international trade and finance as well as development economics. If you are interested, please send a short note including your transcript of records to Prof. Matthias Busse.

Important Note: During Mr Busse’s term of office as Dean, Master’s students can write a Master’s thesis at the Chair of International Economics even if they have not attended a seminar.

Please note the following three prerequisites:

1. General requirements according to the examination regulations (completed modules amounting to at least 60 ECTS), and
2. Completion of one of the modules International Trade, International Macroeconomics or African Economic Development, and
3. Successful attendance of any seminar offered by the chair.

Please note that seminars offered by other chairs cannot be credited. However, we will accept seminars in international economics that you have successfully attended at other universities. We will be glad to discuss possible research questions with you and support you in choosing an appropriate topic. We highly appreciate your initiative in selecting a suitable topic for your master thesis. Guidelines for the preparation of scientific theses can be found here.

Contact for all inquiries regarding master theses:

Prof. Matthias Busse.

As we are eager to encourage our students to study abroad, we support the transfer of credit points earned at foreign universities. Contact person for all inquiries regarding the transfer of credit points in (international) economics is Joana Sulaj.

Please note the following instructions before applying for credit transfer:

• Prior to studying abroad we recommend that you consult us about the courses you plan to take at the foreign university. By doing so, you can avoid issues with transferring credit points after your return.
• Graduate (Master) students cannot transfer credits for any undergraduate (Bachelor) courses. If you are enrolled in one of the RUB master programs, please make sure that you enroll in graduate or postgraduate courses only.
• After your study abroad you need to fill out the relevant sections in the form for credit transfer provided by the examination office. Please bring the filled out form and detailed information on the respective courses taken abroad (official transcript).

For a transfer of credit for courses in the area of macroeconomics, please consult the Chair of Macroeconomics. For enquiries in international economics (international trade, international finance or international macroeconomics) please contact Joana Sulaj. This applies to Bachelor and Master courses.