Hof University of Applied Sciences has been a member of the BayWISS Joint Graduate College for Economics and Business since 2024, thereby strengthening its connections within the Bavarian academic system. At the most recent network meeting held at Coburg University of Applied Sciences, it became clear what added value inter-university collaboration offers for research and early-career scholars.
Hof University of Applied Sciences is continuously expanding its collaborations in the area of supporting early-career researchers. Since 2024, it has been a member of the BayWISS Joint Research College for Economics and Business, a Bavaria-wide network that closely connects universities and universities of applied sciences (HAWs) in the area of doctoral studies. At the sixth network meeting of the consortium at Coburg University of Applied Sciences, researchers and doctoral candidates exchanged ideas on current research projects and shared perspectives under the theme “Sustainability & Innovation.”
Strengthening Academic Collaboration in Bavaria
The Bavarian Science Forum (BayWISS) was founded in 2015 by Bavaria’s universities and universities of applied sciences. Its goal is to intensify collaboration between these two types of institutions and to provide targeted support for early-career researchers. At the heart of the network is the so-called “joint doctoral program”: Doctoral candidates are jointly supervised by professors from both a university and a university of applied sciences. This model is now being successfully implemented in eleven joint doctoral programs across various disciplines.
One of these programs is the BayWISS Joint Doctoral Program in Economics and Business, which was founded in 2018 and is based at the University of Regensburg. It brings together researchers from the field of economics while also incorporating related disciplines such as computer science, law, and the social sciences. In addition to structured supervision agreements, members benefit from a systematic introduction to the scientific community, a variety of networking events, and the graduate programs offered by the participating institutions.
A Complement to Hof University of Applied Sciences’ Doctoral Center
“For Hof University of Applied Sciences, membership represents a valuable complement to its own doctoral center,” says Professor Stefan Wengler, who is active in BayWiss and represents Hof University of Applied Sciences there. At the same time, the Joint Doctoral Program opens up new opportunities for inter-university collaboration and creates additional prospects for doctoral candidates and researchers. The inter-university steering committee of the joint doctoral program met in the run-up to this year’s networking event.
Discussions on Sustainability and Innovation
On July 17, 2026, the members of the Joint Doctoral Program met at Coburg University for what was now the sixth network meeting. Under the theme “Sustainability & Innovation,” the program featured academic presentations, project pitches by doctoral candidates, and a poster exhibition. The event offered many opportunities and an inspiring exchange for networking across university boundaries.
Successful Collaboration in Doctoral Support
The collaboration between Hof University of Applied Sciences and Prof. Dr. Claas Christian Germelmann, holder of the Chair of Marketing and Consumer Behavior at the University of Bayreuth, illustrates what cooperation within the Verbundkolleg looks like in practice. As part of this joint doctoral program, Sarah Victoria Mohr, a research assistant in the Empirical Research and User Experience (ERUX) research group, is pursuing her doctorate. The group is based at the Institute for Information Systems (iisys) at Hof University of Applied Sciences.
“Since I’ve already completed several projects and have others still in progress, it was particularly helpful for me to present my doctoral project as a whole.”
Sarah Mohr, doctoral candidate
Network Meeting Planned for 2028 in Hof
Hof University of Applied Sciences intends to continue actively participating in the work of the joint doctoral program. A special milestone is already in the planning stages: The network meeting of the BayWISS joint doctoral program “Economics and Business” is scheduled to take place at Hof University of Applied Sciences in 2028, bringing researchers from all over Bavaria to Hof.
