10 Ways Hertie School Students Keep it Real

Lucía Ixtacuy (right), Mónica Wills (left), and Julián Prieto (middle) are going to great lengths to find out how corruption levels are affected by the availability of access to information, and in turn, how this information mobilises civil society to engage and fight corruption. In fact, these great lengths will take them all the way to Delhi, where they will interview different actors in the anti-corruption movement in India as a case study.

Mónica, Julián and Lucía are keeping it real.

Topic | Anti-corruption Revolutions: When Civil Society steps in
Advisor | Alina Mungiu-Pippidi
Partner Institution | Transparency International

“Bad banks”, otherwise known as public asset management companies (AMCs), are what Sahil Deo (front) and Christian Franz are all about. This duo is analysing the general challenges of bad banks and seeking to find out why Germany chose this particular option over other possible alternatives. They are making sure that they leave no stone unturned in their research by jetting off to Brussels and Munich to interview key players in the game such as the European Banking Federation, among others.

Sahil and Christian are keeping it real.

Topic | The Case of Bad Banks in Germany: An Agency-based Analysis of the Effects of Different Institutional Design Options
Advisor | Mark Hallerberg
Partners | German MEPs who are in the parliamentary control body of the Federal Agency for Financial Market Stabilisation | Experts from the World Bank

Leonie Grünhage (right) and Jost Bergschneider are each writing an individual research paper under the banner of the German Federal Elections 2013. Leonie is investigating the role of party members in the different parties’ election campaigns, while Jost is exploring whether the numbers of voters who only make a decision on Election day has increased since 2009, and whether this group of voters poses a threat to democracy.

Leonie and Jost are keeping it real.

Topic | German Federal Elections 2013: The role of party members in election campaigns | Election-day Deciders during the German Federal Elections 2009 and 2013: Do They Pose a Threat to Democracy?
Advisor | Andrea Römmele   
Partner Institution | Konrad Adenauer Stiftung  

In their pursuit to find out what the enabling factors and barriers to social innovation in German welfare organisations are, Katinka Pipprich (right) and Magdalena Schmidt are conducting their research as a case study involving four of the leading and largest welfare organisations in Germany.

Katinka and Magdalena are keeping it real.

Topic | Social Innovation: A Desirable and Feasible Journey for Organizations Addressing Public Problems? The State of the Art of Social Innovation in German Social Welfare Organizations
Advisor | Johanna Mair
Partner Institution | Vodafone Stiftung

If you are part of the Hertie School community and own a smartphone, you might already be involved in this research project! Indeed, Devin Marco (left) and Freddy Cottes are on a mission to answer the question of whether smartphone applications play a role in helping people towards more active lifestyles, and have been tirelessly running experiments to help them in their cause.

Devin and Freddy are keeping it real.

Topic | When do apps nudge? Nudging people towards a more active lifestyle through smartphone applications
Advisors | Mark Hallerberg, Kai Wegrich    
Partner Institution | To be confirmed

With their thesis, Anne-Marie Kortas (left), Johannes Wahner (middle) and Pedro Obando (right) want to assess the anti-corruption potential of formalisation policies, as well as point out the channels which connect informal economy and corruption. They will go on investigative research trips to explore three case studies and to conduct interviews with experts – Anne-Marie to El Salvador, Pedro to Georgia, and Johannes to Tanzania.

Anne-Marie, Johannes and Pedro are keeping it real.

Topic | Restraining Corruption by Controlling the Informal Economy?
Advisor | Alina Mungiu-Pippidi
Partner Institution | World Bank

Building on a case study from rural Haiti, Paulina Maddalena Olenga Tete's research aims to provide a causal model for assessing the nature of cross-sector innovation and its dynamics in promoting development and reconstruction.

Paulina is keeping it real.

Topic | Collaboration Is What Matters: The Critical Role of Cross-Sector Innovation for Social Inclusive Development in Rural Haiti
Advisor | Johanna Mair
Partner Institutions | Prime Minister Office of the Republic of Haiti | Earth Institute-Columbia University

It might seem a bit unusual to write a research paper on hips and knees, but Ricarda Milstein (left) and Inga-Lena Boos are tackling a very relevant topic – they will be conducting comparative research trips to Copenhagen and The Hague to ascertain whether selective contracts are a feasible and recommendable policy option for Germany, which tops the OECD list of hip and knee replacements.  

Ricarda and Inga-Lena are keeping it real.

Topic | Champion in hips and knees - but at high costs. Can selective contracts reduce hospital volumes? - at the example of hip and knee replacements
Advisor | Gerhard Hammerschmid
Partner Institutions | German Federal Ministry of Health | Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Andrei  Ilaş (right) and Basir Feda are addressing a hot topic as they set out to find out what the macroeconomic determinants of green investment (GI) in 35 advanced and emerging markets are. They will recreate and update the International Monetary Fund (IMF) paper that is the basis of their project. In fact, to consolidate their research, they will be making a trip to Washington D.C. to conduct a series of interviews with an IMF representative and other experts.

Andrei and Basir are keeping it real.

Topic | Macroeconomic determinants of Green Investments
Advisor | Mark Hallerberg
Partner Institution | To be confirmed