Final Theses

We are pleased to supervise Master’s theses that lie in our area of expertise.

Topics

For the focus of your thesis, the potential research questions below could provide you with a basis and lead you in a more concrete direction:

Research field: Corporate Biodiversity Management

If you are interested in writing your Master's thesis in this research area, please contact Vera Braun or Yu-Shan Lin Feuer depending on your research proposal along with your CV and research plan.

Research field: Sustainability Management and Assessment of Non-Profit Organizations, especially higher education institutions

Research field: Sustainability reporting through the Sustainability Code (DNK)

  • Sustainable Management and Reporting: What influence does sustainability reporting have on sustainable management? An empirical study based on the Sustainability Code  

  • The Disclosure and Relevance of Risks in Sustainability Reporting: State of the art. An investigation using the Sustainability Code as an example

  • Regulatory Frameworks and Sustainability Reporting: The Implementation of the Due Diligence Act in the Sustainability Code in International Comparison

  • What role do environmental management systems play in sustainability reporting? An analysis using the Sustainability Code as an example

  • Sustainable Transformation of Companies: What role does sustainability reporting play? An analysis using the Sustainability Code as an example

If you are interested in writing your Master's thesis in this research area, please contact the DNK-team via  along with your CV and research plan.

Research field: Sustainability Accounting and Sustainable Finance

The Role of the Insurance Sector in Biodiversity Protection and Preservation

The insurance sector can play a significant role in the protection and preservation of biodiversity, given its broad influence across the value chain and its exposure to various risks and opportunities stemming from its impacts and dependencies on biodiversity.

Students participating in this research will gain an overview of the insurance business model and an understanding of how insurance companies can contribute to biodiversity protection and preservation. This research involves a content analysis of biodiversity-related disclosures by insurance companies. A coding framework is developed based on the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) E4, which provide specific indicators related to biodiversity and ecosystems. Furthermore, the methodology includes performing a systematic literature review.

Methodology: systematic literature review and content analysis
Language: Deutsch/Englisch
Supervision: Lisa Junge & Dr. Leyla Azizi (in Anknüpfung an ein aktuelles Forschungsprojekt)

The Role of the Banking Sector in Biodiversity Protection and Preservation

The banking sector can play a significant role in the protection and preservation of biodiversity, given its central role in financing economic activities and its influence on sectors with high biodiversity impacts. Banks are increasingly exposed to biodiversity-related risks and opportunities through their lending and investment portfolios, as well as their own operations. Students participating in this research will gain an overview of the banking business model and an understanding of how banks can contribute to biodiversity protection and preservation. This research involves a content analysis of biodiversity-related disclosures by banks. A coding framework is developed based on the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) E4, which provide specific indicators related to biodiversity and ecosystems. Furthermore, the methodology includes performing a systematic literature review.

Methodology: systematic literature review and content analysis
Language: Deutsch/Englisch
Supervision: Lisa Junge & Dr. Leyla Azizi (in Anknüpfung an ein aktuelles Forschungsprojekt)

The Role of the Insurance Sector in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

The insurance sector plays a vital role in climate change adaptation and mitigation due to its significant influence along the value chain and its exposure to various climate-related risks and opportunities. Insurers can drive change by integrating climate considerations into underwriting, investment strategies, and risk management practices.

This research applies a content analysis of climate-related disclosures by insurance companies. A coding framework is developed based on the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) E1, which provide indicators relevant to climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Students participating in this research will gain an in-depth understanding of the insurance business model and how insurance companies can support and contribute to climate resilience and decarbonization efforts. The methodology includes conducting a content analysis of sustainability reports and performing a systematic literature review.

Methodology: systematic literature review and content analysis
Language: Deutsch/Englisch
Supervision: Lisa Junge & Dr. Leyla Azizi (in Anknüpfung an ein aktuelles Forschungsprojekt)

Auditing Insurance-Associated Emissions in the Insurance Industry: An Analysis of Audit Techniques and Challenges

This master thesis examines the increasing importance of sustainability reporting in the insurance sector, particularly in the context of rising regulatory requirements and growing public interest in the credibility of emissions data. As existing methods and standards for auditing insurance-associated emissions (IAE) are insufficiently researched and offer little guidance to practice, a research gap exists regarding the challenges and best practices in this area. Therefore, the thesis aims to analyze the auditing of IAE in the insurance industry, evaluate existing audit techniques, and identify challenges, ultimately improving the transparency and credibility of sustainability reports. Insurance companies face problems with data availability, quality, and the complexity of calculation methods when auditing IAE. Ensuring the reliability and comparability of the data presents a significant challenge. The research questions, therefore, address how emissions in the underwriting area can be reliably audited, what challenges and best practices exist, and how theoretical principles and practical experience can contribute to improving the audit.

Methodology: systematic literature review and content analysis
Language: Deutsch/Englisch
Supervision: Dr. Leyla Azizi (in Anknüpfung an ein aktuelles Forschungsprojekt)

How Do Financial Institutions Disclose Their Impacts on Biodiversity? An Empirical Analysis of Biodiversity Reporting in the Euro Stoxx 600 Financial Sector

The disclosure of corporate sustainability activities related to biodiversity is increasingly demanded by various stakeholders. Societal and regulatory pressures (e.g., GRI 304, EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures [TNFD], CSRD, EU Biodiversity Strategy) particularly call for the measurement and reporting of companies’ impacts and dependencies on biodiversity across their operations.

This is urgently needed: according to the Global Risk Report 2023 (World Economic Forum), biodiversity loss ranks as the fourth most severe global risk over the next ten years. Measuring and reporting on biodiversity as part of sustainability reporting is therefore a key tool for communicating corporate performance and impacts in this area.

The planned master’s thesis will systematically evaluate the challenges of the current and emerging disclosure frameworks and assess existing biodiversity reporting practices in terms of their reported impacts and dependencies. Collaboration with practice partners is possible upon request.

Methodology: systematic literature review and content analysis
Language: Deutsch/Englisch
Supervision: Lisa Junge & Dr. Leyla Azizi (in Anknüpfung an ein aktuelles Forschungsprojekt)

Navigating corporate risks by contributing to biodiversity protection and preservation and enhancing the resilience

The planetary boundaries framework represents nine components of Earth system critically affected by anthropogenic activities. Six of these nine boundaries, especially biodiversity, are transgressed. Biodiversity is a prerequisite for human welfare and economic functioning.

By adopting an interdisciplinary systemic lens to biodiversity, this master thesis provides an understanding of the complex interrelations and processes between biodiversity loss and business sector. By including the social-ecological resilience as an interrelated system between humans and nature, this thesis connects firm-level resilience to the resilience of macro-level ecological systems. This master thesis aims on a framework development on drivers of biodiversity loss and identifying approaches for firms to building socio-ecological resilience.

Methodology: systematic literature review and content analysis
Language: Deutsch/Englisch
Supervision: Dr. Leyla Azizi (in Anknüpfung an ein aktuelles Forschungsprojekt)

Assurance of Sustainability Disclosure
The assurance of sustainability information enhances the credibility and transparency of sustainability reports and can help prevent greenwashing. At the same time, there are legal requirements for certain companies to have their sustainability information assured. As such, assurance can support companies in achieving their sustainability goals and fulfilling their social responsibilities.

Various research approaches are conceivable in the context of sustainability assurance, focusing on the validity, reliability, and impact of assured sustainability information. Potential topics include, for example, comparisons of different assurance methods for sustainability data, the credibility of sustainability reports (particularly in preventing greenwashing), challenges in the assurance process, the effects of regulation on the assurance of sustainability information, or the role of the assurance provider within the audit process.

Methodology: systematic literature review and content analysis
Language: Deutsch/Englisch
Supervision: Dr. Leyla Azizi (in Anknüpfung an ein aktuelles Forschungsprojekt)

Resilience in ecological and economic systems
Resilience captures the capacity of social and ecological systems to adapt, recover, and thrive amid adversity. Recent literature highlights its multidimensional nature, spanning individuals, organizations, and systems, including supply chains, financial governance, and leadership (Hillmann & Guenther, 2021). Amid escalating disruptions caused by climate change, pandemics, and economic or geopolitical crises, resilience is gaining relevance in accounting and sustainability discourse. This master thesis aims to explore resilience as a complementary concept to sustainability, analyzing how resilience thinking can be integrated into business practices to foster short-term adaptability and long-term robustness.

Methods: Systematic literature review, content analysis, interviews (depending on preference)
Language: German/English
Supervision: Dr. Leyla Azizi

Other topics relevant to these research fields are also welcome.

Guidelines for Scientific Work

Please remember that your written work must comply with guidelines for the preparation of scientific papers and presentations from the TU Dresden and our Chair. The general guidelines on the good academic behavior of TU Dresden can be found here. The guidelines for academic writing of the Chair of Environmental Management are available here.

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Yu-Shan Lin Feuer
Last modified: Sep 03, 2026