Volksbank Weinheim Foundation and ZEW Grant Research Award for the Second Time

The Volksbank Weinheim Foundation and the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) granted the research award "Zukunft der Arbeitswelt" ("The Future of the Working World") for the second time. At the New Year's reception of Volksbank Weinheim eG, Dr. Michael Kummer received the award for the best doctoral thesis. Jonas Voßemer was honoured for the best master's thesis.

"The jury had a difficult time making their decision," says Thomas Kohl, Director of Business and Administration at ZEW. Thomas Kohl and ZEW's President Professor Clemens Fuest sit on the five-member jury responsible for selecting the best submissions. Dr. Michael Kummer (33), who obtained his doctoral degree at the University of Mannheim, and Jonas Voßemer (26), master graduate in Sociology at the University of Mannheim, stood out as excellent candidates in an exceptional field of participants.

"The award-winning submissions meet the idea of this competition in an outstanding way," Kohl stressed. The goal of the award is to honour excellent scientific work that addresses topics such as demographic change, labour markets, integration, and education.

In his doctoral thesis Dr. Michael Kummer focuses on information and communication technologies, the search behaviour of Internet users and market outcomes. The master's thesis of Jonas Voßemer addresses the long-term effects of individual unemployment on psychological health. The award for the best doctoral dissertation is endowed with EUR 3,000; the best master’s thesis receives EUR 2,000.

The award will be granted again in 2016. Doctoral and master’s theses in the field of economics can be submitted until October 31, 2015.