Offers
The following topics are currently offered as student theses, but possibly also as part of the "free Master's projects". If you are interested, please contact the supervisors.
Thesis topics in connection with the project 'JUSTNature'
The following are potential thesis or study project topics in connection with the action research project JUSTNature, where we are working closely with the City of Munich’s planning department. The exact focus and methods can be adapted to each student’s research interests. For topics involving interviews or surveys, German language skills are highly desirable. Other language requirements are specified for each topic.
If you are interested in one of these topics, please email the contact person listed, with a brief statement of your interest and relevant background, a writing sample, and your intended time frame to start and complete your thesis.
1. Care, conflict and justice in urban greening politics
Temporary urban greening experiments: are they capable of delivering genuine social benefits, such as a sense of community, connection with one another and with nature, and even a more democratic and equitable society? Or simply a waste of time and money? For urban greening projects to support a just socio-ecological transformation, planners and practitioners need to recognise their political context, along with corresponding power imbalances and conflicts between needs. In this regard, theories on justice, power and care (for other people and for more-than-human species) offer a framework for empirically analysing a process of planning, designing and caring for two temporary green space interventions in the city of Munich.
Possible methods: Case study analysis, document review, interviews (or survey), field diaries, observation.
This thesis topic should be developed in English. Contact: Eleanor Chapman eleanor.chapman(at)tum.de
2. Civil society engagement in nature-based solutions in Munich: current policies and opportunities for enhanced involvement
Which policies, regulations and guidelines regulate civil society to participate in shaping nature-based solutions at different stages (planning, implementation, and maintenance)? How do these documents enable or constrain involvement in decision-making? And what opportunities are there to increase participation?
Possible methods: desk research, document analysis based on a relevant theoretical framework, interviews or surveys with local stakeholders
This thesis topic should be developed in English. Contact: Elizaveta Fakirova liza.fakirova(at)tum.de
3. Participatory urban greening beyond the usual suspects: arts and culture as tools to foster diverse engagement
What tools and methodologies from the art and cultural industries are currently used to engage different vulnerable actor groups in the planning, design, implementation and stewardship of urban green space? How could Munich's participation arrangements be reformed for better engagement?
Possible methods: Case study analysis, document review, interviews (or survey), analysis of successful case studies.
This thesis topic should be developed in English. Contact: Elizaveta Fakirova liza.fakirova(at)tum.de
4. Greening experiments as catalysts for urban transformation
How can temporary greening interventions be transformed into permanent solutions which benefit different user groups and urban nature? Based on a greening experiment in Munich, what barriers and enablers can be observed? How can reflexive monitoring and evaluation support transformation?
Possible methods: Case study analysis, document review, interviews (or survey), field log, observation.
This thesis topic should be developed in English. Contact: Eleanor Chapman eleanor.chapman(at)tum.de
5. The spatial distribution of greening across schoolyards in Munich
In this spatial analysis, the student will identify the type of greening, i.e., trees, shrubs or lawn, predominantly found at schoolyards across Munich. This study will inform the City of Munich about the spatial distribution of schoolyard greening. It will further help to identify those schoolyards with an urgent need of more greening as well as identify the relationship between amount of greening and school type. This research could potentially be extended to incorporate socio-economic attributes as well.
Possible methods: Spatial mapping and analysis using GIS or R
Contact: Dr Julia Schiller j.schiller(at)tum.de
6. Hidden Creatures: What faunal diversity occupies Munich’s schoolyards?
Please note: Data collection for this thesis needs to happen between May and August.
The respective candidate will be looking at the biodiversity found at one or two schoolyards in Munich. The results of this research could serve as a baseline to inform future greening but could also be used to add an ecological component the other socio-ecological projects within JUSTNature. Depending on the student’s interest, potential research questions could be: What birds or insects can be found at the schoolyard? How many food resources are offered to birds and/or bees? What flowers are the bees interacting with? Do temporary greening interventions benefit the bees?
Possible methods: Pollinator surveys using a net and/or traps, identification using a microscope, statistical analysis
Contact: Dr Julia Schiller j.schiller(at)tum.de
7. Nature Behind Bars: Benefits and Challenges of Implementing Nature-Based Solutions in Incarceration Facilities
The respective candidate will explore the state of the art regarding greening incarceration spaces for environmental justice within literature and the experts involved. Depending on the student’s interest, research questions could be: What are the potential benefits of greening incarceration facilities (jails, prisons, detention centers, prison farms), particularly in urban spaces? What implication would this bring to the design of incarceration spaces and their landscape? What are the challenges and difficulties in achieving this (i.e. security reasons, bureaucracy, public opinion); Are they similar to other semi-public structures (i.e. schools)? And what greening attempts have been made up to today? The results of this research could serve as a baseline to inform future projects or actors attempting to bring Nature-based Solutions to this often marginalized and vulnerable group. The thesis would be transdiciplinary and could focus only on Germany, but a European perspective would be desirable (i.e. looking at literature and experts beyond Germany).
Possible methods: Literature review, document review, expert interviews, or surveys.
The result of this thesis could be incorporated into a scientific paper under development. As such, there is a possibility of co-authorship of an article. The thesis can also include a design component, depending on the student interests.
This thesis topic should be developed in English. Contact: Beatriz Kauark-Fontes beatriz.kauark-fontes(at)tum.de
Intern / Thesis Student (m/f/d) - Sustainability (Biodiversity)
Under this pledge, Heraeus Precious Metals is committed to act responsibly toward climate, resources, and people. As part of Heraeus Precious Metals’ biodiversity initiative, the company aims to assess the location-specific biodiversity impact of its operations. We are currently seeking an intern to work on this topic with us and, upon discussion, potentially integrate it into a thesis.
Theses on the topic of „Urban Trees“ (Bachelor-/Master-Thesis)
In cooperation with the Center for Urban Nature and Climate Adaptation (ZSK), we are constantly offering theses (project, Bachelor, Master theses). Currently, we offer the following topics:
- “Urban Forestry” study in cooperation with the city of Speyer: Growth and ecosystem services of public green spaces in the city of Speyer: current status and possibilities for adaptation to climate change - a simulation study
- “Urban Forestry” study in cooperation with the city of Halle: Development of the tree population of a new urban quarter - optimization of growth and ecosystem services through management measures (tree species selection, pruning, irrigation, unsealing) - a simulation study
- Worldwide dendrochronological analysis of growth data of the species Robinia pseudoacacia
- What opportunities do municipal tree registers offer for adapting urban forests to climate change? Cooperation with Datenbankgesellschaft mbH (tree register of > 500 municipalities)
- Can tree cadastre datasets be used to derive allometric relationships? Comparison of allometric relationships based on own measurements and tree cadastre data
- Irrigation study of urban trees along a climatic gradient through Europe under consideration of climate change
Further details and topics can be obtained from the following contacts:
Prof. Dr. Thomas Rötzer
Prof. Dr. Stephan Pauleit
Dr. Astrid Reischl
M.Sc. Nayanesh Pattnaik
M.Sc. Eleonora Franceschi
Dr. Mohammad Rahman (in cooperation with the University of Melbourne)