City:  Stuttgart
Date:  Oct 13, 2025

Thesis - Data-Driven Indicators for Assessing Corporate Resilience in Sustainable Value Creation

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (www.fraunhofer.com) currently operates 76 institutes and research units throughout Germany and is a leading applied research organization. Around 32 000 employees work with an annual research budget of 3.4 billion euros. 

Advertisement for the field of study such as: Automation technology, business education, business administration, business administration, electrical engineering, computer science, logistics, mechanical engineering, control engineering, technology management, industrial engineering, engineering, data sciences, sustainability management or comparable.

 

In a rapidly changing and uncertain global environment, the ability of companies to anticipate, absorb and flexibly adapt to disruptions is a key factor for long-term success. Quantifying corporate resilience, particularly across the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainability, remains a major challenge. 

 

This master’s thesis focuses on the identification and evaluation of resilience indicators that describe a company’s status quo in terms of resilience. Based on data management and sustainability principles, the goal is to define which data and metrics are essential to capture resilience across different sustainability dimensions and to explore how these indicators can be integrated into a structured assessment framework that supports decision-making.

 

The research will be carried out at Fraunhofer IPA, with the supervision support of an interdisciplinary team combining expertise in sustainable production, resource efficiency, and digital transformation. The results are expected to contribute to ongoing research on sustainable and resilient industrial systems, supporting companies in navigating future challenges through better data-driven insights.

 

What you will do

  • Conduct a literature review on resilience indicators and sustainability KPIs
  • Identify relevant data sources and key metrics from case studies or existing frameworks
  • Develop a conceptual model or data-driven approach for resilience assessment
  • Validate findings through expert interviews or data analysis (optional)
  • Summarize and present results in a clear, structured thesis

 

What you bring to the table

  • Student (w/m/d) enrolled in a master’s program at a German institution, ideally in engineering, data sciences, sustainability management, or a related field. 
  • Strong interest in sustainable production, value creation and digitalization
  • Motivation to work independently and systematically on complex, interdisciplinary topics
  • Excellent analytical and critical-thinking skills 
  • Independent, reliable and result-oriented working style
  • Good English communication skills 

 

What you can expect

  • Flexible, supportive and interdisciplinary research environment at Fraunhofer IPA
  • Opportunity to contribute to applied research with real-world industry relevance
  • Workplace culture that values diversity, initiative, curiosity and collaboration
  • Possibility to publish your results and present them in internal or external research forums

 

We value and promote the diversity of our employees' skills and therefore welcome all applications - regardless of age, gender, nationality, ethnic and social origin, religion, ideology, disability, sexual orientation and identity. Severely disabled persons are given preference in the event of equal suitability. 

With its focus on developing key technologies that are vital for the future and enabling the commercial utilization of this work by business and industry, Fraunhofer plays a central role in the innovation process. As a pioneer and catalyst for groundbreaking developments and scientific excellence, Fraunhofer helps shape society now and in the future. 

Interested? Apply online now. We look forward to getting to know you!
 

Mrs. Lisa Schäfer

Recruiting

+49 711 970-3681

lisa.schaefer@ipa.fraunhofer.de 

Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA 

www.ipa.fraunhofer.de 

 

Requisition Number: 81687                Application Deadline:

 


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