Doctorate: Niklas Werthschulte - A clear course

2024-08-19 The 25-year-old consultant studied Business Administration at Leuphana College, completed the ‘Management & Sustainable Accounting and Finance’ Master's programme at the Graduate School and is now doing his doctorate there while working. For the Stralsund native, commuting between academia and practice is a stroke of luck: ‘My employer RSM Ebner Stolz, Leuphana and I all benefit from this interlinking.’

©Leuphana/ Marvin Sokolis
‘I bring my expert knowledge from research into the auditing company,’ explains Niklas Werthschulte.

The topic of ‘sustainability reporting’ runs like a common thread through Niklas Werthschulte's studies and doctorate. In his bachelor's thesis, he already focussed on the effects of companies' CO2 performance on their financial performance. In his empirical work, he found: ‘The capital market penalises companies that do not act sustainably. Investors see more risks there.’ Niklas Werthschulte was honoured by the Leuphana Chair of Accounting, Auditing & Corporate Governance for his achievement in his final thesis.

This was a great motivation for the then recent Bachelor's graduate: ‘I realised that statistical work and academic writing suited me. That's why I decided early on to pursue a doctorate,’ reports Niklas Werthschulte. He stayed on course and completed the Master's programme in Management & Sustainable Accounting and Finance at the Graduate School: ‘I focussed my seminars, assignments and Master's thesis thematically on sustainability reporting,’ reports the doctoral student. He has remained loyal to his supervisor from his Bachelor's and Master's theses: Niklas Werthschulte is now also doing his doctorate under Prof Dr Patrick Velte, Professor of Business Administration, in particular Accounting, Auditing & Corporate Governance.

The doctoral student sees continuity as a major advantage: ‘I know the literature and have already applied many of the quantitative methods I am now using during my studies.’ A great help for the tightly scheduled doctoral programme: Niklas Werthschulte is doing his doctorate while working. He spends half a year at university and half a year at the auditing firm RSM Ebner Stolz. As a consultant in a young team, he supports companies in the preparation of sustainability reports and the expansion of the department for sustainability reporting and the auditing of sustainability reports. ‘A new EU directive now also requires certain large SMEs that are not capital market-orientated to report. The topic is becoming increasingly relevant and is politically explosive because more than 15,000 companies in Germany are subject to reporting and auditing requirements and the legislation is being drawn up with a significant delay. There have been many changes in the regulatory process,’ explains Niklas Werthschulte. The doctoral student is writing his doctoral thesis on the effects of the new requirement. He is analysing sustainability reports from stock 600 companies such as Volkswagen and Linde. Niklas Werthschulte wants to find out how much influence stakeholders have on companies' sustainability reporting.

The doctorate is scheduled to last four years: ‘For me, the interlinking of science and professional practice is a huge advantage, as I deal with sustainability reporting both scientifically and practically. I'm not only familiar with the theoretical level, but also know about the practical problems our clients face.’ Niklas Werthschulte's employer also benefits from the Consultant's doctorate: ‘I bring my expert knowledge from research into the auditing company,’ explains Niklas Werthschulte. Conversely, his employer gives him space for his academic work: ‘The workload is tailored to me.’

The doctoral student is currently working on his first two publications. However, Niklas Werthschulte sees his doctoral thesis not only as an academic challenge, but also as a personal added value: ‘A doctorate promotes perseverance, willingness to work and analytical skills.’