The Hochschule Niederrhein has reached a significant milestone in its doctoral programme: Dr Julia-Isabelle Heise is the first graduate to have completed her doctoral studies at the university in collaboration with the Doctoral College for Applied Research in North Rhine-Westphalia (PK NRW). In her doctoral thesis, entitled ‘Governance and User Orientation in Public Sector Accounting’, she examined transparency and governance in public sector accounting.
Her research centred on the question of which factors, incentives and interests shape the design of accounting in the public sector. In particular, she focused on the stakeholders involved and their influence on the development of accounting standards. Her findings show that public sector accounting follows similar mechanisms to those of corporate accounting. Both areas are significantly influenced by institutional structures, differing interests and control mechanisms.
Her doctoral thesis was supervised by Prof. Dr Marius Gros from the Hochschule Niederrhein, Prof. Dr Martin Stawinoga from the Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences and Prof. Dr Lilia Pasch from the Cologne University of Applied Sciences. Prof. Dr Marius Gros and Prof. Dr Patrick Velte from Leuphana University Lüneburg acted as examiners.
A PhD as a path of professional and personal development
For Dr Julia-Isabelle Heise, the path to a PhD initially arose rather by chance. Whilst working at Goethe University at the time, she happened to mention in conversation the possibility of pursuing a PhD after completing her Master’s degree. Just a few days later, she came across a job advertisement posted by Prof. Dr Marius Gros at the HSNR. The academic fit ultimately tipped the scales in favour of her submitting an application.
She experienced her PhD, undertaken in cooperation with the PK NRW, as a participatory process. As a member of the departmental council and deputy PhD student representative for the Business and Markets department, she played an active role in the further development of the doctoral programme. “My PhD was an intense, challenging and, at the same time, very enriching journey. Above all, however, it was a time during which I surpassed myself both professionally and personally and repeatedly stepped outside my comfort zone,” says Dr Julia-Isabelle Heise.
She particularly values the semi-structured doctoral programme, which provides a reliable framework for continuing education whilst leaving scope for professional and personal growth. She also received support from The Hochschule Niederrhein throughout her doctoral studies.
Heise now works at the accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). She says she benefits from her PhD not only through the specialist knowledge she has acquired, but also through the personal and interdisciplinary skills she developed whilst undertaking her doctoral studies.
Pursuing a PhD at Universities of Applied Sciences
The NRW Doctoral College was founded in 2020 as an inter-university research institution of the Universities of Applied Sciences (HAW) in North Rhine-Westphalia. In November 2022, following an assessment by the German Science Council, it was granted independent doctoral degree-awarding powers. This enables the PK NRW to conduct doctoral programmes and award doctoral degrees itself. The Hochschule Niederrhein is one of the 19 partner universities of the programme.
The PK NRW offers structured doctoral programmes and training opportunities in the field of applied research. In addition to independent doctoral programmes, it continues to support collaborative doctoral programmes in which professors from universities of applied sciences and research universities jointly supervise doctoral candidates.
Further information on the NRW Doctoral College is available at: https://www.pknrw.de/
