Note: This course succeeds and replaces the prior course on "Research methods in computer science".The goals of this course are:to make students aware of the paradigm of design science research,to contrast design science with other research paradigms, andto discuss and train all the methodological  aspects of research projects guided by design science research.

The lecture is a combination of classical lecture (presentation by lecturers) and active involvement of the students through assignments, reflection,  and discussions.Finally, the students have to prepare a brief project proposal and defend it in class.

Design Science is a rather new paradigm, which fits constructive sciences (like engineering, computer science, etc.) better than the traditional research  paradigms of natural sciences or behavioral sciences resp. arts and humanities, since it positions the creation of novel artifacts within a given context in the center of attention.The students are trained in doing literature work, in particular in the dissection of papers to identify research goals, claims, and methods used, such that students gain a reflected insight into the research methods and practices in their very particular area of research. Furthermore, the planning of projects, the formulation of research goals and the writing of research proposals is actively trained. A particular feature of this lecture is that we work with literature, which is relevant in the research area of each student, and analyze this literature from a usually novel, i.e., methodological angle.Additionally, a wealth of research methods is presented and discussed in the context of design science research with a particular focus of relating research goals with the methods which can be applied to reach these goals and to evaluate results. However, the course does not train a particular (set of) research methods.

Successfully graduated from a master program.

Admission to a PhD program

(Textbook:) Roel J. Wieringa: Design Science Methodology for Information Systems and Software Engineering. Springer Verlag, 2014.Creswell, J.W. (2009). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Method Approaches.SAGE.Johannesson, P.; Perjons E.(2014). An Introduction to Design Science, Springer Verlag.Kumar, R. (2005). Research methodology – A step-by-step guide for beginners.Liles, D.; Johnson, M.; Meade, L.; Underdown, D. (1995). Enterprise Engineering: A discipline?, Society for Enterprise Engineering (SEE) Conference, Orlando, FL, USA.Olivier, M.S. (2009). Information Technology Research.Vishnavi, V.K.; Kuechler W. (2015). Design Science Research Methods and Patterns. CRC Press.

Assessment of written reports and presentations.

Four assignments:Selection of 10 scientific papers (in each student's specific research field)Evaluation and presentation of the research goals in the papersEvaluation and presentation of the research methods in the papersCreation and presentation of a research proposal

Quality of the solutions, written reports, and presentations.