We are beyond proud to share that our Post-Doc Dr. Johanna Zimmermann has been awarded the "Kulturpreis Bayern 2024" in the category of Science!
Johanna received this prestigious honor for her innovative doctoral thesis. Her work sheds light on one of today's most critical topics: how companies handle consumer data and the challenges and opportunities this creates.
Johanna's doctoral thesis from the University of Passau has won over the jury. On Thursday, 14th November 2024, the Bayernwerk AG honored the winners of the Bavarian Culture Prize for the 20th time. Johanna Zimmermann was honored in the science category at the anniversary event of the Bavarian Culture Prize at the Showpalast in Munich. Johanna received the prize for her doctoral thesis in economics with a focus on marketing at the University of Passau. A total of 33 graduates and doctoral students from Bavarian colleges, universities and art colleges accepted the prize, which is awarded by Bayernwerk in close partnership with the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts.
Sharing data does not have to have negative connotations
In the modern world, personal data has become an indispensable resource for companies to generate competitive advantages. Efforts to collect more and more data are therefore on the increase. As a result of increasing requests, consumers are becoming more aware and concerned about the disclosure of their data. In her doctoral thesis, Johanna Zimmermann argues that while these growing concerns pose challenges for companies, they also open up new opportunities for them to make data sharing more customer-friendly and improve the relationship with their customers. In her work, she views each data disclosure situation as a separate “consumer privacy journey”, which is divided into three phases: the invitation to disclose data, the process in which the data is released and the subsequent evaluation of the transmitted data. The result: the invitation to disclose data in particular is an effective means of influencing privacy-related decision-making and evaluation processes. “My work shows that data protection and data disclosure do not necessarily have to have negative connotations. On the contrary: they can be viewed positively if all those involved engage intensively with their design,” explains Johanna Zimmermann.
The Bavarian Culture Prize goes back to the East Bavarian Culture Prize, which was first awarded by Bayernwerk in 1959. Bayernwerk has been awarding the Bavarian Culture Prize in partnership with the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts since 2005. The winners in the art category are selected by a jury of experts, while the scientists are nominated by their respective college, university or art academy. The prizes in the art category are endowed with 10,000 euros each, the science prize with 3,000 euros each. In addition to the prize money, all prize winners receive a “flash of inspiration”. The bronze statue so named was designed by Schwandorf sculptor Peter Mayer.
If you missed the program, you can watch it at https://bayernwerk-live.de/kulturpreis-bayern/. The profiles of all the science prize winners can also be found there.
