Programs that make you eligible to apply:

BBE

WISO 2019 & WIRE 2016

• BW

• IBW

• WINF

• Bachelor WIRE (Math recommended)

WISO 2023 & WIRE 2023

• BW

• IBW

• VW

• WINF

• BAWIRE (Math recommended)

• WUPOL

Prerequesites:

• BBE students: Business and Society, Foundations in Microeconomics, Quantitative Methods 1+2; or equivalent .

• WIRE students: STEOP & CBK: Intro BWL/ Betriebswirtschaft und digitale Ökonomie (BWDI), Intro VWL/Volkswirtschaftslehre und Zukunftsfähiges Wirtschaften; or equivalent

• All other students: STEOP & CBK: Intro BWL/ Betriebswirtschaft und digitale Ökonomie (BWDI), Intro VWL/Volkswirtschaftslehre und Zukunftsfähiges Wirtschaften, Math, Statistics; or equivalent

Step 1: Please register for "Access to Specialization in Data Sciences: Game Theory, Psychology and Data Analysis in @myWU"

Step 2: Apply via CANVAS by completing the application form and uploading your CV, your transcript, your GPA and your essay (300-500 words), and completing a questionnaire.

         The titles of your documents have to be as follows:

         lastname_firstname_studentIDnumber_CV

         lastname_firstname_studentIDnumber_transcript

         lastname_firstname_studentIDnumber_gpa

         lastname_firstname_studentIDnumber_essay

***All documents are required to be in English***

Step 3: You receive a notification via LPIS (after steps 1 and 2) if your application was successful.

Step 4: You will also receive an Acceptance Letter via email from Decision Sciences, which you MUST reply to via email whether you are accepting your spot or not, as any declined spaces will and must be offered to students on the waiting list. If you do not confirm your spot by replying to our email within the given deadline, you will lose your spot and we will offer it to someone on the waiting list. ***PLEASE NOTE: THIS STEP MAY CHANGE AS OF WS 2026/27***

Step 5: Once you have confirmed your space, you will need to register for at least one class from courses I, II and II. (you may register for all three classes at once).

We are currently admitting 50 students per semester. We receive between 150-200 applications each semester. 47 students are selected by the Decision Sciences team, 3 by the study service center in connection with the study progress quota (Studienfortschrittskontingent).

We select students based on a three criteria.

• The first criterion is the average grade of your three or four prerequisite classes (please see previous point to know which ones they are). This specialization is strongly based on statistics and mathematics, which is why it is important that students do well in these Steop and CBK classes.

• The second criterion is your overall GPA.

• The third criterion is a essay. We will ask you to describe how you would use strategic thinking (game theory), psychology, and data analysis to solve a certain problem. The specific topic is always published in CANVAS.

Please note: The Decision Sciences team has absolutely no say in who gets selected by the study service center - please do not email us if you get rejected by us but need to finish your studies. You must contact the study service center, and only the study service center, regarding this please.

What happens if I decline the offer to take the specialization?
If we accept you for the specialization and you decide not to take part in the upcoming semester, but you would like to take part in the following year, please note that you have to go through the entire application process again.

How is the specialization Decision Sciences structured?

The specialization consists of 5 courses in total, which you can enrol to during two enrolment phases:

Enrolment phase 1 - before the start of the semester for the 3 mandatory courses (these are offered in the first half of the semester). You can start with one, two or three of these classes. If you wish to start with one or two, it does not matter which one (.i.e. you could do course III only in your first semester).

• Game Theory I (Course I)

• Business Psychology I (Course II)

• Empirical Data Analysis (Course III)

Please note: We have spaces for everybody, but we cannot guarantee spaces in a particular class. If you wish to finish the specialization within one semester or two, you need to remain flexible within the course schedule (i.e. if you choose the morning or afternoon class).

Enrolment phase 2 - during the semester for the remaining 2 courses (these are offered in the second half of the semester):

• Game Theory II or Business Psychology II (Course IV)

• Project Course or Advanced Course (Course V)

In order to attend Game Theory II or Business Psychology II, you will only have to have completed, or just be doing, Game Theory I or Business Psychology I respectively. However, for course V, you will need to have completed, or just be doing, classes I, II and III. If you are currently doing courses I, II or III, it is not necessary for you already have the final grades in order to be eligible to enrol into classes IV and V.

Please note: If you wish to finish this specialization in a specific semester, please make sure that you are flexible regarding which class can be your course IV or V, as we cannot guarantee a spot in a specific class for you.

We do not require you to buy textbooks, but strongly recommend you install R (which is free).

Of those students who completed the specialization Decision Sciences, about 40% completed it within one semester, 40% within 2 semesters, and 15% within 3 semesters. Only 5% need 4 or more semesters.

The kick-off  takes place at the beginning of each semester. Attending this event is mandatory at the beginning of the first semester in our specialization.

This is a three hour event which will give you a chance to learn more about the contents of the courses, get to know the lecturers as well as the other students and ask questions if you have any.

The next kick-off takes place on Thursday, 1st October 2026, from 11am to 1.30pm in the D5 building, room D5.1.001.

• Please register for 1259 ET Access to Specialization in Data Sciences: Game Theory, Psychology and Data Analysis in @myWU from 27th August 2026 14:00 until 30th August 2026 23:59 and

• Apply via CANVAS from 27th August 14:00 until 3rd September 13:00 by completing the application form and uploading your CV, your transcript, your GPA and your essay.

• You will be informed by the 16th September 2026 if your application was successful.

• Enrolment phase 1 for courses I, II and III is open from 17th until 20th September 2026 in LPIS.

• Enrolment phase 2 for courses IV and V is open from 3rd until 5th November 2026 in LPIS. It is not necessary for you to have grades in courses I, II and III already in order to enrol to courses IV and V.