Congratulations to all graduates of the 2025/26 academic year!

Tanja Brieden, Yuan Chen, Matthias Reiner, and Zhou Ren successfully defended their PhD theses.

Tanja Brieden: „Essays on Bank Risk-Taking, Capital Structure, and Deposits“

Thesis Committee:

Christian Laux (WU)

Thomas Gehrig (University of Vienna)

Karin S. Thorburn (NHH Norwegian School of Economics)

Yuan Chen: „Three Essays in Financial Econometrics and Portfolio Optimization“

Thesis Committee:

Günter Strobl (University of Vienna)

Christian T. Brownlees (LUISS Guido Carli)

Richard Luger (Université Laval)

Matthias Reiner: „Learning from Asset Prices Around Climate and Monetary Policy Announcements“

Thesis Committee:

Christian Wagner (WU)

Tobin Hanspal (WU)

Maik Schmeling (Goethe University Frankfurt)

Zhou Ren: „Essays in Macro Finance and Firm Dynamics“

Thesis Committee:

Gyöngyi Lóránth (University of Vienna)

Christian Wagner (WU)

Diana Bonfim (ECB / Católica Lisbon)

Congratulations on completing their PhD studies and on their impressive career placements!

• Tanja Brieden joined the Oslo Business School at Oslo Metropolitan University as Associate Professor in Finance (tenure-track)
• Yuan Chen joined the New Economic School (NES) as Assistant Professor (tenure-track)
• Zhou Ren joined the Economics and Research Department at Banco de Portugal as a Research Economist
• Matthias Reiner joined NEOMA Business School as Assistant Professor

We will miss them all at VGSF and wish them the best for their future endeavors.