This seminar focuses on auction theory and its practical application in the field of purchasing. Auctions are a market mechanism for allocating goods based on fixed rules and determining a price based on bids submitted by market participants. We will begin by examining the theoretical foundations of auction theory and familiarising ourselves with the basic auction formats.

We will then move directly from conceptual understanding to practical implementation: a purchasing consultancy will present its approaches to evaluating the various auction formats in practice. First, the advantages and disadvantages of the different auction types will be presented in general terms. This will be followed by the presentation of real-life cases. Groups will then be formed, each of which will be assigned one of the cases. Each group devises an auction design and simultaneously participates as a bidder in another group's auction. A bidding strategy must be developed for this.

Attendance is compulsory for the seminar on the following dates (08:30 a.m.-10:00 a.m.):

16.04.26:      Introduction to Auction Theory 1

23.04.26:     Introduction to auction theory 2

30.04.26:     Introduction to auction theory 3

07.05.26:      Presentation Practice

21.05.26:      Scientific work 1

28.05.26:     Scientific work 2

16.07.26:      Block seminar with presentations (full day)

Participants in the seminar learn the theoretical basics of auction theory and its practical application in Procurement.

The accompanying exercise "Academic Writing" covers the formal and conceptual basics of writing an academic paper. The course thus prepares students for writing their Bachelor's thesis in terms of content and methodology.