Follow-up report on the MetaFin symposium 2025

Follow-up report on the MetaFin symposium on 2 and 3 June 2025

The first MetaFin symposium took place at the University of Mannheim from 2 to 3 June 2025. MetaFin is a joint project that provides scientific support for a total of 28 individual and joint projects under the BMBF funding guideline ‘Research on Financial Education’. The meta-project is being carried out under the joint leadership of Prof. Dr. Carmela Aprea (University of Mannheim & MIFE) in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Tabea Bucher-Koenen (ZEW, University of Mannheim & MIFE) and Prof. Dr. Dirk Loerwald (Institute for Economic Education, IÖB).

The symposium brought together the projects covered by the funding guidelines for the first time. The aim was to stimulate scientific exchange between the projects and strengthen their networking. Around 120 participants took the opportunity to discuss their projects and broader issues in financial education research.

After a brief welcome by the MetaFin team, the Rector of the University of Mannheim, Prof. Dr. Thomas Fetzer, opened the conference with his welcoming address. Alexander Renner from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) then presented the funding guidelines. Prof. Dr. Carmela Aprea then presented the objectives of the MetaFin joint project and discussed the three areas of action: ‘networking,’ ‘science communication and transfer,’ and ‘accompanying research.’ In addition to other exchange formats, she highlighted the establishment of a new journal and the launch of the ClearingHouse Finanzbildungsforschung (CHF).

In his keynote speech entitled ‘Implementation of Financial Education in Schools: Evidence from Randomised Controlled Trials’, Prof. Dr. Kristof De Witte from KU Leuven highlighted the possibilities of introducing financial education programmes in schools. He particularly emphasised the importance of scientific evidence in implementing financial education programmes that effectively promote financial literacy and behaviour among schoolchildren.

The keynote speech was followed by short project pitches presenting the individual and joint projects covered by the funding guideline. This was followed by an interactive poster exhibition, which gave participants the opportunity to discuss the content, objectives and methodological approaches of their projects in greater depth.

At the end of the first day of the conference, Prof. Dr. Tabea Bucher-Koenen gave a summary overview of the projects covered by the funding guidelines. In particular, she highlighted the large number of scientific disciplines involved and demonstrated the wide range of topics and methodological approaches covered by the projects.

The second day of the conference began with an informative presentation on research data management, organised by the partner organisations KonsortSWD, Qualiservice Data Sharing, Qualidata Network and VerbundFDB. This was followed by an interactive workshop, also run by these organisations. In four working groups, participants exchanged ideas on the topics of ‘good research documentation’, ‘data protection’ and ‘copyright’.

This was followed by a keynote speech by Prof. Dr. Gergana Vladova from Humboldt University in Berlin on the topic of interdisciplinary research, entitled ‘Research beyond boundaries – between the allure and confusion of interdisciplinary research’. In her speech, she addressed the various facets and requirements of interdisciplinary collaboration and demonstrated how it can be successfully organised.

The final item on the agenda, which tied in with the keynote speech, was a concluding panel discussion on the topic of ‘Multidisciplinarity: Seizing Opportunities, Overcoming Challenges’. The discussion was attended by Prof. Dr. Karin Aschenbrücker (University of Augsburg), Jun.-Prof. Dr. Anja Bonfig (PH Schwäbisch Gmünd), Prof. Dr. Thomas König (University of Mannheim) and Prof. Dr. Gergana Vladova (Humboldt University of Berlin) took part in the discussion. The panel was moderated by Prof. Dr. Dirk Loerwald (IÖB).

At the end of the event, the MetaFin team provided an overview of the next steps and planned activities.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to all contributors and participants for the exciting insights, valuable ideas and stimulating discussions!