Course Name: Research traditions in accounting
Time and place: Monday 4 May – Friday 8 May 2026, Aalto University, Otaniemi campus, Espoo (more detailed schedule will be fixed later depending on the instructors’ schedules).
Application deadline: 6th of March,2026
Learning goal and objectives: The course provides an overview of research traditions in accounting covering main areas of research in financial accounting, management accounting, auditing, and corporate governance. The course discusses how research is carried out in each of these areas, connecting ‘state-of-the-art’ overview of accounting research to different research approaches and strategies. The course starts with an introduction of the overall logic and challenges in the conduct of business studies.
Instruction and examination: Seminar type of lectures, in a five-day intensive format. Participants prepare for a course studying the readings indicated by each lecturer and answer the homework questions. Participants are expected to participate actively, and write an essay after the sessions.
Credits: 6 ECTS
Grading: Evaluation is based on participation in lectures, pre course assignments and an essay. Evaluation is Passed/failed.
Prerequisites: No prerequisites. Introductory course to accounting research.
Admittance: The maximum number of students is 25 and the participants will be selected on the basis of KATAJA’s general instructions. There is no course fee. However, each student is responsible for her/his travel expenses, accommodation and meals.
To apply, send your CV and an application with the following information to the course coordinator:
Name *
Email *
University *
Department *
Discipline *
Year when officially accepted as doctoral student *
Research area/ Subject of thesis *
Phase of doctoral studies *
Motives for participating in the course *
Please send the application in one pdf document with file name firstname_lastname_application
Application deadline: 6th of March,2026
Instructors: see the schedule below.
Day 1: Monday 4.5.
morning
Lasse Niemi, Aalto University, https://www.aalto.fi/en/department-of-accounting-business-law/lasse-niemi
Welcome
Overview of the course and getting started – how to do the course?
Causal Inference in observational accounting research
This lecture discusses challenges and various approaches for making causal inferences in accounting research.
afternoon
Kari Lukka, University of Turku, https://www.utu.fi/en/people/kari-lukka
Paradigms, theories and methodologies in conducting accounting research
This session discusses conduct of research and the role of theories at general level in accounting research.
Day 2: Tuesday 5.5.
Eduardo Schiehll, HEC Montréal, https://www.hec.ca/en/profs/eduardo.schiehll.html
Seppo Ikäheimo, Aalto University, https://www.aalto.fi/en/department-of-accounting-business-law/seppo-ikaheimo
Research traditions in corporate governance.
This whole day seminar discusses main research topics in the field of corporate governance.
Day 3: Wednesday 6.5
Kalle Kraus, Stockholm School of Economics, https://www.hhs.se/sv/persons/k/kraus-kalle/
Research traditions in management accounting
This whole day seminar discusses main areas in management accounting research.
Day 4: Thursday 7.5.
Juha-Pekka Kallunki, University of Oulu https://www.oulu.fi/university/researcher/juha-pekka-kallunki
Research traditions in financial accounting research
This whole day seminar discusses main areas in financial accounting research.
Day 5: Friday 8.5
Lasse Niemi, Aalto University, https://www.aalto.fi/en/department-of-accounting-business-law/lasse-niemi
Research traditions in auditing research
This whole day seminar discusses main areas in auditing research.
Admittance: Deadline for course applications: Friday 6th of March, 2026.
Course coordinator and contact information:
Anila Kiran
a.kiran2@aston.ac.uk
Lecturer (Assistant Professor)
Department of Accounting and Finance
Aston Business School, Birmingham UK