This dissertation deals with the opportunities and restrictions that parties face in an election campaign at the supranational level of the EU. Using communication science concepts of agenda-setting (focus: media) and agenda-building (focus: political parties), the first part of the study is based on the election campaign for the European Parliament (EP) in 2014. It analyses to what extent political parties put the EU on the agenda. Second, it is examined whether parties have used their structural advantage of being able to influence the media agenda at the supranational level during the election campaign in the context of the EP election campaign. Third, it is examined whether parties can gain an advantage for the visibility of their campaigns by rejecting EU integration and the associated conflictual communication. Fourth and final, it will be explored whether agenda-building can influence the rankings of specific policy issues on the media agenda in the European context. First, the analyses show that a European political focus of election campaign communication can no longer be found only on the part of the small (eurosceptic) parties. Second, parties have a good chance of being present in media coverage if the they pursue a European political focus in their campaign communication. Third, a negative tone in party communication turns out not to be decisive for the parties' visibility in the election campaign. Fourth, a clear positioning on political issues also prepares parties for restrictions of the further development of a European thematic agenda. After a discussion of these results, the paper concludes with an assessment of the analysis limitations and an outlook on further research approaches.

Sustainable water management requires methods for assessing ecological stream quality. Many years of limnological research are needed to provide a basis for developing such methods. However, research of this kind is still lacking in Turkey. Therefore, the aim of this doctoral thesis was to provide basic research in the field of aquatic ecology and to present methods for the assessment of ecological stream quality based on benthic invertebrates. For this purpose, I selected 17 tributaries of the Euphrates with a similar typology/water order and varying levels of pollution or not affected by pollution at all. The characterisation of the natural mountain streams was the first important step in the analysis of ecological quality. Based on community indices, I found that the five selected streams had a very good ecological status. I also compared the different biological indications, collected on two occasions ¬– once in spring (May) and once in autumn (September) – to determine the optimal sampling time. The macroinvertebrate composition differed considerably between the two seasons, with the number of taxa and Shannon index being significantly higher in autumn than in spring. In the final step, I examined the basal resources of the macroinvertebrates in the reference streams with an isotope analysis. I found that FPOM and biofilm were the most relevant basal resources of benthic invertebrates. Subsequently, based on the similarity of their community structures, I divided the 17 streams into three quality classes, supported by four community indices (EPT [%], EPTCBO [%], number of individuals, evenness). In this process, 23 taxa were identified as indicators for the three quality classes. In the next step, I presented two new or adapted indices for the assessment of quality class. Firstly, I adapted the Hindu Kush-Himalaya biotic index to the catchment area of the Euphrates and created a new, ecoregion-specific score list (Euph-Scores) for 93 taxa. The weighted ASPT values, which were renamed the Euphrates Biotic Score (EUPHbios) in this study, showed sharper differentiations of quality classes compared to the other considered ASPT values. Thus, this modified index has proved to be very effective and easy to implement in practical applications. As a second biological index, I suggested the proportion of habitat specialists. To calculate this index, the habitat preferences of the 20 most common benthic invertebrates were identified using the new habitat score. The proportion of habitat specialists differed significantly among the three quality classes with higher values in natural streams than in polluted streams. The methods and results presented in this doctoral thesis can be used in a multi-metric index for a Turkish assessment programme.

Groundwater is essential for the provision of drinking water in many areas around the world. The ecosystem services provided by groundwater-related organisms are crucial for the quality of groundwater-bearing aquifers. Therefore, if remediation of contaminated groundwater is necessary, the remediation method has to be carefully selected to avoid risk-risk trade-offs that might impact these valuable ecosystems. In the present thesis, the ecotoxicity of the in situ remediation agent Carbo-Iron (a composite of zero valent nano-iron and active carbon) was investigated, an estimation of its environmental risk was performed, and the risk and benefit of a groundwater remediation with Carbo-Iron were comprehensively analysed. At the beginning of the work on the present thesis, a sound assessment of the environmental risks of nanomaterials was impeded by a lack of guidance documents, resulting in many uncertainties on selection of suitable test methods and a low comparability of test results from different studies with similar nanomaterials. The reasons for the low comparability were based on methodological aspects of the testing procedures before and during the toxicity testing. Therefore, decision trees were developed as a tool to systematically decide on ecotoxicity test procedures for nanomaterials. Potential effects of Carbo-Iron on embryonic, juvenile and adult life stages of zebrafish (Danio rerio) and the amphipod Hyalella azteca were investigated in acute and chronic tests. These tests were based on existing OECD and EPA test guidelines (OECD, 1992a, 2013a, 2013b; US EPA, 2000) to facilitate the use of the obtained effect data in the risk assessment. Additionally, the uptake of particles into the test organisms was investigated using microscopic methods. In zebrafish embryos, effects of Carbo-Iron on gene expression were investigated. The obtained ecotoxicity data were complemented by studies with the waterflea Daphnia magna, the algae Scenedesmus vacuolatus, larvae of the insect species Chironomus riparius and nitrifying soil microorganisms. In the fish embryo test, no passage of Carbo-Iron particles into the perivitelline space or the embryo was observed. In D. rerio and H. azteca, Carbo-Iron was detected in the gut at the end of exposure, but no passage into the surrounding tissue was detected. Carbo-Iron had no significant effect on soil microorganisms and on survival and growth of fish. However, it had significant effects on the growth, feeding rate and reproduction of H. azteca and on survival and reproduction in D. magna. Additionally, the development rate of C. riparius and the cell volume of S. vacuolatus were negatively influenced. A predicted no effect concentration of 0.1 mg/L was derived from the ecotoxicity studies based on the no-effect level determined in the reproduction test with D. magna and an assessment factor of 10. It was compared to measured and modelled environmental concentrations for Carbo-Iron after application to an aquifer contaminated with chlorohydrocarbons in a field study. Based on these concentrations, risk quotients were derived. Additionally, the overall environmental risk before and after Carbo-Iron application was assessed to verify whether the chances for a risk-risk trade-off by the remediation of the contaminated site could be minimized. With the data used in the present study, a reduced environmental risk was identified after the application of Carbo-Iron. Thus, the benefit of remediation with Carbo-Iron outweighs potential negative effects on the environment.

While the existing literature on cooperative R&D projects between firms and public research institutes (PRI) has made valuable contributions by examining various factors and their influence on different outcome measures, there has been no investigation of cooperative R&D project success between firms and PRI from a product competitive advantage perspective. However, insights into the development of a meaningful and superior product (i.e., product competitive advantage) are particularly important in the context of cooperative R&D projects between PRI and (mainly small and medium-sized) firms in the biotechnology industry in response to increasing competition to raise capital funds necessary for survival. The objectives of this thesis are: (1) to elaborate the theoretical foundations which explain the achievement of a product competitive advantage in cooperative R&D projects between biotechnology firms and PRI, (2) to identify and empirically evaluate the determining factors for achieving a product competitive advantage in cooperative R&D projects between biotechnology firms and PRI, and (3) to show how cooperative R&D projects between biotechnology firms and PRI should be designed and executed to support the achievement of a product competitive advantage. To accomplish these objectives, a model of determinants of product competitive advantage in cooperative R&D projects between biotechnology firms and PRI is developed by drawing from the theoretical foundations of resource-based theory and information-processing theory. The model is evaluated using data from 517 questionnaires on cooperative R&D projects between at least one biotechnology firm and one PRI. The data are analyzed using variance-based structural equation modeling (i.e., PLS-SEM) in order to conduct hypotheses testing. The evaluation of the empirical data includes an additional mediation analysis and the comparison of effects in subsamples. The results demonstrate the importance of available resources and skills, as well as the proficient execution of marketing-related and technical activities for the achievement of a product competitive advantage in cooperative R&D projects between biotechnology firms and PRI. By identifying project-related and process-related factors affecting product competitive advantage and empirically testing their relationships, the research findings should be valuable for both researchers and practitioners. After discussing contributions and implications for research and practice, the present thesis concludes with limitations and avenues for future research.

Previous research revealed that teachers hold beliefs about gifted students combining high intellectual ability with deficits in non-cognitive domains, outlined in the so-called disharmony hypothesis. Since teachers’ beliefs about giftedness can influence which students they identify as gifted, the empirical investigation of beliefs is of great practical relevance. This dissertation comprises three research articles that investigated teacher beliefs about gifted students’ characteristics in samples of pre-service teachers using an experimental vignette approach. Chapter I starts with a general introduction into beliefs, and presents the research aims of the present dissertation. The first article (Chapter II) focused on the interaction of beliefs about giftedness and gender in a sample of Australian pre-service teachers and tested if social desirability occurred when using the vignette design. Beside evidence for beliefs in line with the disharmony hypothesis, results revealed typical gender stereotypes. However, beliefs about giftedness appeared not to be gender specific and thus, to be similar for gifted girls and boys. The vignette approach was found to be an adequate design for assessing teacher beliefs. The second article (Chapter III) investigated teacher beliefs and their relationship to motivational orientations for teaching gifted students in a cross-country sample of German and Australian pre-service teachers. Motivational orientations comprise cognitive components (self-efficacy) and affective components (enthusiasm). Findings revealed beliefs in the sense of the disharmony hypothesis for pre-service teachers from both countries. Giftedness when paired with beliefs about high maladjustment was found to be negatively related to teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching gifted students. The third article (Chapter IV) examined the role of teachers’ belief in a just world for the formation of beliefs using a sample of Belgian pre-service teachers. It was found that the stronger pre-service teachers’ belief in a just world was, the more they perceived gifted students’ high intellectual ability as unfair and thus, neutralized that injustice by de-evaluating students’ non-cognitive abilities. In a general discussion (Chapter V), findings of the three articles are combined and reflected. Taken together, the present dissertation showed that teacher beliefs about gifted students’ characteristics are not gender specific, generalizable over countries, negatively related to teacher motivation and can be driven by fairness beliefs.