The Aarhus University School of Business and Social Sciences (in short Aarhus BSS) is one of four faculties of

Aarhus University Aarhus University (, abbreviated AU) is a public research university. Its main campus is located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Group, the Guild, and Ut ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. The school consists of seven departments: Economics and Business Economics,

Management Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a Government agency, government bodies through business administration, Nonprofit studies, nonprofit management, or the political s ...

, Political Science, Law, Business Communication, Psychology and Behavioural Sciences and Department of Business Development and Technology (located in the city of

Herning Herning () is a Denmark, Danish town in the Central Denmark Region of the Jutland peninsula. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Herning Municipality. Herning has a population of 51,782 (1 January 2025)

). The main campus is located in

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

. Aarhus BSS is a merger from 2007 and teaches programmes at Bachelor's, Master and PhD level along with the MBA (

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

), EMBA (Executive MBA) programmes and Summer University and Winter school courses. In 2010 Dale T. Mortensen, a Niels Bohr Visiting professor at Aarhus University, received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences together with his colleagues Peter Diamond and Christopher Pissarides.

History

The history of the Aarhus BSS is both old and new. On 1 January 2007, Aarhus School of Business (Danish: ''Handelshøjskolen''; ASB) merged into Aarhus University. In 2011, the Aarhus School of Business and the Faculty of Social Sciences at Aarhus University were merged under the name of Aarhus University, School of Business and Social Sciences. Aarhus School of Business had been founded in 1939, and the Faculty of Social Sciences consisted of several departments and faculties established between 1936 and 1969. The 2011 merger made Aarhus BSS one of the largest business schools in Europe. The Aarhus School of Business's predecessor, The Jutland Business School (Danish: ''Den Jyske Handelshøjskole''; DJH), has a somewhat more extensive history. Already in the late 1800s, DJH provided business programmes to young people from Jutland who wished to follow studies within business, economics and trade. The Aarhus School of Business continually grew since its founding. In 1968 Aarhus School of Business moved from the original location downtown Aarhus to the yellow and red brick buildings which house the Aarhus School of Business today. Thomas Pallesen is Dean of Aarhus BSS. The school's Executive Team is formed by the Dean, the Vice-Dean for research and talent development, Per Baltzer Overgaard and the Vice-Dean for education, Peder Østergaard.

Campus and student life

The School of Business and Social Sciences has its main campus around University Park, the Nobel Park, and campus Fuglesangs Allé, all located in the centre of Aarhus. In 2006, the Institute of Business and Technology in Herning (now AU Herning) was merged with Aarhus University, adding Birk Centerpark in Herning to the campus sites of School of Business and Social Sciences. The campuses in Aarhus and Herning offer a number of facilities, including Aarhus University Sport (AUS) which hosts more than 16 different sports activities and Denmark's biggest Sports Day and Friday Bar, libraries on all campus sites, student organisations like Studenterlauget and the Student Council, and cafeterias and cafes like Dale's café, Aarhus Student House and Klubben. Accommodation at the university is possible in the University Park Dormitories.

Degree programmes

Bachelor's degree programmes

* Business Administration, BA soc. (taught in Danish) * Business Administration and Commercial Law (taught in Danish) * Business Development Engineer (BDE) - in Herning (taught in Danish) * Economics and Business Administration, BSc * Economics and Business Administration, BSc - in Herning * Economics and Business Administration, HA (taught in Danish) * Economics and Business Administration, HA - in Herning (taught in Danish) * Economics and Management (taught in Danish) * Global Management and Manufacturing - in Herning * Law (taught in Danish) * Political Science (taught in Danish) * Psychology (taught in Danish) * Public Policy (taught in Danish) * Social Science (taught in Danish)

MSc programmes in economics and business administration

* Business Intelligence * Business-to-Business Marketing and Purchasing * Commercial and Retail Management * Finance * Finance and International Business * Information Management * Innovation Management and Business Development * International Business * International Business Development - in Herning * International Economic Consulting * Management Accounting and Control * Marketing * Operations and Supply Chain Analytics * Strategic Communication * Strategy, Organisation and Leadership

Master's degree programmes in other programmes

* Business Economics and Auditing, MSc (taught in Danish - cand.merc.aud.) * Business Administration (taught in Danish - cand.soc.) * Business Administration and Commercial Law, MSc (taught in Danish - cand.merc.(jur.)) * Economics and Management * Information Technology - IT, Communication and Organisation, MSc (taught in Danish - cand.it) * Information Technology - IT, Communication and Organisation, MSc - in Herning (taught in Danish - cand.it) * Law (taught in Danish) * MSc in engineering in Technology Based Business Development - in Herning * Psychology (taught in Danish) * Political Science * Political Science (taught in Danish) * Quantitative Economics * Social Science (taught in Danish)

MBA programmes

School of Business and Social Sciences also teaches a one-year full-time MBA (Master in Business Administration) which integrates both sustainability and personal development into all courses. 25 applicants are admitted to the MBA programme every year. The school also offers a two-year Executive MBA in Change Management and Leadership aimed at experienced managers. During the programme, managers will go on study trips to Stanford University and a university in Asia.

PhD programmes

Graduate School of Business and Social Sciences offers the following seven PhD programmes: * Management * Business Development and Technology * Economics and Business Economics * Law * Political Science * Psychology and Behavioural Sciences * Social Science and Business All programmes, except Social Science and Business (3-year scheme) are available as 3-year, 4-year, and 5-year schemes.

Rankings

Aarhus BSS is currently (2016) ranked no. 79 in the

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

ranking of business schools as well as no. 68 in the Master in Management ranking.

is ranked no. 97 on the

Leiden Ranking The CWTS Leiden Ranking is an annual global university ranking based exclusively on bibliometric indicators. The rankings are compiled by the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (Dutch: ''Centrum voor Wetenschap en Technologische Studies'', ...

, no. 86 on National Taiwan University Ranking, no. 65 on Shanghai

Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong Universi ...

(ARWU), no. 117 on

QS World University Ranking The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with ''Times Hig ...

and no. 98 on

Times Higher Education World University Ranking The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'', often referred to as the THE Rankings, is the annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli Symon ...

Accreditations

Aarhus BSS holds the

EFMD The European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) is an international not-for-profit association based in Brussels. Europe's largest network association in the field of management development, it has over 890 member organizations from acade ...

(European Foundation for Management Development)

Equis The EFMD Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) is a business school accreditation managed by Brussels based EFMD. It provides accreditation for higher education institutions of management and business administration and is run by the European Fou ...

accreditation Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

, the

Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is an American professional and accreditation organization. It was founded as the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1916 to provide accreditation to busines ...

(AACSB) and the

Association of MBAs The Association of MBAs (AMBA) is a global organisation headquartered in London, UK. It was founded in 1967 with the primary objective of accrediting Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs. Roles Based in London, AMBA is one of t ...

(AMBA). This makes the school one of the few to have the so-called

Triple Crown accreditations Triple accreditation (also known as the triple crown) refers to a business school being accredited by all three leading international accreditation organizations: the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) in the US, the ...

. Aarhus BSS is a member of PRME, the UN-funded network consisting of business schools and universities which are all committed to integrating a number of principles for sustainability and social responsibility into their research and educational activities. So far, more than 300 institutions of higher education have joined the network.

Notable alumni

Aarhus BSS has a large network of alumni (former students) gathered in the network of AU Alumni, which aims at creating and maintaining relations between students, staff, faculty and alumni. Notable alumni:Note that all are graduates from bygone individual university institutes, prior to the 2007 merging. *

Anders Fogh Rasmussen Anders Fogh Rasmussen (; born 26 January 1953) is a Danish politician who was the prime minister of Denmark from November 2001 to April 2009 and the Secretary General of NATO, secretary general of NATO from August 2009 to October 2014. He became ...

, (MSc in economics 1978) Prime Minister of Denmark from 2001 until 2009. Secretary General of NATO from August 2009. *

Bjørn Lomborg Bjørn Lomborg (; born 6 January 1965) is a Danish political scientist, author, and the president of the think tank Copenhagen Consensus Center. He is the former director of the Danish government's Environmental Assessment Institute (EAI) in ...

, (MSc in political science 1991) Danish author, academic and environmentalist. *

Crown Prince Frederik Frederik X (Frederik André Henrik Christian, ; born 26 May 1968) is King of Denmark. He acceded to the throne following his mother's abdication in 2024. Frederik is the eldest son of Margrethe II and Prince Henrik. He was born during the ...

, (MSc in political science 1995) Crown Prince of Denmark. *

Dan Jørgensen Dan Jannik Jørgensen (; born 12 June 1975) is a Danish politician of the Social Democrats who has served as the European Commissioner for Energy and Housing since 2024. Within Danish politics, he most recently served as Minister for Development ...

, (MSc in political science) Danish politician. Member of the European Parliament since 2004. * Henrik Poulsen, (MSc in finance) CEO of DONG Energy and former CEO of TDC. *

Jan Beyer Schmidt-Sørensen Jan Beyer Schmidt-Sørensen (January 17, 1958) is a Danish economist and former Director of Business Development at Aarhus Municipality.

, (Ph.D. in economics in 1990) director of business development at

Aarhus Municipality Aarhus Municipality (), known as Århus Municipality () until 2011, is a ''Municipalities of Denmark, kommune'' in the Central Denmark Region, on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. The municipality covers an area of , and ...

and former rector of

Aarhus School of Business The Aarhus University School of Business and Social Sciences (in short Aarhus BSS) is one of four faculties of Aarhus University in Denmark. The school consists of seven departments: Economics and Business Economics, Management, Political Science ...

Jørgen Vig Knudstorp Jørgen Vig Knudstorp (born 21 November 1968) is a Danish businessman who is the current executive chairman of The Lego Group. He succeeded Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen as president and CEO of the company in October 2004, holding the position for over ...

, (MSc 1995, PhD in 1998 in economics) CEO of the Lego Group * Lars Rohde, (MSc in economics), from 2013 CEO of the Danish National Bank *

Queen Margrethe II Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is a member of the Danish royal family who reigned as Queen of Denmark from 14 January 1972 until her abdication on 14 January 2024. Having reigned for exactly 5 ...

of Denmark since 1972, studied political science in 1961–62. *

Søren Gade Søren Gade Jensen (born 27 January 1963) is a Danish politician who has been list of speakers of the Folketing, Speaker of the Folketing since November 2022, representing the Liberalism, Liberal party, Venstre (Denmark), Venstre. He was a Liberal ...

, (MSc in economics 1990) Danish politician, Minister of Defence and Member of the Danish Parliament. *

Svend Auken Svend Gunnarsen Auken (; 24 May 1943 – 4 August 2009) was a Danish politician. He represented the Social Democrats as a member of the Danish parliament (Folketinget) from 1971 until his death. He was married to journalist and editor Bettina H ...

, (MSc in political science 1969) Danish politician. Chairman of the Danish Social Democrats 1987–1992. *

Tøger Seidenfaden Tøger Seidenfaden (28 April 1957 – 27 January 2011) was a Danish journalist and political scientist, and, from 1993 until his death, editor-in-chief of the broadsheet newspaper ''Politiken''. His father, Erik Seidenfaden, was also a journali ...

, (MSc in political science 1983) Danish journalist. editor-in-chief at Politiken 1993–2011. *

Yildiz Akdogan Yildiz Akdogan (born 29 April 1973) is a Turkish-Danish politician, who was a member of the Folketing for the Social Democrats from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2014 to 2019. Along with Özlem Cekic, she was one of the first female immigrant poli ...

, (MSc in political science 2006) Danish politician, Member of the Danish Parliament since 2007. * Alexander Shenderyuk-Zhidkov, Russian politician, Senator since 2022, studied European Business and Law in 2004.

References

{{authority control

* Public universities Business schools in Denmark Universities and colleges established in 2007 2007 establishments in Denmark Universities and colleges established in 1928 1928 establishments in Denmark