“We need unconventional ideas”

What would you like to highlight from the past year?

I think there’s a lot to highlight from 2017. For example the image analysis that we conducted in the spring, which showed that a third of our stakeholders already know the name Aarhus BSS. I was very pleasantly surprised by this. I’m also happy that the integration of the corporate communication part of BCOM into MGMT appears to be well underway. And that we have successfully completed the large relocation process, which has resulted in better classrooms and study environments for our students.

The year also brought a visit from both the AMBA and EQUIS panels, and both visits were good and constructive experiences. I’m very happy that Aarhus BSS now has a five-year AMBA accreditation. The accreditation is an important recognition of our continuing education programmes. Of course this applies primarily to the MBA programme, but the quality of our other continuing education offers is of a similar calibre. I’m also very pleased that Aarhus BSS has been awarded its first EQUIS accreditation covering the entire school. It’s a great recognition of our ambition to encompass both strong business and social sciences disciplines and of our efforts to promote degree programme and research collaborations in the interface section between business and social sciences, which we believe benefits our students and our stakeholders. 

This year, we’ve also boosted our business relations by appointing René Rohrbeck as Associate Dean of External Relations. René is already in the process of visiting companies and forming relations, so we’ll see a lot of activity in this area from now on.

What do you see as key tasks in 2018?

I’m very focused on increasing our external research funding at Aarhus BSS. We need to think beyond the Danish Finance Act and submit more grant applications - including applications for private foundations. There’s a lot of potential in doing this, especially if we can contribute with somewhat unconventional ideas that can help solve some of society’s problems. In 2017, we’ve spent a lot of time finding out how we can help our researchers at school and department level become better at securing the large and prestigious grants. It’s not easy, but we’ve had a good dialogue with the departments, and we’ll continue our work in 2018. Among other things, we’re planning to appoint a Research Committee which will assist researchers with major applications.

Collaboration and dialogue with our external relations will also continue to be a key focus area in 2018. In short, it’s important that Aarhus BSS keeps educating sought-after graduates who can land good jobs. That’s one of our most important criteria for success as a broadly based business school. Here I would also like to highlight our talented Advisory Board, who offers good and constructive criticism in relation to our degree programmes, and with whom we have a great dialogue. Because just as we listen to our surroundings, we also have our own opinion on what’s going on in the world. And a lot of good things come from that dialogue.

Do you have any final words for the employees?

First of all, I’d like to thank all of our employees for a great year here at Aarhus BSS.

We’re actually very privileged; we have a lot of talented and dedicated employees, a lot of talented and committed students and a lot of young talent that we must cultivate and retain. But of course we shouldn’t just settle for the status quo. We must keep trying to do things better - and to make a difference to the world around us as well. As a business and social science school, part of our raison d' être is to contribute to solving some of the basic problems in society.