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BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION - 
BUSINESS PSYCHOLOGY

About the programme 
Language: English (See language requirements)  | Place of study: Aarhus  |  Commencement: August / September

Introduction

The MSc in Business Administration - Business Psychology addresses the increasing demand for business professionals with a deep understanding of psychology in a business context. It does so by adding a business psychology specialisation on top of a solid business foundation gained at the Bachelor’s degree level. It is a cross-disciplinary programme where students meet lecturers from management, economics and psychology. To ensure professional relevance, the programme has been developed in collaboration with professionals working in areas related to business psychology.

The MSc in Business Administration - Business Psychology prepares students to perform in contemporary HR and communication functions, as organisational and change consultants, in executive management support functions, or as project managers – both within the private and public sector.

Deep psychological understanding of modern businesses

Contemporary businesses are operating in highly competitive environments and are solving increasingly complex problems requiring cooperation within and across skill sets, functions and organisations. Work is more than ever performed in teams, responsibility is largely delegated, and organisations go through major changes at an increased frequency.

As a result, it is imperative for businesses to develop a profound understanding of human behaviour and psychology to sustain their performance, ensure employee well-being, effectively implement organisational changes and communicate within organisations as well as with external stakeholders, formulate strategies for altering behaviours, and foresee the consequences of delegation.

To fulfil these needs, the first two semesters provide students with knowledge of the psychological and behavioural foundations of decision-making, communication, stakeholder relations, and moral judgement, as well as workplace psychology, behavioural design, and methods and tools relevant to business psychology. Each course in the programme is cross-disciplinary by design.

In their third semester, students are free to choose between elective subjects or an internship. Finally, students use their fourth semester to write their Master’s thesis.

Business Administration - Business Psychology Lise from Lego Group and Martin from CAND explains why there is a need for graduates from this degree programme.

Admission requirements

Bachelor's degrees with direct admission

Students that hold a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration (BA i Erhvervsøkonomi med tilvalg) or a BSc in Economics and Business Administration (HA) from Aarhus University can pursue direct admission to the MSc in Social Sciences in Business Administration after they complete their Bachelor’s degree programme.

Students that hold a degree from another university

If you hold a degree from another university, your qualifications will be assessed once you have applied for admission. The assessment will prioritize the sufficient content of the following subjects and ECTS-points:    

Subject

ECTS

Methods, including statistics and IT*    

15 ECTS

Marketing

7,5 ECTS

Finance

7,5 ECTS

Accounting

7,5 ECTS

Organisation- and Leadership Theory    

7,5 ECTS

Microeconomics og Macroeconomics (both subjects must be included)

10 ECTS

Additional ECTS points within the above mentioned areas

25 ECTS

Total ECTS within Economics and Business Administration

80 ECTS

* Methods may include, for instance, qualitative and quantitative methods as well as philosophy of science. IT and statistics must be covered explicitly.

Furthermore, applicants for the two-track specialisation on the Business Administration programme must previously have completed a Bachelor’s supplementary subject within one of the subjects taught at upper-secondary school level.

Download appendix for your application

If you apply for admission with an international Bachelor's degree, you must fill in this appendix and upload it in the application portal. The appendix serves to help the Admission Board assess your Bachelor's degree in regard to the admission requirements. 

Download appendix

Language requirements

As English is the language of instruction in all subjects, all applicants are required to provide evidence of their English language proficiency.
Please see the page on language requirements.

Restricted admission from 2025

As from the intake 2025, the Master’s degree programmes in Business Administration (cand.merc.) only admits a limited number of students each year. Therefore, meeting the admission requirements does not in itself guarantee admission to the programme. 

Please note that special rules regarding supplementary Bachelor’s courses apply for programmes with restricted admission. Therefore, we no longer offer pre-assessments for the programme in Economics and Business Administration (cand.soc.).

Read more about supplementary Bachelor’s courses.

Selection criteria

Business Administration, Business Administration with a Master’s supplementary, and Business Psychology

The following criteria are emphasised in the selection process:

  • average mark (i.e. GPA) of the Bachelor’s degree (75%)*.
  • the number of relevant courses (measured in ECTS) included in the Bachelor's degree courses (25%) in addition to the ECTS included in the admission requirements**.

*Please note that marks/grades obtained after the application deadline will not be included in the GPA.

** Relevant courses are courses in Organisation- and Leadership Theory. Please note that the relevant courses must be passed at the application deadline to be included in the application. See schematic overview below.

Subject:

Programme:

Organisation- and Leadership Theory

Business Administration, Business Administration with a Master’s supplementary, Business Psychology

The courses are assessed based on the following point system: 1 point per additional ECTS in courses relevant to the programme applied for. For example, if you have 10 ECTS in a relevant subject area where the admission requirement is 7.5 ECTS, you get 2.5 points.

Business Innovation

For Business Innovation the selection of candidates from among qualified applicants will be performed on the background of interviews. Applicants must upload a CV with the application that describes relevant previous experience. Applicants with a legal right of admission must also upload their CVs in case it becomes necessary to prioritise among such applicants. During the interviews, applicants will be asked to explain why they believe their previous academic qualifications and other relevant experience qualify them for admission.

Programme structure

Academic regulations

 


The degree programme consists of two semesters in the first year which cover the compulsory courses in the programme specialisation and two semesters in the last year which are reserved for the student's own specialisation.

In the third semester you can choose elective courses within your areas of interest. The courses can either be taken at Aarhus BSS during the semester, at the Summer University or at one of our more than 300 partner universities abroad. You can also participate in project-based internship programmes either in Denmark or abroad.

The fourth semester is devoted to the final thesis. You may choose the topic of the thesis freely and so get a chance to concentrate on and specialise in a specific field of interest. The thesis may be written in collaboration with another student or it may be the result of your individual effort. 

Description of courses

Judgement and Decision-Making: What is the nature of judgement and decision-making? This course is a combination of economics and psychology in which we investigate what happens in social settings and markets when agents with human limitations interact. The standard economic model provides a benchmark for analysing judgement and decision-making. Then, we explore the ways that humans deviate from this model and discuss main decision-making theories that describe and analyse these deviations. Theories and concepts will be showcased with real-world examples and case studies. We will also contrast individual decision-making with decision-making in groups. Throughout the course, we will illustrate how insights from economics and psychology can often be used to improve decision-making.

Workplace Psychology: Workplace psychology revolves around areas such as creating employee well-being, motivation and preventing stress and absenteeism. It is a high-profile focus area in many organisations. Knowledge about the fundamental principles of psychosocial work environments, people management and HRM is vital for ensuring that different organisational practices support employee well-being and motivation. This course addresses issues and challenges related to ensuring employee well-being and motivation from interpersonal, group, managerial and organisational perspectives and points toward preventive organisational and management practices.

Organisational Theory: This course will enable students to understand organisations as the unit of analysis in the context of both design (structure) and emergence (behaviour) at the intersection between individuals in the organisation and the environment in which the organisation operates. Using theoretical inspiration from a number of interrelated fields such as (social) psychology, sociology, economics, ethnography and philosophy, this course presents a vast number of theories, models and terms suited for analysing organisations. These approaches are organised in a number of metaphors, which each sets the framework for some traditional and modern takes on organisations.

Communication Psychology: This course focuses on employee relations across the entire organisation, both vertically and horizontally, and how these relations can be established, maintained and developed in order to ensure benefit for the organisation. From interpersonal and organisational perspectives, the aim of the course is to enable students to understand and assess the important role of communication psychology in establishing and maintaining employee relations in public and private organisations, and to include principles of communication psychology in the identification, facilitation and solution of contemporary organisational challenges.

Organisational Interventions: This course provides students with advanced insights into different approaches to interventions. The purpose of the course is to qualify the student to understand different intervention theories, facilitate and manage intervention processes, and develop intervention solutions in organisational contexts. Throughout the course, the student will work hands-on with applying the different intervention models and processes to specific cases, allowing the students to have well-argued discussions, make thoroughly thought-out decisions and develop advanced solutions.

Business Psychology Methods: The purpose of the course is to provide students with knowledge of commonly used research methods and tools within the field of business psychology. The course focuses primarily on the application of the methods to relevant cases and data sets as well as on the generation and communication of insights derived from data analysis.    

Student life

Learning in an International Context

At Aarhus BSS, we conduct research at the highest academic level.

All researchers employed are engaged in research projects covering a wide range of different subjects and focusing on knowledge and skills considered essential for professional business activities in the global marketplace. All faculty have both research and teaching responsibilities, which means that our teaching is continually based on the latest research results.

Aarhus BSS is very internationally oriented. The broad scope of our research activities and educational programmes enable us to attract researchers, teachers, and students from all over the world, and this creates an international environment for research and learning in which academic views are exchanged, experiences are gathered and friendships are formed.

Aarhus University is a leading university in Denmark in building student exchange opportunities. The university encourages all students to spend time studying abroad. Every year, more than 700 students from Aarhus BSS go abroad to participate in exchange programmes around the world at our more than 300 partner universities. About the same number of students from all over the world come to participate in the exchange programme in Aarhus, and this contributes to a truly international learning atmosphere.

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Career

The MSc in Business Administration - Business Psychology prepares the students to perform in contemporary HR and communication functions, as organisational and change consultants, in executive management support functions, or as project managers – both within the private and public sector.