Master's Degree Programme
| About the programme Language: English (See language requirements) | Place of study: Aarhus | Commencement: August / September (no winter intake) |
Finance and International Business (FIB) provides a deep understanding of how finance shapes firms, markets, and the global economy. By combining financial theory, data, and quantitative methods, the programme equips you to analyse complex business challenges in an interconnected world. You will learn to navigate market uncertainty, drive corporate value, and confidently evaluate the consequences of financial decisions.
Across the programme, you develop expertise in three closely connected areas.
You learn how firms create value through investment, financing, and governance. Analysing these dimensions involves exploring critical questions: Should a company invest in a new project? How much risk should it take on? How should value be distributed to shareholders? A central theme is how real-world frictions - including agency conflicts, asymmetric information, and imperfect markets - shape financial and strategic decisions. You also learn to identify, measure, and manage the resulting risks, including those arising from international operations.
You gain insight into international financial markets and the mechanisms that link economies around the world. You study international asset pricing, currency risk, and parity conditions, and examine how these factors affect prices and investment opportunities. This equips you to analyse multinational firms, evaluate global investment opportunities, and assess the financial consequences and risks of operating in an international economy.
Data analysis is central to the programme. You apply econometric methods, financial data analysis, and computational tools to study firms, markets, and international business decisions. These skills prepare you to evaluate empirical evidence, identify patterns in financial and economic data, and support data-driven decision-making in firms and financial markets.
In this section you can learn more about the admission requirements relevant to the master's degree programme in Finance and International Business. Depending on your educational background and your qualifications, there are different ways to meet the admission requirements:
This section is relevant for you, if you have:
The two sections listed below are relevant only for students with a bachelor's degree from a Danish institution:
Below these sections, you can learn more about the English language requirement. You can also find out which ranking criteria we use to assess your application when prioritizing among the submitted applications.
If you have an international educational background, you must meet both the general admission requirement and the specific admission requirements:
You must have a bachelor's degree or equivalent that is comparable to a Danish bachelor's degree in both level and duration (180 ECTS).
For more information about how your bachelor's degree is assessed, please see the national database.
If you meet the general admission requirement, the university will continue on to assess whether or not you meet the specific admission requirements.
You can be admitted to the master's programme if the university assesses that your education has a level, scope, and content that corresponds to the academic requirements specified below.
| Subject area | Number of ECTS |
Methods The following subject areas must be covered:
| 15 |
| Marketing | 7,5 |
| Finance | 7,5 |
| Accounting | 7,5 |
| Organisation and leadership theory | 7,5 |
| Microeconomics | 5 |
| Operations management | 5 |
| Additional ECTS points within the abovementioned areas | 20 |
| Bachelor’s project | 10 |
| Total | 85 |
| Applicants with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Commercial Law (HA (jur.)) with commencement of study September 2014 or later from Aarhus University must have passed a total of 10 ECTS within the business economics subjects below: |
|
Certain Professional Bachelor's degrees or similar covering specific subject areas from other Danish institutions have been determined to fullfill the admission requirements to this master's degree programme:
| Required subject areas – Professional Bachelor’s degree in Financial Management and Service from Business Academy Aarhus |
Industry specialisation in Accounting (“Programme specialisation subject A – external accounts” and “Study programme subject B – strategic accounting”) With the following electives:
|
Industry specialisation in Finansielle forretninger (this industry specialisation is only offered in Danish) With the following electives:
|
| Required subject areas - AP degree in Marketing Management in combination with a Professional Bachelor’s degree in International Sales and Marketing from Business Academy Aarhus | Number of ECTS |
| BSS module (including Methods 5 ECTS, Finance 5 ECTS, and Operations Management 5 ECTS) | 15 |
For applicants who hold one of the abovementioned professional bachelor's degrees from another business academy, it will be assessed whether the electives correspond to abovementioned electives.
For applicants who hold another professional bachelor's degree, the degree will be assessed according to the requirements described in the section “International and other qualifications”.
We cannot assess in advance whether your specific degree will meet the above requirements. Therefore, we recommend that you apply for the programme if you believe that you meet the academic requirements. In this regard, it is a good idea to compare your degree with the programmes that provide direct admission.
The following Bachelor's degree programme(s) from Aarhus University entitles you to an offer of admission to the Master's degree programme in Finance and International Business:
Please note that you must apply for admission to the Master's degree programme within three years of completing your Bachelor's degree programme.
Learn more about Legal right of admission.
Certain Bachelor's degree programmes from Aarhus University and various other Danish Universities have been determined to meet the admission requirements to this Master's degree programme in Finance and International Business:
* With a diploma older than 2010, your Bachelor’s degree will be assessed according to the specific admission requirements described under the section: “International and other qualifications”.
If you hold a Bachelor’s degree from a non-Danish university, you must complete the appendix below and upload it to the application portal. The appendix helps the academic assessors with the assessment of your application.
Download appendix
All Master’s degree programmes at Aarhus University have limited intake. This means that you are not guaranteed admission even if you meet the entry requirements. When we prioritize among applicants, we assess your application based on a set of fixed ranking criteria, which you can see below.
If you have a legal right of admission, you are guaranteed a place in the programme and do not need to consider the ranking criteria.
Ranking criteria:
* The relevant subject fields are evaluated based on the following point system: 1 point per additional ECTS within the relevant field. You can earn a maximum of 15 points in this criterion. Example: If you have 10 ECTS in a relevant field where the requirement is 7.5 ECTS, you will receive 2.5 points.
Please note that grades achieved after the application deadline are not included in the assessment.
In order to be admitted to this programme you must meet the university's English language requirements.
Students with bachelor's degree from Aarhus University with a so-called 'Legal right of admission' are exempt from the English language requirement.
Unfortunately, Aarhus University is not able to assess your qualifications beforehand. In order for your qualifications to be assessed you must apply for admission. To learn more, please go to Assessment of your qualifications.
ACADEMIC REGULATIONS
Below is an outline of the courses:
The study 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 first semester you follow the prerequisite courses that form the methodological and academic basis for the further study programme.
In the second semester you follow the specialisation courses of the programme.
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.
Contact Jorge Wolfgang Hansen (jh@econ.au.dk) if you have questions about the track or the individual courses.
Starting from 2028, it is planned that the MSc in Economics and Business Administration (cand. merc.) will be offered as both a 1-year and a 2-year Master's degree programme.
If you have a legal right of admission to this programme because you have a specific bachelor's degree from Aarhus University, we expect that your right of admission will apply to the 1-year programme.
When we know more about the new structure, we will provide updates on this page.
As a Finance and International Business (FIB) student, you become part of an active community alongside the academic programme. Students, alumni, faculty, and industry professionals meet regularly to exchange ideas, share knowledge, and build new connections.
Student life in the FIB programme is supported by the student organisation Finance and International Business Union (FIBU). FIBU creates an engaging environment for students and strengthens the connection between the academic programme and professional practice.
FIBU organises career events such as company presentations, networking sessions, and industry talks. These events give you first-hand insight into a range of careers and create opportunities to meet representatives from companies and organisations. Previous events have covered areas such as corporate finance, consulting, and risk management. By meeting professionals working in these fields, you can explore potential career paths, see how the knowledge and skills you develop during the programme are applied in practice, and grow your own network.
FIBU also hosts social events that bring students together outside the classroom. Through informal gatherings, dinners, and other activities, you get to know students across cohorts and can build lasting friendships.
In addition, FIBU represents students in dialogue with faculty and programme coordinators, giving students a voice in the continued development of the programme.
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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Finance and International Business (FIB) graduates build careers at the intersection of finance, strategy, and data-driven analysis. The programme prepares you for roles in which you analyse financial performance, manage risk, and support strategic decision-making.
Many graduates begin their careers in strategy, consulting, finance, or accounting, in roles such as strategy consultant, business analyst, financial analyst, or business controller. Others start as corporate finance analysts, market analysts, risk analysts, or in data-oriented roles involving financial, market, or commercial data.
FIB graduates work across many industries, not only in the financial sector. They build careers in industries such as professional services, energy and utilities, and retail and consumer goods. This reflects the core idea behind the programme: financial, analytical, and strategic thinking is valuable in any organisation that invests, competes internationally, and operates under uncertainty.
With experience, graduates often advance into senior specialist roles, such as corporate finance manager, senior risk specialist, or senior business controller, or move into leadership roles in finance, corporate development, strategy, or general management.
To further support these career opportunities, the programme is closely connected to the business community through its Advisory Board. The Board provides strategic insight and guidance to ensure the programme remains aligned with industry needs and future trends. It actively contributes to discussions on curriculum development, the design and content of core courses, and the integration of emerging technologies such as generative AI. The Board also advises on desired graduate competencies, employer practices, and the implications of forthcoming graduate reforms. Get inspired by the career paths of the current members of the Advisory Board for Finance and Finance and International Business.
These are the typical job categories that our graduates work in.
These are the typical industries that our graduates work in.
These analyses are based on Aarhus BSS graduates from 2015–2025 and were conducted in 2026. The information reflects the most recent job and industry identified at the time of the analysis. Data were gathered from publicly available sources and interpreted with the assistance of large language models. Although a sample of results was manually verified, the findings may involve incompleteness or classification uncertainty.
