Master's Degree Programme
| About the programme Language: English (See language requirements) | Place of study: Aarhus | Commencement: August / September (no winter intake) |
It is a time of transitions in the business community with increasing globalisation, sustainability efforts and digitalisation on the agenda. To act and contribute in tomorrow's emerging business community, skills related to strategy, organisational change and leadership are emphasised. These topics are in focus in this programme, which gives students relevant knowledge, skills, and competences for the future.
The MSc programme in Strategy, Organisation and Leadership (SOL) is a generalist degree programme that opens the door to a variety of jobs. The programme emphasises a holistic and cross-functional approach to organisations. The underlying assumption behind everything we teach our students is that humans are the biggest assets of any organisation, and that they lay the foundation for its success. We use classic as well as state-of-the-art research to convey knowledge on how to understand and work with challenges related to corporate and competitive strategy, organisational change, digitalisation, human development, performance and engagement.
Graduates from Strategy, Organisation and Leadership are generally employed in a broad range of jobs in larger companies or smaller and medium-sized companies. To begin with, they often work across specialist functions and are hired in positions as graduates, executive assistants, team coordinators, project managers, HR or change facilitators, or consultants. Later in their careers, a large proportion of SOL students progress into different kinds of more specialised and formal managerial positions.
Applicants with a Bachelor's degree in Economics and Business Administration (HA) from Aarhus University have the right to be admitted to the Master's degree programme in Economics and Business Administration (cand.merc.) at Aarhus University on the condition that application is made for admission to the Master’s degree programme no later than three years after completion of the Bachelor’s degree programme. The legal right of admission requires receipt of the application by Aarhus University within the appropriate period of time.
The following Bachelor’s degrees fulfill the admissions requirements for the Master’s degree programme in Economics and Business Administration at Aarhus University but are not automatically secured a spot at the programme:
* With a diploma older than 2000, your Bachelor’s degree will be assessed according to the specific admission requirements described under the section: “Students that hold a degree from another university”.
Other Bachelor´s degrees can provide admission to the Master’s degree programme. When you apply the university will access if your Bachelor´s degree corresponds in level, extent and content to a BSc in Economics and Business Administration/HA from Aarhus Universitet. The assessment will prioritize the sufficient content of the following subjects and ECTS-points:
Subject | ECTS |
Methods* | 15 ECTS |
Marketing | 7,5 ECTS |
Finance | 7,5 ECTS |
Accounting | 7,5 ECTS |
Organisation- and Leadership Theory | 7,5 ECTS |
Microeconomics | 5 ECTS |
Operations Management | 5 ECTS |
Additional ECTS points within the abovementioned areas | 25 ECTS |
Total ECTS within Economics and Business Administration | 80 ECTS |
*Please note, applicants must have at least 15 ECTS within methods including at least 10 ECTS within quantitative methods or statistics.
In order to meet the admission requirements for the MSc programmes in Economics and Business Administration, applicants with a specific professional bachelor’s degree must have completed specific elective courses as part of their qualifying exam. In this table the requirements for elective courses are laid out.
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.
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.
As from the intake 2022, the Master’s degree programmes in Economics and 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, for programmes with restricted admission special rules regarding supplementary Bachelor’s courses apply. Therefore, we no longer offer pre-assessments for the programme in Economics and Business Administration (cand.merc.).
Read more about supplementary Bachelor’s courses.
If there are more qualified applicants than available seats, the Admissions Committee assesses each applicant based on the average mark (i.e. GPA) of the Bachelor’s degree at the time of application. Marks/grades obtained after the application deadline will not be included in the GPA. The Admissions Committee assesses each applicant’s marks based on the information provided by diplomas and transcripts.
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.
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.
-experienced, photographed and filmed by the students themselves.
With thousands of pictures #AUInternational, #AarhusUni gives insight into the everyday life as a student at AU; the parties, procrastination, exams and all the other ways you’ll spend your time at university.
The photos belong to the users, shared with #AUInternational and #AarhusUni.
The chart shows the five most common types of work for graduates 1-2 years after finishing their degree. The data is derived from a survey made by Epinion for the Ministry of Higher Education and Science and Aarhus University in 2020.
The MSc in Strategy, Organisation and Leadership (SOL) is aimed at qualifying you to a wide variety of functions in private and public organisations. The programme provides you with a number of fundamental theoretical and analytical qualifications. You thereby acquire basic knowledge as well as a broad selection of methods and tools, which will enable you to contribute to resolving specific organisational and managerial problems.
As a SOL graduate, one of your advantages is that you have a flexible starting point for initiating your career. Some students know from the beginning of their studies that they want to work with for example strategy or HRM. But a large proportion of our graduates are enrolled in different kinds of more cross-functional positions related to project management, IT consulting, change facilitation, and team coordination. The programme is well-known in the business environment and many companies appreciate the flexible starting point of the candidates. After some years of experience, many SOL graduates progress into more specialised formal managerial positions.
Students following the programme in Strategy, Organisation and Leadership will acquire competences relevant to running private or public organisations from a managerial point of view.
More specifically, after graduation the student will be able to:
The set of competences derives from a teaching philosophy, which emphasises theoretical and methodological training in combination with the case method. Since the programme includes group work as well as individual work the student will obtain collaboration and self-management competences. Finally, since the teaching takes place in an international environment with students from numerous countries the student will obtain a number of cultural competences.
We want to help our students find successful careers. Students can always contact our Career Services for advice and assistance with getting onto the Danish labour market. Check out our careers page to see the range of services we offer.
