Master's Degree Programme
| About the programme Language: English (See language requirements) | Place of study: Aarhus | Commencement: August / September (no winter intake) |
Organisations today face rapid change driven by globalisation, sustainability demands, and digital transformation. The MSc programme in Strategy, Organisation and Leadership (SOL) is a generalist education designed to prepare you for exactly this, combining real-world insights with theory and models as well as practical tools you can use directly in your career.
Navigating the future reality of organisations requires more than theory; it demands proactivity, strategic thinking, change facilitation, and an in-depth engagement with underlying organisational cultures. The MSc programme in Strategy, Organisation and Leadership emphasises a holistic and cross-functional approach to organisations. In practice the graduates in different ways function as the glue in the organisation and become involved in strategy development and implementation as well as organisational changes, and their corresponding organisational cultures. 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.
A generalist career is not narrowly predefined; many graduates seek flexibility, purpose, and impact, moving between roles, and industries. They don’t wait for a title, but step up when challenges arise, when uncertainty demands action, when teams look for direction. As a graduate from this programme, one of your advantages is that you have a flexible starting point. Some students know from the beginning of their studies that they want to work with for example strategy, consultancy or organisational change. However, other of our students have more flexible career strategies, and become enrolled in a variety of positions until they potentially later progress into more specialised formal managerial positions. The programme is well-known in the business environment, and many companies appreciate the flexible starting point of the candidates
In this section you can learn more about the admission requirements relevant to the master's degree programme in Strategy, Organisation and Leadership. 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 Strategy, Organisation and Leadership:
Bachelor's degree programme in Economics and Business Administration (HA)
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 Strategy, Organisation and Leadership:
* 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:
Grades from the qualifying degree
Grades achieved in relevant subject fields:
Management and organisational theory
Methods
Relevant subject fields (measured in ECTS). In this assessment, ECTS credits that are a part of the admission requirements described under “International and other qualifications” are not included *.
Management and organisational theory
Methods
* 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.
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.
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.
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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The MSc programme in Strategy, Organisation and Leadership opens the door to a variety of jobs. Graduates are employed in a broad range of jobs in larger as well as smaller and medium-sized companies. In the beginning of their careers, they are hired in graduate positions, as executive assistants, team coordinators, project managers, change facilitators, or consultants. Over time, a number of graduates progress into different kinds of more specialised and formal managerial positions. Examples of jobs that graduates have got in the first years after graduation are:
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.
