INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

Bachelor's degrees with direct admission

Students that hold a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and Business Administration (HA) or variants hereof from Aarhus University can pursue direct admission to the MSc programmes in Economics and Business Administration after they complete their Bachelor’s degree programme.

If you hold a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Business Administration, Bsc (HA) from one of the Danish universities, you fulfill the specific admission requirements for the Master’s degree programmes in Economics and Business Administration (cand.merc.).

If you hold a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and Business Administration (HA) or variants hereof from Aarhus University or Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Business Administration, Bsc (HA) from one of the Danish universities, 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”. 

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:    

*Please note, applicants must have at least 15 ECTS within methods including at least 10 ECTS within quantitative methods or statistics.

Admission to the MSc in Economics and Business Administration for applicants with a professional bachelor’s degree (professionsbachelor)

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.

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 requirments.

Restricted admission from 2022

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.

Selection criteria

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.

Academic Regulations

• SEE THE ACADEMIC REGULATIONS FOR THE PROGRAMME

Below is an outline of the courses:

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.

Tasks as a Graduate

This data is derived from AU's 2016 employment survey. This data should not be considered a completely accurate representation of the labour market and job functions for all graduates of the individual degree programmes. It exclusively represents the responses submitted to the survey in the years in question.

JOB PROFILE

The study programme is aimed at providing you with the competences required to take part in the decision-making processes in a business with extensive international commitments or a public institution.

There are several career paths:

• Danish and international businesses where you may be employed by headquarters or by a foreign subsidiary. Most often, the career will start with a job as an analyst, which may lead to a senior position such as Head of specific activities.
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for example, as an employee at an embassy, as consulate generals and other international representations. Frequently, careers will start and proceed through the commercial departments, the goal being ambassador positions.
• International service companies offering consultancy services to businesses which lack the necessary capacity within, e.g. financial advice, the conduct of international market analyses, the planning and implementation of FDI, either in the form of the establishment of new subsidiaries and/or acquisitions etc.

 PROFILE OF COMPETENCIES

The research-based MSc study programme in Economics and Business Administration builds on the competencies and insights acquired in the BSc study programme in Economics and Business Administration.

The study programme provides the graduate with specialist knowledge within the disciplines of the study programme, which gives the graduate high academic qualifications to develop solutions to issues pertaining to business administration in companies and organisations in the public and private sectors.

The study programme also qualifies the graduate for further studies, including PhD studies.

Through the study programme, the graduate has acquired knowledge that enables the graduate to

• Analyse complex issues pertaining a semi-globalised world to design and implement firms’ internationalisation strategies
• Design and manage an organisation with geographically dispersed entities
• Critically reflect on the consequences of existing barriers and links between different countries and markets
• Understand and consider knowledge pertaining to the various disciplines as well as identifying academic issues
• Master the scientific methodologies and tools of the various disciplines as well as mastering general skills associated with employment within the areas studied
• Assess and choose among the scientific methodologies and tools of the various disciplines as well as developing new analysis and solution models
• Discuss professional and academic issues with both specialists and laymen
• Manage work and development situations that are complex, unpredictable and require new solution models
• Initiate and carry out, on an independent basis, monodisciplinary and interdisciplinary collaboration and take professional responsibility
• Take responsibility, on an independent basis, for own professional development and specialisation

From Studies to the First Job

”The transition from campus to corporate is challenging but also exciting. Remember that it is not expected that you know everything from day one but it is expected that you are interested and seek out new knowledge and stakeholders to solve your work tasks.” (Msc in International Business)

”Start seeking a job before graduation and make sure too keep your spirit up even though the job does not come at first – f.ex. by participating in proactive job searching networks.” (Msc in International Business)