Support the School
Engage in the next phase of the School’s development!
Focusing on the critical issues of our time
The School of Business, Economics and Law’s ambition for the 2020s is to enter the next phase in our development, where we not only contribute to the region’s growth but also establish ourselves as a European centre for research and education with a focus on the critical issues of our time: climate change, ocean governance and biodiversity, migration flows, poverty and social exclusion, an aging population, vulnerabilities in political and financial systems, plus fundamental structural changes prompted by digitalisation and AI.
Our research and education shall be of the very highest international standard and our students shall be equipped with the knowledge, understanding and tools to be able to address and critically analyse core social challenges in increasingly complex and often global contexts, as they move into their professional roles. Our goal is to be a leading business school internationally when it comes to incorporating sustainability into our operations, and producing groundbreaking research that gives both private and public decision-makers the best possible foundation for handling the social challenges of the future.
Realising these ambitions requires greater collaboration with private, public and civil society organisations. Our success as an academic institution is also heavily dependent on our capacity to participate in international collaborations with top-quality higher education institutions and to recruit staff and students in the face of global competition. With your help, we are keen to embark on the next phase in developing our international attractiveness.
Come and join us on our journey!
Per Cramér, Dean
External support underpins our progress
External support has always driven development of the School, going back to the start in 1923. Here are a few examples from recent years:
For more than 30 years now, the Richard C. Malmsten Memorial Foundation has provided substantial funding for the School’s research and education operations, including the new building at Vasagatan 1 which was completed in 1995.
Several hundred projects have received grants in line with the Foundation’s aim: “to promote scientific, economic research and education at the University of Gothenburg”. Often, the focus has been on activities that could not be funded by government grants
The Foundation’s ambition has been to support the development of new initiatives that are of strategic importance for the quality and international competitiveness of the School. Here are a few examples:
- The building that was completed in 1995, with the Foundation funding almost half of the construction cost.
- Launch of the Graduate School and the English Master’s programmes in 1997.
- The Malmsten Award – annual award recognising the best theses in each of the nine Master’s programmes
- The Gothenburg Research Institute (together with other financiers)
- The Erik Malmsten Guest Professorship
- The Visiting Professor Programme
- Support for various centres of excellence
- Funding to support education and research within business administration and economics in various ways, not least through the Economics Library and the IT system.
- Art pieces.
- “The Art at the School of Business, Economics and Law” – a new art book published in 2019.
With external support, the School of Business, Economics and Law has been able to lay the foundation for an academic environment that is strong on innovation and entrepreneurship. A professorship was founded with support from AB Volvo, Carl Bennet AB and SKF AB, and in 2017, professor Maureen McKelvey was awarded SEK 50 million within the framework of the Distinguished Professor Programme of the Swedish Research Council, funds that are currently being used to continue enhancing the research environment.
The Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship - founded with support from the Sten A. Olsson Foundation for Research and Culture - conducts research and education in the field of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Management of Intellectual Assets. The Institute offers single-subject courses at Bachelor’s level, two Master’s programmes, and doctoral education.
The goal is to develop research that leads the world. The Institute conducts relevant research in a field that is vital for social development locally, nationally and internationally. Research partners include public organisations, entrepreneurs and global multinationals.
Support from the Sten A. Olsson Foundation for Research and Culture
The Sten A. Olsson Foundation for Research and Culture provides the Institute with invaluable research funding, primarily for the research project “Radical innovation for enhancement of the Swedish economy”. The ability to continue stimulating the Swedish economy requires a major restructuring, where society shifts the focus away from knowledge and onto innovation instead. Achieving this will demand radical innovation rather than minor tweaks. However, radical innovation is hard for communities, organisations and individuals alike to both embrace and implement.
The Foundation also supports the Master’s programmes Innovation and Industrial Management (IIM) and Knowledge-based Entrepreneurship (KBE). The students on these programmes are able to apply for the Sten A. Olsson Foundation’s travel grants, which enable the students to visit foreign universities to conduct their degree project and create their own international networks.
Broad support
Over the years, the Institute has received support from Carl Bennet, Chalmers, the EU, GU Ventures, IMIT, Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, SKF, the Sten A. Olsson Foundation for Research and Culture, VINNOVA, Volvo AB and the Richard C. Malmsten Memorial Foundation.
Read more about the Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
The Centre for Finance (CFF) was established in spring 2003, while 2004 saw the opening of the Finance Lab. Support from the business world has made it possible to create a research environment that holds its own on the global stage.
In 2010, the Centre for Finance was one of three centres to receive funding, when Swedish innovation agency VINNOVA launched a long-term research programme aimed at enhancing Swedish research into the financial markets. This funding agreement runs for ten years, with the University of Gothenburg, the School of Business, Economics and Law and businesses providing additional funding. The support from VINNOVA indicates the high level of expertise available within the Centre for Finance.
CFF’s mission is to contribute to a sustainable financial system through:
- Excellent research focusing on financial intermediation, specifically the interaction between financial institutions and businesses/households.
- An open and creative multidisciplinary research environment.
- Close interaction with practitioners, education and society at large.
CFF’s vision is to advance the understanding and practice of financial intermediation and to be the leading Nordic research centre in this field, where expertise is in great demand. It is also to be a highly regarded and exciting arena for collaboration among researchers, students, financial practitioners and policymakers.
Support from the business world
Work at CFF is supported by AP2, Handelsbanken, SEB, SKF, Volvo Group, the independent savings banks in West Sweden and the Foundation for the Centre for Finance.
In 2013, the School of Business, Economics and Law began building up a multidisciplinary research environment with a focus on ocean governance. Important pieces of the puzzle included the Sten A. Olsson Foundation’s donation for a professorship in ocean governance law and generous support from Carl Bennet AB.
Today, the Department of Law has developed a broad spectrum of marine-related research within the Ocean Group. The common thread running through the work of this research group is the connection to the sea and the challenges associated with making human use and interaction with the oceans ecologically, financially and socially sustainable.
The Ocean Group comprises researchers and doctoral students focusing on a variety of subjects, ranging from maritime law and aviation law to international environmental law, international commercial law, international contract law and EU law, plus Swedish environmental and administrative law. They work on a wide spectrum of topics, including electronic transportation documents, handling of wrecks and intermodal transport solutions, maritime spatial planning, marine genetic resources and legal preconditions for sustainable aquaculture. The group’s members are united by their shared interest in the ocean and its sustainable and efficient utilisation and preservation.
In 2012, representatives from business, the public sector and academia agreed that the University of Gothenburg should be the base for a national centre for human resource management. The operation is co-financed by academic, private sector and public sector organisations. In 2019, the Centre was able to realise its ambition of establishing a professorship in HRM, thanks to crucial contributions from Carl Bennet AB and Volvo Group.
The overarching vision of the Centre for Global HRM (CGHRM) is to strengthen Swedish competitiveness by contributing to research and development focusing on good HR policy and a sustainable and balanced working life.
CGHRM is aimed at both researchers and professionals within HR and personnel management, with a view to promoting an exchange of knowledge between academics, business people and the public sector.
CGHRM organises a range of different activities in its capacity as a meeting place and knowledge bank, not least open seminars on HRM-related topics. These seminars have grown to be very popular, serving as a meeting place for academics and interested parties from the private and public sectors.
In a drive to encourage quality HRM research, CGHRM issues planning grants, hosts an international HRM conference and organises research networks and seminars. In October 2019, CGHRM appointed Sweden’s first Professor of Human Resources Management, Stefan Tengblad.
Partners
In 2019, CGHRM had 13 partners: AstraZeneca, E.ON, Getinge AB, City of Gothenburg, Hogia, IKEA, City of Malmö, RISE, Swedish Transport Administration, Region Västra Götaland, Volvo Cars, Volvo Group, Wise Group.
Environment for Development (EfD) is a global network of research centres launched in 2007, with a view to encouraging the use of environmental economics to reduce poverty and increase sustainability, particularly in the Global South. The operation is entirely funded by external parties, mainly the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
There are three cornerstones of EfD’s work: research programmes, policy engagement and academic programmes.
Over 160 environmental economists with a huge range of specialisms work out of EfD’s 15 centres, located worldwide – in Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Sweden, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, the USA and Vietnam.
The network is coordinated by the EfD Global Hub, which on 1 January 2019 became a separate unit at the School of Business, Economics and Law, having previously been attached to the Department of Economics.
Read an interview with Haileselassie Medhin, alumnus and head of the Environment and Climate Research Centre at the Ethiopian Development Research Institute in Addis Ababa. From Handelshögskolans Magasin 2017
Interested in supporting the School?
Welcome to contact Ingela Palmgren, Director Corporate Relations
ingela.palmgren@handels.gu.se
+46 31-786 5835
+46 732-309082
