It is our ambition, at The Faculty of Business and Social Sciences, to produce research and education of such a high quality that it makes a difference outside of the university and academia. The goal is societal relevance and value creation - the means are original research with international impact both within and across our research fields and disciplines.
But what is really "societal relevance"? At The Faculty of Business and Social Sciences we have authored a "conceptualisation paper" with different ideas on how to interpret the link between research quality and societal relevance. The goal is to give us a common language when talking about ideas and activities regarding societal relevance. The paper, which can be found at the bottom of this page with the title "Research Quality and Societal Relevance", presents a range of ideal types that describe ways to work with relevance as an activity.
Strategy and Relevance for The Faculty of Business and Social Sciences
We want to be the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences in Denmark who most intensively and effectively activates knowledge and creates value for society. Based on high quality research and education in demand, we address significant societal challenges and contribute with our solutions. In our effort to be relevant, we cooperate between our different academic skills and together with our surroundings.
It is our mission to generate new knowledge, educate sought-after graduates, and activate ideas and solutions to the benefit of society.
To create value for our surroundings is the ultimate raison d'être. We are here to create knowledge and conceive ideas that contribute to progress, welfare, creation of opinion and the making of informed decisions, and our research is a means to promote higher goals. Our surroundings rightly expect - and increasingly so - that we address key societal challenges and problems. That we contribute solutions and new knowledge. We therefore strive to make relevant and activate high quality research for the benefit of the society of which we are an inseparable part.
As benchmarks for the vision, we have two strategic goals to set an overall direction for the faculty's activities in research, education and knowledge exchange. The unfolding of these two objectives must be decentralised, particularly in the research groups and in education, but supported by institutes and faculty:
1) We have focused research groups that provide research of high international quality and of great impact. All research groups are reflective about how they work with relevance as an activity and high quality research as a means.
2) Our teaching programmes are in demand, and the staff on our courses work continuously to ensure an optimum fit between the students' competencies and the needs of the labour market in a lifelong learning perspective.