September 22, 2012 at 15:20CBS: Student to Entrepreneur, or Danish University Model
Recently, the topic of education abroad has become more and more popular on Habré. And since community members are interested in such things, that means they should have access to information about different options and experiences. My own history of temporary emigration to Denmark falls into this category. However, today I would like to distinguish myself with intelligence and quick witfrom previous materials and instead of stories about the formalities of entering a foreign alma mater (which, incidentally, will be disclosed in the following parts if there is interest from readers), give an example of what seems to me a very attractive model of a modern university. So if, among other things, you want to hear about democratic education, a student business incubator and a highly developed IT infrastructure, then welcome to cat.
Disclaimer: The material, of course, is not advertising (although if someone wants to do it, please contact). It’s just my, albeit still small, but interesting experience of getting to know the Copenhagen Business School that inspires me to think about what a modern university should (or at least can be).
Copenhagen Business School, better known in Scandinavia as CBS (I apologize in advance for Englishism, but the Copenhagen Business School somehow does not sound) is one of the largest universities in the Danish kingdom, one of the 30 best business schools in Europe. However, formally calling himself a business school, it is positioned rather as a business university, offering extremely diverse programs, ranging from banal management and finance to international business political science, intercultural business communications and IT management . As a result, about 20,000 students attend classes, about 15-20% of whom are foreigners.
But these are all formalities. What so far surprises me the most is how subtly in CBS, in my opinion, the key things for any modern university are combined: knowledge, community and infrastructure. And if the role of knowledge, as part of this triad, is quite obvious and is present in one way or another in Russian universities, then as far as the community and infrastructure are concerned, my domestic experience (graduated from the P.G.Demidov Yaroslavl State University) is not especially for what to catch on. Meanwhile, the community existing around the university helps integrate students into the professional environment and helps them gain additional knowledge, skills and opportunities. A sufficiently developed infrastructure, in turn, allows you to connect knowledge and community into a single communication system,
And if the triple construction described above does not seem to you to have a certain meaning, I suggest digging deeper and see how these parts of the educational process manage to help CBS students become entrepreneurs (a recent study revealed a fairly large proportion of graduates who find themselves in their own business).
The training system at Copenhagen Business School (at least in terms of master's training) is not far from typically European, which, however, means its obvious and noticeable difference from the Russian one. Great emphasis is placed on self-education, since classrooms with a teacher are allocated no more than 10-12 hours a week (mine, for example, although the lectures are extended for 4 days, but last no more than 2-3 hours).
The rest of the time, most Danish masters devote to reading relevant literature, the volume of which varies from program to program, but according to my estimates it is 150-300 pages per week. It is difficult to judge all the flows, but on my program (innovation and business development management; formerly technological innovation management) the main part of the course consists of scientific articles from leading world magazines. It is understood that this ensures the relevance of the knowledge gained, and also educates students in a scientific (analytical) outlook on the world and criticality to perceived information. At the same time, reading on a particular topic occurs before the lecture, the purpose of which, therefore, is to discuss, systematize and supplement what has been read.
Not surprisingly, in such conditions, the role of the teacher is significantly different from domestic practice. Here he acts not as a bearer of absolute truth, immutable authority or something like that, but as a mediator of the discussion, with the ability to direct the students ’thought process into the mainstream, necessary for them to understand the theoretical foundations and the ability to put them into practice. By the way, my lectures and articles differ in a significant level of attachment to the real world, since in most cases specific mechanisms for managing various business processes are proposed. As for the classifications, principles, signs, definitions and the like of “dead” theoretical constructions that are familiar to the pain, then if they are present, then in much smaller volumes.
The specificity of the educational system is also manifested in exams, each of which is practically unlike the others. In particular, this semester, I will have an essay on Entrepreneurship waiting for me as exams, answers to theoretical questions on the example of a real company on Innovation and Knowledge and a project group on Product Development and Project Management. In other words, the dull memorization of the theory apparently does not expect me. However, this does not mean a simpler life either, for it is often more difficult to attach a theory to practice than to learn a theory alone. However, the goal is understandable - CBS is important not so much as my encyclopedic knowledge, but as practical skills and skills tied to understanding deep theoretical concepts.
And all this educational diversity is complemented by a completely democratic system of communications between functionaries, teachers and students. And although its most obvious sign is probably the very loose style of clothing of all three declared groups, it also appears in another: everyone is called by name, objections during the lecture are not only not punished, but encouraged, teachers are always available by email or on the university’s internal network.
In other words, there is a persistent feeling that all interested parties act together and realize why they need it.
Now about the community, by which I understand the diversity of people and organizations, regularly interacting with the university and students in a number of areas related to the educational sector.
I must say that social life in CBS is in full swing. At the university there are (and partly funded by it) about 20 student organizations of the most diverse orientation: from a club of wine lovers to a business incubator. Naturally, everything is on self-government and self-financing. Recruitment in society occurs, as a rule, at the beginning of semesters and is accompanied by large-scale presentation events, the purpose of which, presumably, is to lure the most talented and promising students (especially since there are competing communities of a related subject). As a result, most students turn out to be integrated to one degree or another, in addition to direct training, in public (semi-professional) life with the ensuing possibilities for applying certain knowledge in practice,
However, the community is not limited to public topics: some are engaged in real business. So, for example, the student union runs canteens on university-owned campuses, where you can eat for yourself quite inexpensively (by Danish standards). Another group of students is in charge of a network of printers scattered across buildings that print documents remotely at prices that are 4 times less than those charged by a service directly organized by the university. Honestly, such a fruitful competition between a student startup and a parent organization, in fact, looks impressive.
I want to talk about the business incubator separately. Being called the Copenhagen School of Entrepreneurship, he has several functions. Firstly, a group of experts at the incubator provides (free of charge) services for validating and developing students' business ideas (I, however, have not yet been interested in the legal side of the issue) and generally position themselves as a personal adviser in startup initiatives. Secondly, some particularly attracted ideas are allocated a small amount of funding in the amount of Danish kroner 20 thousand (about 100 thousand rubles) and office space and access to university infrastructure and equipment are provided. However, investments are not direct - the incubator simply pays the startup’s bills. Thirdly, the business school organizes a series of public events, including Friday start-up gatherings with free food and beer and a small number of already held entrepreneurs, as well as very regular meetings-seminars with venture investors, innovators and other interesting people who have something to ask and have something to learn. In other words, the incubator is trying to integrate students into the local entrepreneurial community to satisfy mutual interest. Students get access to the right people and the right information, while invited experts are either satisfied with the opportunity to speak to a grateful audience, or are looking for new ideas and new teams. Be that as it may, judging by the history of the incubator, he has already managed to release several interesting projects. as well as very regular meetings-seminars with venture investors, innovators and other interesting people who have something to ask and have something to learn. In other words, the incubator is trying to integrate students into the local entrepreneurial community to satisfy mutual interest. Students get access to the right people and the right information, while invited experts are either satisfied with the opportunity to speak to a grateful audience, or are looking for new ideas and new teams. Be that as it may, judging by the history of the incubator, he has already managed to release several interesting projects. as well as very regular meetings-seminars with venture investors, innovators and other interesting people who have something to ask and have something to learn. In other words, the incubator is trying to integrate students into the local entrepreneurial community to satisfy mutual interest. Students get access to the right people and the right information, while invited experts are either satisfied with the opportunity to speak to a grateful audience, or are looking for new ideas and new teams. Be that as it may, judging by the history of the incubator, he has already managed to release several interesting projects. Students get access to the right people and the right information, while invited experts are either satisfied with the opportunity to speak to a grateful audience, or are looking for new ideas and new teams. Be that as it may, judging by the history of the incubator, he has already managed to release several interesting projects. Students get access to the right people and the right information, while invited experts are either satisfied with the opportunity to speak to a grateful audience, or are looking for new ideas and new teams. Be that as it may, judging by the history of the incubator, he has already managed to release several interesting projects.
Another interesting feature of the existing CBS community is the great attention on the part of the real business. Former graduates and visiting leaders often share experiences during lectures and other educational events. For example, the introductory week on my program was marked by the appearance of the co-founder of the rather successful Podio service, as well as a lecture by the top manager of the largest company in Denmark - Maersk. But especially actively various companies (including those with world names) participate in career events, publishing vacancies on the university’s internal network, and also organize official receptions several times a month. An interesting detail: mainly for the CBS campus, most of the audiences are named after the largest world and Danish companies. I don’t know if they consider this a kind of advertising and whether they pay for such services,
Thus, in addition to the direct and therefore banal educational process, CBS students manage to gain access to a very fruitful social environment that facilitates the search and use of a wide variety of opportunities.
Perhaps everything described above would not have looked so attractive if it had not been linked into a single communication system through the appropriate infrastructure.
CBS has a unified system of access to most educational and other types of resources. So, in the educational process, an Internet platform is used, which allows the student to have everything necessary in one place. The system monitors current courses, various educational announcements appear in the same place, and teachers upload slides and other information to the servers and have the opportunity to communicate with students through thematic forums. A separate application - a calendar - tells the schedule and location of all classes and synchronizes with iCal, Google Calendar and similar programs. A very large role is given to coordination of events through Facebook. Finally, there is an internal university portal on which you can find almost everything you need: from ads on the sale of a bicycle or renting an apartment to forms of documents, required to register for the exam. A special highlight of the portal is the internal database of vacancies, accessible only to students and directly replenished by companies such as Microsoft, Danske Bank and others like it, interested in young personnel.
The library at CBS also impresses an experienced Russian student who is not used to luxury. Most materials are digitized and therefore accessible from home computers through a single account. Naturally, there is access to leading world scientific journals and databases. Ordering rare books is carried out in a few clicks and translates into one single trip to the library. However, it is always crowded there, since there are study places, computer classes and separate study rooms on three floors, behind which Danish and foreign students gnaw at the granite of science, without departing from the box office, as they say. Scanning with subsequent sending by email is free. Copying - at fairly low prices (hello to the Yaroslavl Scientific Library).
As for the audience, here, though no frills, but there is everything you need such as projectors with screens, sockets under each table, remotely adjustable lighting and shutters. About high-speed wi-fi in all buildings of the university, I think, you can not even mention. In other words, the infrastructure is sufficient to provide a solid level of comfort to all participants in the educational process.
I don’t know if there is something similar to the one described above in Russia - I visited only a few provincial universities - but frankly, CBS seemed to me a very attractive model of a modern university, focused not only on knowledge, but also on the integration of students into the professional community, and also possessing a very modern and quite stable working infrastructure. I think that this model is the future, and I want to believe that in Russia it will someday come too.
PS If the topic of studying, living or working in Denmark seems interesting to the Habra community, I will be happy to tell my story and share several life hacks.
And thanks for the invite!
Sources of photos: cbs.dk, facebook.com, information.dk
Disclaimer: The material, of course, is not advertising (although if someone wants to do it, please contact). It’s just my, albeit still small, but interesting experience of getting to know the Copenhagen Business School that inspires me to think about what a modern university should (or at least can be).
Copenhagen Business School, better known in Scandinavia as CBS (I apologize in advance for Englishism, but the Copenhagen Business School somehow does not sound) is one of the largest universities in the Danish kingdom, one of the 30 best business schools in Europe. However, formally calling himself a business school, it is positioned rather as a business university, offering extremely diverse programs, ranging from banal management and finance to international business political science, intercultural business communications and IT management . As a result, about 20,000 students attend classes, about 15-20% of whom are foreigners.
But these are all formalities. What so far surprises me the most is how subtly in CBS, in my opinion, the key things for any modern university are combined: knowledge, community and infrastructure. And if the role of knowledge, as part of this triad, is quite obvious and is present in one way or another in Russian universities, then as far as the community and infrastructure are concerned, my domestic experience (graduated from the P.G.Demidov Yaroslavl State University) is not especially for what to catch on. Meanwhile, the community existing around the university helps integrate students into the professional environment and helps them gain additional knowledge, skills and opportunities. A sufficiently developed infrastructure, in turn, allows you to connect knowledge and community into a single communication system,
And if the triple construction described above does not seem to you to have a certain meaning, I suggest digging deeper and see how these parts of the educational process manage to help CBS students become entrepreneurs (a recent study revealed a fairly large proportion of graduates who find themselves in their own business).
Knowledge
The training system at Copenhagen Business School (at least in terms of master's training) is not far from typically European, which, however, means its obvious and noticeable difference from the Russian one. Great emphasis is placed on self-education, since classrooms with a teacher are allocated no more than 10-12 hours a week (mine, for example, although the lectures are extended for 4 days, but last no more than 2-3 hours).
The rest of the time, most Danish masters devote to reading relevant literature, the volume of which varies from program to program, but according to my estimates it is 150-300 pages per week. It is difficult to judge all the flows, but on my program (innovation and business development management; formerly technological innovation management) the main part of the course consists of scientific articles from leading world magazines. It is understood that this ensures the relevance of the knowledge gained, and also educates students in a scientific (analytical) outlook on the world and criticality to perceived information. At the same time, reading on a particular topic occurs before the lecture, the purpose of which, therefore, is to discuss, systematize and supplement what has been read.
Not surprisingly, in such conditions, the role of the teacher is significantly different from domestic practice. Here he acts not as a bearer of absolute truth, immutable authority or something like that, but as a mediator of the discussion, with the ability to direct the students ’thought process into the mainstream, necessary for them to understand the theoretical foundations and the ability to put them into practice. By the way, my lectures and articles differ in a significant level of attachment to the real world, since in most cases specific mechanisms for managing various business processes are proposed. As for the classifications, principles, signs, definitions and the like of “dead” theoretical constructions that are familiar to the pain, then if they are present, then in much smaller volumes.
The specificity of the educational system is also manifested in exams, each of which is practically unlike the others. In particular, this semester, I will have an essay on Entrepreneurship waiting for me as exams, answers to theoretical questions on the example of a real company on Innovation and Knowledge and a project group on Product Development and Project Management. In other words, the dull memorization of the theory apparently does not expect me. However, this does not mean a simpler life either, for it is often more difficult to attach a theory to practice than to learn a theory alone. However, the goal is understandable - CBS is important not so much as my encyclopedic knowledge, but as practical skills and skills tied to understanding deep theoretical concepts.
And all this educational diversity is complemented by a completely democratic system of communications between functionaries, teachers and students. And although its most obvious sign is probably the very loose style of clothing of all three declared groups, it also appears in another: everyone is called by name, objections during the lecture are not only not punished, but encouraged, teachers are always available by email or on the university’s internal network.
In other words, there is a persistent feeling that all interested parties act together and realize why they need it.
Community
Now about the community, by which I understand the diversity of people and organizations, regularly interacting with the university and students in a number of areas related to the educational sector.
I must say that social life in CBS is in full swing. At the university there are (and partly funded by it) about 20 student organizations of the most diverse orientation: from a club of wine lovers to a business incubator. Naturally, everything is on self-government and self-financing. Recruitment in society occurs, as a rule, at the beginning of semesters and is accompanied by large-scale presentation events, the purpose of which, presumably, is to lure the most talented and promising students (especially since there are competing communities of a related subject). As a result, most students turn out to be integrated to one degree or another, in addition to direct training, in public (semi-professional) life with the ensuing possibilities for applying certain knowledge in practice,
However, the community is not limited to public topics: some are engaged in real business. So, for example, the student union runs canteens on university-owned campuses, where you can eat for yourself quite inexpensively (by Danish standards). Another group of students is in charge of a network of printers scattered across buildings that print documents remotely at prices that are 4 times less than those charged by a service directly organized by the university. Honestly, such a fruitful competition between a student startup and a parent organization, in fact, looks impressive.
I want to talk about the business incubator separately. Being called the Copenhagen School of Entrepreneurship, he has several functions. Firstly, a group of experts at the incubator provides (free of charge) services for validating and developing students' business ideas (I, however, have not yet been interested in the legal side of the issue) and generally position themselves as a personal adviser in startup initiatives. Secondly, some particularly attracted ideas are allocated a small amount of funding in the amount of Danish kroner 20 thousand (about 100 thousand rubles) and office space and access to university infrastructure and equipment are provided. However, investments are not direct - the incubator simply pays the startup’s bills. Thirdly, the business school organizes a series of public events, including Friday start-up gatherings with free food and beer and a small number of already held entrepreneurs, as well as very regular meetings-seminars with venture investors, innovators and other interesting people who have something to ask and have something to learn. In other words, the incubator is trying to integrate students into the local entrepreneurial community to satisfy mutual interest. Students get access to the right people and the right information, while invited experts are either satisfied with the opportunity to speak to a grateful audience, or are looking for new ideas and new teams. Be that as it may, judging by the history of the incubator, he has already managed to release several interesting projects. as well as very regular meetings-seminars with venture investors, innovators and other interesting people who have something to ask and have something to learn. In other words, the incubator is trying to integrate students into the local entrepreneurial community to satisfy mutual interest. Students get access to the right people and the right information, while invited experts are either satisfied with the opportunity to speak to a grateful audience, or are looking for new ideas and new teams. Be that as it may, judging by the history of the incubator, he has already managed to release several interesting projects. as well as very regular meetings-seminars with venture investors, innovators and other interesting people who have something to ask and have something to learn. In other words, the incubator is trying to integrate students into the local entrepreneurial community to satisfy mutual interest. Students get access to the right people and the right information, while invited experts are either satisfied with the opportunity to speak to a grateful audience, or are looking for new ideas and new teams. Be that as it may, judging by the history of the incubator, he has already managed to release several interesting projects. Students get access to the right people and the right information, while invited experts are either satisfied with the opportunity to speak to a grateful audience, or are looking for new ideas and new teams. Be that as it may, judging by the history of the incubator, he has already managed to release several interesting projects. Students get access to the right people and the right information, while invited experts are either satisfied with the opportunity to speak to a grateful audience, or are looking for new ideas and new teams. Be that as it may, judging by the history of the incubator, he has already managed to release several interesting projects.
Another interesting feature of the existing CBS community is the great attention on the part of the real business. Former graduates and visiting leaders often share experiences during lectures and other educational events. For example, the introductory week on my program was marked by the appearance of the co-founder of the rather successful Podio service, as well as a lecture by the top manager of the largest company in Denmark - Maersk. But especially actively various companies (including those with world names) participate in career events, publishing vacancies on the university’s internal network, and also organize official receptions several times a month. An interesting detail: mainly for the CBS campus, most of the audiences are named after the largest world and Danish companies. I don’t know if they consider this a kind of advertising and whether they pay for such services,
Thus, in addition to the direct and therefore banal educational process, CBS students manage to gain access to a very fruitful social environment that facilitates the search and use of a wide variety of opportunities.
Infrastructure
Perhaps everything described above would not have looked so attractive if it had not been linked into a single communication system through the appropriate infrastructure.
CBS has a unified system of access to most educational and other types of resources. So, in the educational process, an Internet platform is used, which allows the student to have everything necessary in one place. The system monitors current courses, various educational announcements appear in the same place, and teachers upload slides and other information to the servers and have the opportunity to communicate with students through thematic forums. A separate application - a calendar - tells the schedule and location of all classes and synchronizes with iCal, Google Calendar and similar programs. A very large role is given to coordination of events through Facebook. Finally, there is an internal university portal on which you can find almost everything you need: from ads on the sale of a bicycle or renting an apartment to forms of documents, required to register for the exam. A special highlight of the portal is the internal database of vacancies, accessible only to students and directly replenished by companies such as Microsoft, Danske Bank and others like it, interested in young personnel.
The library at CBS also impresses an experienced Russian student who is not used to luxury. Most materials are digitized and therefore accessible from home computers through a single account. Naturally, there is access to leading world scientific journals and databases. Ordering rare books is carried out in a few clicks and translates into one single trip to the library. However, it is always crowded there, since there are study places, computer classes and separate study rooms on three floors, behind which Danish and foreign students gnaw at the granite of science, without departing from the box office, as they say. Scanning with subsequent sending by email is free. Copying - at fairly low prices (hello to the Yaroslavl Scientific Library).
As for the audience, here, though no frills, but there is everything you need such as projectors with screens, sockets under each table, remotely adjustable lighting and shutters. About high-speed wi-fi in all buildings of the university, I think, you can not even mention. In other words, the infrastructure is sufficient to provide a solid level of comfort to all participants in the educational process.
Instead of an afterword
I don’t know if there is something similar to the one described above in Russia - I visited only a few provincial universities - but frankly, CBS seemed to me a very attractive model of a modern university, focused not only on knowledge, but also on the integration of students into the professional community, and also possessing a very modern and quite stable working infrastructure. I think that this model is the future, and I want to believe that in Russia it will someday come too.
PS If the topic of studying, living or working in Denmark seems interesting to the Habra community, I will be happy to tell my story and share several life hacks.
And thanks for the invite!
Sources of photos: cbs.dk, facebook.com, information.dk