About Department of Business Studies

The Department of Business Studies at Uppsala University is the largest department within the Faculty of Social Sciences. We are about 115 employees and are located at Ekonomikum in Uppsala and at Campus Gotland in Visby. The department is led by a head of department and a departmental board consisting of elected representatives from teachers, administrative staff, and students.

The department offers education at the undergraduate, advanced, and doctoral levels. Every year, we welcome nearly 3 000 students to our courses and programmes. We offer several Master's specialisations in English. Most of our teachers are also active researchers and the department has about ten excellent teachers.

Our research covers several areas of business studies. The department's research vision is to build on existing high-quality research but also to challenge and question established concepts and assumptions, which allows us to be at the forefront of our discipline. About twenty associated researchers are linked to the activities. The department also hosts the Swedish Research School of Management and IT (MIT).

History

The Department of Business Studies was formally inaugurated in 1958, but carries a tradition of business studies at the University dating back to the 18th century. Ekonomikum, the name of the building where the department is located, alludes to Anders Berch, who in 1741 became Sweden's first business professor (iurisprudentiae, oeconomiae et commerciorum professor, i.e., professor in law, economics, and business studies). This made him the fourth scholar ever appointed as professor in business studies in the world. In his times, Berch had a building in Uppsala at his disposal which he called Theatrum Oeconomicum. The name of the new building for the Economic sciences, rendered into Swedish as Ekonomikum, thus symbolises Uppsala's heritage in Business education and research.

In 2013 Campus Gotland merged with Uppsala University and the department expanded. The subject area of commercial law became part of the department in 2011, but has since transferred and, as of 1 July 2025, belongs to the Department of Law.