master thesis copenhagen business school

Theses and Dissertations

• North America
• International

Copenhagen Business School

The newest theses are available in "Student theses". It contains online theses from 2009 and onwards.

The theses can be downloaded in pdf format. To find theses from a specific programme, write the name of the programme in quotation marks eg. "International Marketing and Management"

In the search system Libsearch , you can search for both online theses and older printed theses, located on the library's bookshelves. Combine a search term that describes the relevant topic with the keyword “kandidatafhandlinger” and you will be presented with all available theses written by CBS students.

CBS Library receives a copy of all master & HD theses and some executive master theses written by CBS students. All non-confidential theses are registered and published in full text through StudentTheses. Confidential theses are registered in a separate repository and are not made available.

Go to Student theses from CBS

University of Copenhagen, Roskilde University, and Aarhus University

Search for published Master theses, bachelor projects and term papers from University of Copenhagen, Roskilde University, and Aarhus University.

You will find papers the students have agreed to make accessible to the public. Student projects derive from a wide range of disciplines at each university.

Please note: to access electronic theses and student papers from Aarhus University, you must be logged in as an AU student or faculty and on an AU network (AU Eduroam or AU-VPN).

Go to the Royal Danish Library to search for student projects

Aalborg University

The Digital Project Library at Aalborg University publishes online editions of student projects and theses (Bachelor, Master/MBA and further education graduation projects). From June 2008 and onwards, all theses and further education graduation projects from Aalborg University will be uploaded and made visible in the Digital Project Library.

Go to The Project Library

University of Southern Denmark Theses from SDU can be found in their library catalogue. Enter search terms and choose material type to "specialer".

Go to the SDUB Library catalogue

Danish Technical University - Student Theses

Theses fro DTU are available from their library catalogue FindIt. Enter search terms and choose material type thesis under the advanced tab.

Go to DTU Findit

• Next: Europe >>
• Last Updated: Aug 7, 2024 10:22 AM
• URL: https://libguides.cbs.dk/theses_and_dissertations

Homepage | Addresses and Opening Hours | Contact

Three Minute Thesis Competition

The Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT) is an exciting, fast-paced event showcasing the research of graduate students across campus. Each scholar is given three minutes to present their research displayed to the audience and judging panel in a single presentation slide. The competition boasts cash prizes for winners in each category.

You'll be amazed at what these scholars can fit into a three-minute presentation. You don't want to miss this competition!

Our graduate students have had an impressive showing at the regional 3MT competition at the Western Association of Graduate Schools annual conference. In 2023, Jennifer Heppner won third place and in 2024, Kendra Isable won second place. 

The 2024 competition will be hosted in the Spring semester with two preliminary rounds in early March and the finals in April.

Learn more about our competition

Join our competition, preliminary round.

The top four contestants from groups A1, B1, A2 and B2 will be awarded $300 and will compete in the final round. Submit your presentation using the appropriate Group description link below.

Liberal Arts/Social Sciences/Education/Business

Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at 6 p.m. in the Wells Fargo Auditorium (MIKC 124)

• Group A1: Doctoral Dissertation Students
• Group B1: Master's Thesis Students

Sciences/Engineering/Mathematics/Health Sciences

Thursday, March 7, 2024, at 6 p.m. in the Wells Fargo Auditorium (MIKC 124)

• Group A2: Doctoral Dissertation Students
• Group B2: Master's Thesis Students

Final round

Thursday, April 11, 2024, at 7 p.m. in the Wells Fargo Auditorium (MIKC 124)

In the final round you'll compete against the eight finalists at your degree level:

• Group A — Doctoral Students (Four students from A1 and four students from A2)
• Group B — Master's Students (Four students from B1 and four students from B2)

Award amounts

Winners from each group of the final round will be awarded as follows:

• First Place: $1,000
• Second Place: $600
• Third Place: $400
• Peoples' Choice: $500

Deadline and application form

Applications are due February 29 by 11:59 p.m.

Preliminary submission form

Competition rules and terms

Presentation:.

• A single, static PowerPoint slide in 16x9 format is required (pdfs not allowed).
• Include your presentation title, full name, and graduate program on the slide.
• First-place winners from the last year's 3MT competition are ineligible to compete, however, last year's second- and third-place winners are eligible to compete.
• No slide transitions, animations or on-screen movement of any description are allowed.
• The slide is to be presented from the beginning of the oration.
• No additional electronic media (e.g. sound and video files) are permitted.
• No additional props (e.g. costumes, musical instruments, laboratory equipment) are permitted.
• Presentations are limited to three minutes maximum; competitors exceeding three minutes are disqualified.
• Presentations are to be spoken word (e.g. no poems, raps or songs).
• Presentations are to commence from the stage.
• Presentations are considered to have commenced when a presenter starts their presentation through either movement or speech.
• The decision of the adjudicating panel is final.
• All monetary awards for both preliminary and final rounds are pre-tax amounts.
• Abstracts are limited to 250 words.
• Students must be graduate students to enter the competition.
• While advancement to candidacy is not required, students must have made significant progress towards completion of their dissertation, thesis, or professional project in order to enter the competition.
• Winners will be announced approximately one week after the competition.
• You will be asked to sign a photo-video release at the event to allow the University of Nevada, Reno to use your likeness in photos/videos of the competition.

Judging criteria

Comprehension & content.

• Did the presentation provide an understanding of the background to the research question being addressed and its significance?
• Did the presentation clearly describe the key results of the research including conclusions and outcomes?
• Did the presentation follow a clear and logical sequence?
• Was the thesis topic, key results and research significance and outcomes communicated in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience?
• Did the speaker avoid scientific jargon, explain terminology and provide adequate background information to illustrate points?
• Did the presenter spend adequate time on each element of their presentation - or did they elaborate for too long on one aspect or was the presentation rushed?

Engagement & Communication

• Did the oration make the audience want to know more?
• Was the presenter careful not to trivialize or generalize their research?
• Did the presenter convey enthusiasm for their research?
• Did the presenter capture and maintain their audience's attention?
• Did the speaker have sufficient stage presence, eye contact and vocal range; maintain a steady pace, and have a confident stance?
• Did the PowerPoint slide enhance the presentation - was it clear, legible, and concise?

View past Three Minute Thesis winners

View the winners of each year since 2014!

View past winners

2022-2023 Finalists and winners

Doctoral category

First place: cody cris.

• Graduate program:  Cell and Molecular Biology
• Title:  Lighting the way: Tools to prepare for future pandemics
• Faculty advisor:  Subhash Verma

SECOND PLACE: Anithakrithi Balaji

• Graduate program: Biomedical Engineering
• Title: Electrifying the fight-or-flight response: Nanosecond electric pulses for neuromodulation
• Faculty advisor: Jihwan Yoon

THIRD PLACE: Noah Nieman

• Graduate program:  Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Title:  Accelerating bridge construction connections behavior during near fault motions
• Faculty advisor: Floriana Petrone

2024 Finalists:

Francisco calderon abullarade.

• Graduate program: Ph.D. History
• Title: Creating the Enemy: The origins of the inter-american cold war in the 1940s
• Faculty advisor: Renata Keller

Anithakrithi Balaji

• Graduate program: Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering
• Title: Electrifying the fight-or-flight response: Nanosecond electric pulses for neuromodulation 

Monika Bharti

• Graduate program: Ph.D. Education - Literacy Studies
• Title: P re-service teachers experiences teaching K-8 Multilingual Students' (MLS) writing
• Faculty advisor: Rachel Salas and Fares Karam

Cossette Canovas

• Graduate program: Ph.D. Clinical Psychology
• Title: Identifying predictors of racial trauma to inform treatment development 
• Faculty advisor: Lorraine Benuto
• Graduate program: Ph.D. Cell and Molecular Biology
• Title:   Lighting the way: Tools to prepare for future pandemics 
• Faculty advisor: Subhash Verma

Kaashifah 

• Graduate program: Ph.D. Education - Equity, Diversity and Language
• Title: Bridging  the gaps: Evaluating the intervention programs to overcome academic disparities 
• Faculty advisor: Donald Easton-Brooks

Noah Nieman

• Graduate program: Ph.D. Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Title: Accelerating bridge construction connections behavior during near fault motions 

Sanjeevan Pradhan

• Graduate program: Ph.D. Political Science
• Title: Tough sell: Rising powers, domestic legitimation and costly international initiatives 
• Faculty advisor: Xiaoyu Pu

Patricia Berninsone People's Choice Award

Abdulwarith kassim.

• Graduate program: Chemistry
• Title: Chemically recyclable dithioacetal polymers
• Faculty advisor:  Ying Yang

Master's category

First place: abdulwarith kassim.

• Faculty advisor: Ying Yang

SECOND PLACE (TIE): 

• Name:  Elizabeth Everest
• Graduate program: Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology
• Title: Sustaining the beating heart of Cambodia: Fisheries management in southeast Asia's largest lake
• Faculty advisors: Zeb Hogan, Sudeep Chandra, Ken Nussear
• Name:  Cathy Silliman
• Title: Winterfat restoration in a changing climate
• Faculty advisor: Elizabeth Leger 

Samantha DeTiberiis

• Graduate program: M.A. Criminal Justice 
• Title: What do our phones teach us about incarceration? A social media content analysis 
• Faculty advisor: Jennifer Lanterman

Elizabeth Everest 

• Graduate program: M.S. Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology 
• Title:   Sustaining the beating heart of Cambodia: Fisheries management in southeast Asia's largest lake 
• Faculty advisor: Zeb Hogan, Sudeep Chandra, Ken Nussear

Carolynn Fedarko 

• Title: Zeroing in on gun violence
• Faculty advisor: Weston Morrow

Shipra Goswami

• Graduate program: M.S. Biochemistry
• Title: May the pericytes be with you: Transport engineers you never knew existed!
• Faculty advisor: Albert Gonzales
• Graduate program: M.S. Chemistry 

Anthony Michell

• Graduate program: M.A. History
• Title: Pushed to the limit: How the 1998 China floods revolutionized the relationship between China and the natural world
• Faculty advisor: Hugh Shapiro

Elizabeth Morgan

• Graduate program: M.S. Teaching History (M.A.T.H.)
• Title: Dust in the wind dude: The Owens Valley everywhere except, in the Owens Valley
• Faculty advisor: Edward Schoolman

Cathy Silliman

• Graduate program: M.S. Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology
• Faculty advisor: Elizabeth Leger

MSc in Advanced Economics and Finance

Meet the students.

Click on the students to learn more about what it is like to be a student at cand.oecon.

Come to Open Days 6 February 2025

You get the chance to hear about the different programmes, talk to students, and learn more about the admission process.  Read more about Open Days

Join admission info meetings

Join the admission info meeting and get answers to all your questions. Read more about the info meetings

If you have questions concerning content of the programme, the study environment or admission to CBS graduate programmes, you are welcome to contact us. Find the relevant  contact information.

MSc in Economics and Finance - Advanced Economics and Finance (cand.oecon)

About the programme.

The MSc in Advanced Economics and Finance accommodates the need for economists with strong quantitative competencies. The programme is a thorough preparation for a variety of careers. Graduates are working in the financial sector, consulting firms or joined a PhD programme in economics or finance. The programme offers you the opportunity to develop your understanding of finance, economics, and quantitative methods at a very high level

While the first year of the programme is balanced between finance and economic courses, you can choose to specialise in further areas of economics and/or finance in your second year. You are taught to apply and use various well-known models and methods, but also to understand their technical foundations. This deep understanding of economics and finance allows you to adapt the models to new market conditions 

Corporate finance, financial markets and corporate governance In the study of corporate finance, you will investigate the incentives that are fundamental to understanding the different forms of capital structure and payout policies. In addition, this programme discusses the arguments underlying different forms of financing and management compensation.

You will be introduced to advanced topics within the area of financial markets. Areas to be covered include, but are not limited to, an individual’s choice of consumption and portfolio selection, and comprehensive pricing models. These models will be further developed into dynamic multi-period models, which are used in the most quantitative financial institutions. The ability to create mathematical pricing models will be essential as you progress into more advanced topics, for example, derivatives and credit risk.

You will also learn how to deal with and/or prevent principal-agent problems, such as conflicts in owner-manager relations and the use of appropriate incentive schemes. Through game theory, advanced multi-period and multiple-agent models, you will develop a quantitative approach to solving problems of corporate policy.  For instance, when writing contracts, you will deal with asymmetric information, incentive schemes and/or risk sharing in order to ascertain how these agency issues relate to particular governance systems in a corporation.

Economics and econometrics You will analyse the behavior of economic agents, how they interact in markets and how they are regulated.

Moreover, this programme focuses on the study of macroeconomics, where, for instance, you will be able to explain and derive models of economic growth and business cycles. You will also be able to analyse the impact of fiscal and monetary policies as well as the role of government regulation and institutions.

Using econometric methods, you will be able to test theoretical predictions using economic and financial data. You will learn to select the appropriate data, models, and how to evaluate different econometric models.

Customise your programme

During the programme, you have various opportunities to create your own academic profile.

Electives On the 3rd semester, you can choose to study courses of your specific interest, but at least 15 ECTS out of a total of 30 ETCS of electives, must be a progression of the mandatory courses. CBS offers a large number of electives within a wide range of topics. You can also choose to take electives at other Danish universities. The electives you choose have to be relevant for your programme.

See the current selection of CBS electives on  Single courses and electives - Master

Exchange Many students choose to go on exchange on their 3rd semester; usually at one of CBS’ more than 300 partner universities. When you go on exchange through CBS, you do not have to pay for the teaching at the foreign university (with a few exceptions), and you can bring your SU (student grant). 

Find a list of all  CBS partner universities here

Master's thesis Your 2nd year is completed with a master's thesis. You choose the topic you want to write about, which allows you to focus on a specific topic of your interest. Typically, you write your master's thesis with a fellow student. 

What to consider

High academic level The academic level of the programme and of your fellow students is high. This makes the programme more difficult than most other programmes, and provides you with a challenging environment. However, this environment is also what prepares students for the challenges they will meet in their future career.

The curriculum consists of a large selection of research articles. Many of which are demanding to read because of the difficult subject matter and the high level of academic language used. 

Online math camp Before starting the programme, you are offered an online math camp for self-study to help you acguire the core math skills required to be successful in the programme.

Understanding and discussing theories and models While the programme is not a math programme as such, you will be required to have a good command of math in order to perform derivations and other complex calculations, as well as a good understanding of econometrics and general statistics. However, the main focus of the programme is to understand and discuss the theories and models behind the calculations. As such, the programme can roughly be seen as 80% theory comprehension and discussion, and 20% calculations and applications.

Interest in quantitative economics and financial theory In order to not only do well, but to thrive in this programme, you should have a strong interest  and particular skills in analytical and quantitative economics and financial theory and its applications. You should also be willing to put in the extra hours that the programme demands.

You will learn to work independently with economic and financial problems and, thus, obtain qualifications to work as a key analyst in financial institutions and consultancies as well as the business community in general, wherever strong quantitative financial and economic skills are needed.

High workload and learning output The programme is highly selective and only enrolls a limited number of students per year.  Hence, a higher degree of attention will be given to each student. 

By studying research papers, learning to conduct your own research, and having high-level interactions with professors and fellow students, you will experience a high workload, steep learning curve, high learning output, and elevated expectations concerning your own participation. As some of the courses are mandatory for students in the PhD programmes in Economics and Finance, the presence of PhD students adds further value to this unique learning environment.

Studying in English If you do not have a bachelor’s degree taught in English, we recommend that you read more about what to consider before applying for an English taught programme. 

Read more about  Teaching and litterature in English  on Teaching and working methods.

Study environment

Students in this programme are genuinely interested in economics and finance. With only a limited number of students enrolled each year, the time with professors is much higher than normal, and many of the students develop strong working relationships with their professors.

The students in each class know each other very well and this creates a good environment for working in groups and exchanging knowledge both inside and outside the classroom. At times, it can be competitive, but the general environment is that of sincere cooperation.

As the programme has a high workload, this means you will benefit from frequent interaction with both professors and fellow students.

International study environment International students account for approximately 80% of the students in this programme, and even though it is a small class, it is not uncommon to have 8-10 different nationalities represented. This creates a stimulating international atmosphere, and English is the language spoken at all times - even by the Danes.

Student life at CBS Studying at CBS is much more than just preparing for and going to classes.

At CBS, there are more than 20,000 students with different backgrounds and nationalities. Teamwork is an essential part of studying at CBS both in classes and in extracurricular activities. 

With more than 100 student organisations, you also have plenty of opportunities to engage and connect with students across programmes and classes. 

Learn more about the vibrant student life at CBS, the student organisations, and the international environment on  Student life .

For internationals If you are an international student, we have gathered a lot of information about what it is like to be an international student at CBS and how you can prepare for life in Denmark.

Read more on  For internationals  

Teaching and exams

Teaching  The combination of a small number of highly talented students and professors, who are passionate and highly recognised within their academic fields, creates a unique learning environment. Students are expected to be prepared and participate in class as the attitude and contribution of the students is key to a good learning environment and high learning output.

The teaching style is interactive with discussions, exercises, student presentations and assignments. This approach allows students to be engaged during class and provides a deeper understanding of complex theories and the relevant applications to various cases.

Read more on  Teaching and working methods

Exams The programme has a variety of exam types. Approximately half of the exams will have an oral component. This is to ensure that you are able to explain and discuss the relevance, applicability, and problems of the theories and research that you are studying.

Read more on  Exams at CBS

Time consumption You should know that it is demanding to study in a graduate programme, and both the curriculum and workload is  significantly higher than at bachelor level. 

If you are studying on a full-time graduate programme, you should expect spending approximately 37 hours on average on your studies each week. The workload will vary during the year.

The time leading up to assignment submissions and exams can be hectic, and you can easily work more than 40 hours a week in this period. Preparing for oral exams can be especially time consuming, because you have to be able to explain and discuss the covered concepts and theories and learn things by heart.

Student job

The complexity of the curriculum and the high workload can make it difficult for some students to find the time for a student job. If you do, prioritisation and time management is essential, and most students work a maximum of 15 hours a week in order to have sufficient time for their studies.

Studying in Denmark - for internationals If this is your first time studying in Denmark, you may find teaching and exam formats, the grading scale and the academic calendar very different from what you are used to.

Read about everything you need to know as an international student studying at CBS on  For internationals > Academic information   

What gets you the job? The programme enables you to approach problems with a thorough theoretical understanding coupled with the ability to apply quantitative tools for comprehensive analysis. The combination of strong analytical skills and deep theoretical insights is the core of your competencies when you enter the job market, and will facilitate solving more complex and demanding problems than what is normal at a graduate level.

Career opportunities The programme has been created to accommodate the need for economists with strong quantitative competencies at banks, mortgage credit institutions, pension funds, insurance companies, investment and central banks and major consulting companies. These are also typically the areas in which our graduates find employment. Moreover, the strong theoretical focus of the programme provides excellent preparation for a future PhD study.

You will learn to work independently with economic and financial problems, and thus obtain qualifications to work as a key analyst in financial institutions and consultancies as well the business community in general wherever strong, quantitative financial and economic skills are needed. The programme also makes you a strong candidate for working in both research and in development, such as departments that develop new products in financial institutions, e.g. structured products and derivatives for investment banks, but also empirical investigation of investment opportunities.

Competence profile In the competence profile you can read more about the purpose of the programme and the competencies you achieve in the programme:

Course overview

You can read more about the programme, academic content and exams in the programme regulations for MSc in Advanced Economics and Finance (cand. oecon.)