One of the best indicators of the quality of NHH’s doctoral education is where the candidates get hired. Department of Finance also sees it as an important element in strengthening their global academic network.
‘The ambition is that our PhD research scholars get a job at the best possible institutions as it reflects the quality of the PhD program and how attractive our candidates are,’ says Head of Department Aksel Mjøs.
Over the years, the Department of Finance’s program has successfully placed many graduates in well-established international universities and business schools.
‘These placements are great news for NHH because they are the best indicator of the quality of our doctoral education. When employers hire our graduates out of a large pool of international candidates, it means that our program passes an objective “market test”. When our graduates end up at schools that stand above NHH in academic rankings, that is particularly great news,’ says Konrad Raff, who is coordinating placements at the department.
Two recent excellent placements are Markus Lithell who got a job at Virginia Tech and Diego Bonelli who will work for Banco de España.
‘International placements are also of great direct value to the department because they strengthen our global research network. Research is a team sport and when our graduates move on to places such as the University of Sydney, Virginia Tech, or the Spanish Central Bank, we benefit from a stronger network,’ says Raff.
Being well-connected enables collaborations and ensures that NHH’s faculty members and doctoral students stay on the research frontier and don’t fall behind.
‘The concern that NHH loses when a graduate leaves the country is misplaced. There is a key difference between academic research and rivalry in the private sector. Research in financial economics is about generating and promoting new, fundamental ideas,’ Raff explains.
When one of the departments graduates comes up with a new idea on corporate finance at their next job, Raff can teach this idea to our students at NHH or a colleague can incorporate it when serving on a government commission, regardless of where the idea was generated.
The Department of Finance also competes in the international job market for talented new faculty members.
‘The recruitment of colleagues and the placement of graduates in the international market are two sides of the same coin. While we train future academics who move on to work elsewhere, we recruit top aspiring researchers from abroad. This openness and international competition make everyone better off,’ says Aksel Mjøs.
NHH’s strategy is as a leading European business school, then we need to be an engaged part of the global academic community both for hiring, placements, educating students and collaborative high quality research.