MGMT awards 2018

At the annual New Year’s reception on 11 January, Lars Esbjerg in his capacity as Chairman of the Departmental Council presented the annual MGMT awards to give special recognition to MGMT employees who have done something extraordinary at the department.

Claus Thrane accepting the teaching award at the New Year's reception
Christina Bidmon holding the PhD award

On Thursday, 11 January, the annual MGMT awards for “Teacher of the year” and “PhD student of the year” were given out at the Nytårskur (New Year's reception).

Claus Thrane and Jan Warhuus won the MGMT teacher of the year award
Claus Thrane and Jan Warhuus were named teachers of the Year 2018 in recognition of what they have accomplished when establishing a new course on Financing Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the fall semester 2016.
Jan and Claus have created a process-oriented course that embeds a “learning-through” logic. In their course, Claus and Jan guide students through multiple stages of financing an innovation project which they learn (i) about theoretically, (ii) then apply each step to a group work project which they have themselves chosen, and finally (iii) reflect upon the theory through their group work experience. In this way, an experiential learning approach is added to the class, which puts a premium on developing capabilities and knowledge.
Due to their course design and engaged teaching, Claus and Jan have received outstanding evaluations for the course already in the first two years. The students appreciate the different facets of the teaching approach that Claus and Jan offer and are motivated to pursue the topic of financing further.
To sum up, bringing a learning-through perspective (from the field of entrepreneurship education) to a financing course is novel, innovative and demanding of both the teacher and the student. Claus and Jan’s way of applying this has been well thought out, grounded in educational literature and innovative, and therefore it deserves the recognition of all of us.

About the teaching award
The teaching award is given to individuals or groups of teachers and/or administrative staff who break new ground in their teaching activities and who can serve as inspiration for others. The recipients of this award are recognised for doing something that has not been done before in terms of, for instance, pedagogical approaches or student involvement which increase student learning or have other positive effects.

Christina Bidmon won the MGMT PhD student of the year award 
Christina Bidmon was named PhD student of the year for her work to improve PhD relations with other parts of the BSS Graduate School and her work as student representative in the BSS Graduate School Council. Her work is important for developing the PhD programme at MGMT and BSS. Besides being a very positive character/having a very positive attitude, Christina never lacks energy to argue for changes (e.g. to the PhD regulations), she does not only care about PhD students in a similar situation to her, but is also very engaged for all PhD students and their different problems, backgrounds and situations. She puts great effort, time and engagement into the organisation of social activities and thereby supports a great deal of the network between us.

About the PhD student Award
The PhD student of the year award is given to a doctoral student who has distinguished himself/herself in one particular situation or in several activities during the year. This award will go to a PhD student who besides his/her research activities have contributed to extracurricular activities like business collaboration, organisational work, political involvement, being a particular successful representative for the department outside Aarhus University, or being a good colleague.

Congratulations to Claus, Jan and Christina!