The Growth of the School

• The most major thing to happen at the School this year was our rebrand. As of 1 September 2023, we officially rebranded from Queen's Management School to Queen's Business School.
• With the rebrand, came the launch of our new state-of-the-art building, the Queen's Business School Student Hub - a new space for learning, studying, and socialising for our students and staff.
• We appointed 42 new members of staff this year across our teams of Professional Services and Academic staff.
• At the close of 2023, we have 191 members of staff employed at Queen's Business School.

Awards

• Our MBA programme was ranked Top 40 in the world (Corporate Knights, Better World MBA).
• Our Accounting and Finance programmes were ranked #1 in the UK for graduate outcomes (Times & Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023).
• In July, Dr Laura Steele won a Rising Star Teaching Award for her interactive teaching skills and innovative approach to assessments.
• The School was once again awarded PRME Champion status due to our track record of impactful contributions in thought and action leadership, led by our Director of Ethics, Responsibility, and Sustainability.
• The new Queen's Business School Student Hub was shortlisted for an All Ireland Sustainability Award - Buildings Initiative of the Year.

Students

• We supported 2812 students currently registered at Queen's Business School: 2124 undergraduates, 592 postgraduate taught, 31 MBA students, and 65 PhD students.
• 52% of our student body is international, supported by our team of International Student Advisers.
• Our dedicated Careers and Work Placement Office developed and coached 274 students to gain career-enhancing placement opportunities.
• Placements were taken up in the UK, the Republic of Ireland, and internationally; in countries including Spain, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Austria, Germany, China, Singapore, Australia, and the USA.
• QBS Connect was launched - an initiative to bring together students to develop connections with each other, and to gain employability skills. We employed five students to run the initiative, who are from Brazil, Malaysia, Northern Ireland, India, and England.
• Careers and Coffee afternoons were launched, proving a massive hit with students - an opportunity to drop by for a hot beverage and a snack and get advice on CVs, job applications, and career paths.
• We launched the new MAcc Advanced Accounting with Placement, a groundbreaking programme unique in the UK and Ireland, for which we are delighted to have been awarded CAP 2 exemptions.
• We celebrated our students with our annual Prizegiving event, kindly sponsored by a host of our brilliant business connections.

Research

• Professor Shuang Ren was awarded the prestigious British Academy of Management Leverhulme Research Grant to explore digital development in businesses – an unavoidable trend which businesses must adapt to.
• In the year of the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, Professor John Turner examined whether there has been a peace dividend in Northern Ireland since the Agreement was signed.
• Dr Heather Dickey and Dr Corina Miller investigated the impact of parental leave on the economy, in a DfE project.
• Dr Denise Currie and Dr Heike Schroder finished up a six-phase study on the impact of the pandemic on the health and social care workforce.
• Dr Yang Li looked at adaptability of firms in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Professor Min Zhang examined the resilience of supply chains in China, post-pandemic.
• Dr Alex Wilson discovered the importance of the transfer of academic knowledge to industry.
• Dr David Jordan and Professor John Turner led important research on the productivity gap in Northern Ireland.
• The Centre for Economics, Policy and History (CEPH), an all-Ireland centre of excellence linking Trinity College Dublin and Queen's University Belfast, grew a staff base and began its first full year of research.
• The Finance and AI Research Lab (FAB) at Queen's Business School was launched, tackling the application of artificial intelligence in financial services.
• And much more. Follow #QBSResearch to stay up to date.

Global Reach

• In April we appointed our first International Partnership Manager to build on relationships with existing partners, develop the reach of our portfolio globally, and help encourage outward mobility and greater research collaboration.
• We now have 52 live global partnerships - providing opportunities for students and staff to study, research and work abroad, take part in joint education programmes, and welcoming international students and staff to Queen's Business School.
• This includes 24 study abroad agreements across the Americas, Europe and Australia; summer schools in Italy, the Netherlands, and the USA; and research collaboration agreements in South Africa, Belgium, Ireland and Kazakhstan.
• We have an exciting new collaboration with the top ranked private university in India, OP Jindal Global University, for their students to join QBS at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.  
• We joined the Global Business School Network to reinforce the School’s commitment to provide transformative experiences for students and amplify the emphasis on socioeconomic impact and inclusive societies.

Connections with Industry

• In April we appointed our first Business Engagement and Employability Manager to enhance existing and identify new relationships with business and multinational organisations.
• We now have 13 members of staff dedicated to enhancing our business engagement and employability opportunities.
• Our Business Clinic proved increasingly popular, with organisations local and global benefitting from student consultancy support.
• In 2023, we sponsored the Women In Business Awards, Sustainability Awards, CIPD NI Awards, Vava Awards, and NI Chamber of Commerce President's Banquet.
• We completed the first cohort of Data Duo Mentoring partnerships. There were 11 partnerships in total, and two of our students were offered graduate jobs as a result of successful working relationships.
• The new FinTrU Trading Room was launched in the QBS Student Hub, boasting access to 26 Bloomberg terminals and enhanced opportunities for learning.
• The QBS Analytics Lab was founded, to support SMEs, government agencies, and social enterprises to leverage business data and analytics to drive innovation, address challenges, and enhance decision making.
• And much more. Follow #QBSBusiness to stay up to date.

Executive Education at the Clinton Leadership Institute

• 112 business owners and managers were trained through the part-funded Help To Grow: Management course.
• 556 students upskilled in leadership and management, digital, data and in advanced manufacturing leadership through the SKILL UP initiative. 
• The Digital Transformation Flexible Fund was launched, including the Toolbox programme with Brenda Clerkin, which helps managers and business owners to understand a range of potential technologies that could support their digital transformation planning journey.

Events

• BDO NI Schools Challenge
• International Women's Day - Out of my Comfort Zone
• Data for Good Hackathon
• Joe Kennedy III opened our Student Hub building
• Student Prizegiving 2023
• Building the Geothermal Sector in Northern Ireland
• Mary McAleese Diversity Lecture with Dame Kate Barker
• Delivering Business and Economic Growth in Northern Ireland: National Productivity Week
• Queen's Business School Launch
• And many more. See all past events here.

Goodbye 2023!

In 2023 we waved goodbye to Dr Renee Prendergast, our colleague of over 40 years, who took her well-deserved retirement and will now serve as an Honorary staff member. Thank you to Renee for her brilliant work over the years, and her tireless efforts to promote gender equality through our Athena Swan accreditation.

And a huge thanks to our students, staff, and all our colleagues in academia and industry for a fantastic year. From those front and centre of Queen's Business School to those working hard behind the scenes, we wish you all a peaceful festive break with your loved ones.