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 Solvay Brussels School's main building | |
| Type | Faculty of theUniversité libre de Bruxelles |
|---|---|
| Established | 1899: ULB Department of Economics[1] 1903: Solvay Business School[1] 2008: Merger to SBS-EM |
| Dean | Catherine Dehon |
Academic staff | 630 |
| Students | 3,700[2] |
| Undergraduates | 1,950 |
| Location | Brussels, Belgium 50°48′50″N4°22′44″E / 50.813815°N 4.378907°E /50.813815; 4.378907 |
| Campus | Urban:Solbosch/Solbos,ULB |
| Affiliations | Université libre de Bruxelles,EQUIS,AMBA |
| Website | sbsem |
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TheSolvay Brussels School of Economics and Management (abbreviated as SBS-EM and also known as simply Solvay) is a school of economics and management, and a Faculty of theUniversité libre de Bruxelles (ULB), aFrench-speaking private research university located inBrussels,Belgium. Business education started in 1899, and Solvay was established in 1903 through a donation from the industrialistErnest Solvay.[3]
The roots of the Solvay School stretch back to the founding of the Department of Economics of theFree University of Brussels in 1899, and the founding of the Solvay Business School in 1903.[4]Ernest Solvay founded and funded a business-oriented institution under the name ofÉcole de Commerce Solvay, as a private initiative established with the support of the Brussels business community.
The Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management was established in 2008 as a result of the merger of the Department of Economics and the Solvay Business School.[5] In 2010, the new entity built a new building on theSolbosch/Solbos campus and became a full faculty of theUniversité libre de Bruxelles (ULB). More than 5.000 students attend some thirty programmes at the School today.
The school is located in theIxelles neighborhood ofBrussels on the Solbosch, the central and largest campus of theUniversité libre de Bruxelles (ULB). The main building is situated on the corner of theAvenue Franklin Roosevelt/Franklin Rooseveltlaan and the Avenue Jeanne/Johannalaan near theBois de la Cambre/Ter Kamerenbos, and was built in 2010.
The school grants academic undergraduate degrees (Bachelor of Science), academic master's degrees (Master of Science), advanced master's degrees (pre-experience) and professional/executive master's degrees (post-experience), including more than thirty Executive Education programmes.
Solvay currently offers six separate Master's of Science degrees in:
Solvay also offers three complementary Master's of Science degrees (MCC: Master complémentaire conjoint) in:
These programmes are given bySolvay Lifelong Learning.
These programmes are given bySolvay Lifelong Learning.
The Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management has developed a network of more than 70 partners in 32 countries, with whom some 160 student exchanges are organised each year. The School is the only in Belgium that requires students to undertake a six-month exchange programme in a university abroad. Such exchanges take place principally in Europe, within the framework of theSOCRATES andERASMUS programmes, but also in the United States, Canada,Turkmenistan, Mexico,Peru,Argentina,Egypt, Israel,South Africa, India (IIM Ahmedabad),Korea, Japan,Thailand,Vietnam, China,Taiwan andSingapore.
Solvay Lifelong Learning (SLL) is the executive education division of the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management (SBS-EM), a faculty of the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in Belgium. Established to address the evolving educational needs of professionals, managers, and entrepreneurs, SLL offers a comprehensive portfolio of programmes designed to support continuous personal and professional development.[18][19]
Solvay Lifelong Learning operates under the umbrella of theSolvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, which traces its academic roots back over120 years of excellence in business education, having been established in1903 by industrialist Ernest Solvay. As a faculty of the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), the school maintains a strong academic foundation dedicated to training business leaders and entrepreneurs equipped to adapt to the evolving global landscape. Solvay Brussels School is recognized as the first French-speaking business school in Belgium to hold multiple international accreditations.
The institution offers programs structured into three main categories: Advanced Masters, Executive Education, and Company-Specific Programmes.
These programs are primarily designed for recent Master's graduates and junior professionals, providing hands-on, practical knowledge to prepare them for successful careers in business. Examples include:
The Executive Education portfolio is tailored for experienced professionals seeking to elevate their careers and drive transformative change within their organizations. The offerings cover various functional areas:
Solvay Lifelong Learning partners with companies to developtailor-made, in-house programs designed to address specific organizational challenges and enhance business performance for teams across management, finance, marketing, and strategy.
The core of the offering is aco-creation methodology to ensure the training effectively bridges the gap between an organization's current skills and its strategic goals. The design process involves:
The programs are built on four key pillars:Strategy,Practice,Collaboration, and the use ofActivation Materials. Learning is practical, based on real-life cases, and integrates diverse media and interactive tools like business games, workshops, and field visits. To ensure the training acts as a "genuine agent of change," most programs incorporate elements likewrap-ups/takeaways for collaborative reflection, andindividual coaching sessions to ensure participants translate learned skills into measurable business results. Expertise covers a wide range of areas, including Business Administration, Leadership, Sustainability, Innovation, and Digital Transformation.
Solvay Lifelong Learning benefits from the legacy and international standing of the Solvay Brussels School. Key figures and distinctions associated with the school include:
The Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management is a research-based institution, in two respects. First, the duty of all core faculty members includes the production of scientific output (e.g. publications in peer-review international journals and scientific conferences) and the supervision of PhD candidates. Second, the SBS-EM provides an infrastructure for research, through its three main research centres, the CEB (Centre Emile Bernheim),[20] DULBEA (Department in Applied Economics of ULB),[21] and ECARES (European Centre for Advanced Research in Economics and Statistics),[22] and their doctoral schools. Over the past 5 years, many publications have been produced, including 241 articles in international scientific journals and 41 books.
The CEB, ECARES and DULBEA are the main, 'broad-based', research centers affiliated to the SBS-EM. The two additional thematic research centers are CERMi (Centre Européen de Recherche en Microfinance / Center for European Research in Microfinance),[23] and the Centre for Knowledge Economics (Centre de l'économie de la connaissance).[24]
Affiliated to the SBS-EM, CEB is its research institute in management sciences. It aims to develop and promote advanced scientific research in management sciences. The centre hosts more than 75 (full-time and part-time) professors and researchers in key management disciplines. The CEB's teaching and research staff is currently active in the following management fields: accounting, marketing, business strategy, financial markets, corporate management, industrial economics, management of innovation and international trade.
DULBEA was founded by Etienne Sadi Kirschen in the 1950s, based on the new developments taking place in economics and the theory of econometrics. The DULBEA also gives prominence to recommendations in the field of economic policy.
ECARES, founded in 1991, began as a joint political initiative of the ULB Institute of European Studies and the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), a network of some 500 researchers in Europe.
CERMi (Centre Européen de Recherche en Microfinance / Center for European Research in Microfinance), draws together researchers, involved in microfinance activities in developing countries, from CEB and from the Research Centre Warocque (Université Mons-Hainaut). The CERMi also collabores with the European Microfinance Programme.
The Centre for Knowledge Economics allows the School to bring together all its researchers on one specific topic.
The Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management has an active student life, complementary to the student societies of theUniversité Libre de Bruxelles:
One of the youngest organisations is the Solvay Brussels School Student Finance Club, created in 2010. It is a student run organization that aims to offer its members a wide variety of finance related activities, whether it is investment banking, investment management, venture capital/private equity, or corporate finance. The founders' idea was to create a club that prepares its members for careers in the financial field by fostering an environment that helps them to translate their theoretical knowledge into practice, and that stimulates continuous learning and awareness of recent trends and developments. The club offers those pursuing careers in finance a professional and social network. It constitutes an interface between the finance industry and its members.[29]
In 2011, the SBS Student Consulting Club (SCC)[30] was created. Its mission statement is: "The SCC conducts customized consulting services to deliver hands on solutions. It believes in cultivating integer people who drive entrepreneurship in all businesses and strive to functionally develop committed students."The organization is growing rapidly, both in terms of members and in terms of consulting projects conducted. It won the JADE Belgium Junior Enterprise Challenge in 2012.[31]
The club aims at becoming a Junior Enterprise, which is a certified label by JADE.[32]
Besides the programs developed by the school, students also have the opportunity to take part inESTIEM activities via the Local Group Brussels, part of Cercle Solvay. ESTIEM is the organisation for European Students of Industrial Engineering and Management, whose goal is to establish and foster relations between students across Europe and to support them in their personal and professional development, with a network consisting of 74 local groups in 28 countries, reaching out to 60,000 students.[33]
The alumni network currently has a community of more than 20,000 members in more than 65 countries worldwide. The Solvay Alumni[34] is the association that represents all graduates from the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management or one of its satellite institutions. Within the particular context of Belgium, a country marked in the past by religious and ideological rifts, alumni associations play an extremely important role, especially for the universities.
Notable alumni include the following:
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