Despite the research diversity inherent in its three basic disciplinary areas, the School unites its researchers in a single Research Unit with a cross-disciplinary orientation, leveraging the diversity of research taking place. Management research comprises leadership, strategy, marketing, consumer behaviour, and entrepreneurship and innovation. Economics includes public policy with micro (education, healthcare, development, environment, natural resources) and macro (unemployment, fiscal policy, and economic growth) dimensions. Finance includes corporate finance, institutional investment, mutual funds, theoretical and empirical models of asset pricing, energy markets, risk management, and sustainable finance.
Accompanying the School’s growth on the new campus, the Unit also grew significantly in recent years, from 73 integrated researchers in 2018 to 112 in 2024, 84 PhD candidates and 13 Research Collaborators, who benefit from excellent hosting conditions. The library serves as a fundamental resource hub. The research infrastructure DataLab provides researchers with a secure and reliable platform to store, manage, and analyse data, giving access to a large set of databases. The Behavioural Lab is pivotal for conducting controlled studies that delve into human decision-making processes. Weekly seminars series (Economics, Finance, Management, and NOVAFRICA) with invited speakers from international top departments provide exposure to state-of-the-art research. Researchers receive funds to present their work at international conferences. Furthermore, researchers benefit from strong support from operational areas in the coordination and implementation of research activities, in particular grant applications, project management, research communication, data management, as well as PhD management.
Most of the Unit’s researchers are members of one or more of the School’s knowledge centres (KCs), set up to cross-fertilize applied and fundamental research in the critical areas for the development of the Unit´s mission. This flexible form distinguishes KCs from the rigidity of traditional closed research groups. In 2018-23, the Economics for Policy, Economics of Education, and Open & User Innovation KCs were added to the previously existing Finance, Leadership for Impact, Health Economics & Management, NOVAFRICA, Environmental Economics, and Data Science KCs. They signal areas of expertise and embody a decisive orientation toward the business community, and public and non-profit institutions, transferring knowledge through academic programmes and executive education, while bringing science closer to the general public, companies, and decision makers.
With the aim to sustain and expand excellence, knowledge dissemination, and societal impact of research with international recognition, the Unit, in close relationship with the KCs, carries out regular activities to achieve the objectives of developing excellent research, enhancing international research networks, and strengthening knowledge transfer.