Sustainable Management and Technology

Increasing social interest in sustainability-oriented business, changes in consumer behavior toward renewable and regenerative products, and political agreements and regulations with stricter environmental and climate targets have created a market where companies are now, more than ever, in demand to master the technological change toward climate-neutral and sustainable resource and technology management.

This structural change requires specialists with a business education based on sustainable concepts as well as knowledge in energy and process technology, biotechnology and material sciences in order to be able to redesign internal company production processes towards resource-saving and sustainable supply chains. This also includes approaches to circular economy. The aim is to develop holistic approaches for the comprehensive use of renewable raw materials and waste, and to be able to evaluate and optimize these in terms of their benefits. In addition, a global perspective is necessary, since companies are in international competition and should be enabled to contribute to the achievement of global sustainability goals.

The interdisciplinary master's program in Sustainable Management and Technology bridges the gap between business and technical areas of enterprise. Additionally, it trains the leaders of tomorrow's sustainable economy to understand and shape entrepreneurial developments and their impact on society and the economy in the necessary depth and complexity.

Which further expertise and skills will I acquire?

For the rapidly growing fields of sustainability, managers are needed who know the special features and challenges of sustainability-oriented companies and value chains and can implement these in corporate strategies and management concepts. They should be able to think in economic and material cycles, as well as have basic knowledge of chemical-material and energetic utilization paths of biogenic and regenerative raw materials and be able to develop these further.

The Master’s program in Sustainable Management and Technology trains innovative managers who have an understanding of the necessary entrepreneurial structural change and are able to shape the increasingly complex tasks of technological change at this interface between entrepreneurial activities and technical, natural and life science functions.

The students acquire competences for the construction, organization, planning, coordination, execution and control of sustainable systems in areas such as raw material procurement, technology development, production and logistics, marketing and sales or controlling and accounting, taking into account business, macroeconomic, ecological and social effects. They can use their acquired technical and scientific fundamentals of the individual stages in the value chains – from cultivation to recycling – including key technologies of sustainable chemistry and energy management, biotechnology, material sciences and digitalization to analyze the basis for management decisions and their effects from a technical and scientific perspective.

They will also gain insight into other disciplines in order to be able to acquire knowledge independently in the future so that they can use this independently in the subject- and discipline-specific as well as interdisciplinary forms of problem-solving and decision-making. As business is not only regionally or nationally limited, but embedded in a globally networked and digital society, students are empowered to be able to work in international teams on solutions to sustainability issues.

Which professional opportunities can I take up with this qualification?

With the skills acquired in the Master’s program, graduates are able to analyze, develop, implement and disseminate the sustainable idea in companies in all economic sectors of industry, trade, finance and consulting and in all operational functions (such as research and development, purchasing, production, sales and controlling) in a methodologically sound and innovative manner as analysts, innovators and mediators across functions and disciplines.