University of Hamburg - to research, to teach, to educate and form, to homepage
University of Hamburg Business School
University of HamburgBusiness School

Photo: UHH

Ethics, responsibility, and sustainability

Pride flag on campus, 2020
Commitment to diversity: The Pride flag flying high on campus, 2020. Copyright: UHH/Ohme

Committed to ethics, responsibility, and sustainability

The School’s commitment to ERS is embedded in its mission to foster “critical thinking for a sustainable future” and its vision of developing responsible “future leaders.” The School’s values are inspired by the Hanseatic “honorable merchants” who have shaped commerce in Hamburg for centuries. Honorable merchants “are smart and successful business leaders with a global network and a pronounced sense of responsibility for their own companies, for society, and for the environment.” In line with this, ERS is embodied in three of the School’s values:

  • Responsibility: We uphold and encourage sustainable, socially responsible behavior.
  • Openness: We engage openly with other disciplines, communities and cultures. We embrace diversity in all its forms.
  • Connectedness: We are a collegiate and supportive community that fosters cooperation and gives researchers and students the autonomy to flourish.

The School has been recognized for its commitment to ERS with two major prizes from the University of Hamburg.

Strategy and reporting

ERS is an integral part of the School’s Strategy, especially in regard to Research, and Programs and Students, and in its Equal Opportunity Strategy.

The School reports on ERS in its annual Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) report, its Annual Report, and its EQUIS accreditation reports.

Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) reports

Contents

Equal opportunities and diversity 

The Faculty embraces equal opportunities and actively promotes diversity through its Equal Opportunity Strategy. It works closely with the University's central Equal Opportunity Office.

Equal opportunities office

The representative office is responsible for developing  and implementing the Faculty's Equal Opportunity Strategy. It is headed by the Equal Opportunity Representative, who consults closely with and advises the Management Board, and is consulted in relation to professorial appointments. 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact a representative:

Measures and information

The Faculty's Equal Opportunity Strategy (2023-2027) [PDF]

In accordance with the strategy, the Faculty has adopted a number of measures to improve equal opportunities and diversity, including: 

  • Promoting diversity in the different employment groups, e.g., women, people with a migration background or with disabilities are explicitly encouraged to apply for core faculty positions and are preferred when applicants have the same level of qualifications.
  • Study program regulations with provisions for disadvantaged students (e.g., with hearing disabilities) to enter the programs as well as other forms of support (e.g., sign language in lectures).
  • Cooperative initiatives with Engineering, Mathematics and Information Systems to increase the quota of women studying in these areas.
  • Mentoring programs for students and doctoral researchers.
  • Post-doc scholarship program: The Elisabeth Eisfeld Postdoctoral Funding Program is primarly to support female post-docs involved in international research collaborations. 
  • Parental leave program: A program (the "BWLternzeitmodell") to fund replacements when (post)doctoral academic staff go on parental leave. Awarded an “Equal Opportunity Prize” by the University's Academic Senate for “outstanding, visible, and sustainable activities promoting gender equality.” 
  • Parent-Child Room: A dedicated space tailored to the needs of parents with children is available in VMP5. Book the room over Indico.

The Equal Opportunity Databank provides information on measures and programs provided within the University. 

Advice and support

The equal opportunity representative and deputies of the Faculty of Business Administration offer advice and support on how to reconcile caregiving duties with studying and research. Find more information on additional services on the Family Office webpages.

Furthermore, the Faculty provides counseling for persons affected by discrimination, sexual harassment, and violence. Students in need can also get help from the Campus Center’s psychological counseling services. The Center for Health and Workplace Cooperation gladly provides counseling for Universität Hamburg employees.

Research

Standards and ethics

Publications

The School produces excellent research related to ERS. The ERS focus is strongest in health economics. Research in several other areas is also highly relevant, including logistics and CO2 emissions, ethical entrepreneurship, sustainable finance and institutions, fraud, and AI and ethics. From 2023 to 2025, for example, faculty have published 115 research articles (44% of total articles) related to ERS, with 39 (34% of ERS articles) appearing in top international journals (FT50 and/or VHB Rating A+/A). The majority of the articles address the following four UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

  • SDG 3: Good health and well-being. “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.” 60 articles.
  • SDG 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure: “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.” 14 articles.
  • SDG 12: Responsible consumption and production: “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.” 10 articles.
  • SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions: “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.” 21 articles.

Study Programs

Intended Learnings Outcomes

In its programs, the School’s commitment to ERS is made explicit in two Intended Learning Outcomes:

  • ILO 5: Socially-responsible decision making: think and act ethically, responsibly, and sustainably.
  • ILO 6: International mindset: engage respectfully and successfully with different cultures and perspectives in an international context. In M.Sc. only: communicate competently and have good negotiation skills in an intercultural context.

ERS related content

ERS-related content BSc MSc
  2025 (%) 2025 (%)
ILO 5: Socially-responsible decision making 28.3 26.8
ILO 6: International mindset 13.8 14.6
ERS in an important topic in the module 18.1 23.2
ERS content, examples, and/or perspectives 74.5 53.7
Ethics in research/good scientific practice 48.9 40.2
ERS case studies 21.3 28.0
Student theses: ERS is an important topic (2023–2025) 22.9 29.5

ERS prize for best thesis

Theses: 23% of bachelor and 29% of master theses completed between 2023 and 2025 had a strong relationship to ERS.

In 2023, the School introduced a sponsored prize for the best theses related to ERS in each semester. Prize winners include: