Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management


The Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management is a school of economics and management, and a Faculty of the Université libre de Bruxelles, a French-speaking private research university located in Brussels, Belgium. Business education started in 1899, and Solvay was established in 1903 through a donation from the industrialist Ernest Solvay.

Overview

The roots of the Solvay School stretch back to the founding of the Department of Economics of the Free University of Brussels in 1899, and the founding of the Solvay Business School in 1903. Ernest Solvay founded and funded a business-oriented institution under the name of École 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. In 2010, the new entity built a new building on the Solbosch/Solbos campus and became a full faculty of the Université libre de Bruxelles. More than 5.000 students attend some thirty programmes at the School today.

Campus

The school is located in the Ixelles neighborhood of Brussels on the Solbosch, the central and largest campus of the Université libre de Bruxelles. The main building is situated on the corner of the Avenue Franklin Roosevelt/Franklin Rooseveltlaan and the Avenue Jeanne/Johannalaan near the Bois de la Cambre/Ter Kamerenbos, and was built in 2010.

Academics

Programmes

The school grants academic undergraduate degrees, academic master's degrees, advanced master's degrees and professional/executive master's degrees, including more than thirty Executive Education programmes.

Undergraduate B.Sc. programmes

  • B.Sc. in Business Engineering
  • B.Sc. in Economics

    Graduate M.Sc. programmes

Solvay currently offers six separate Master's of Science degrees in:
  • M.Sc. in Business Engineering
  • M.Sc. in Management Science
  • M.Sc. in Economics: Business Economics
  • M.Sc. in Economics: Governance and Public Policy In Europe
  • M.Sc. in Economics: Research in Economics
Solvay also offers three complementary Master's of Science degrees in:
  • M.Sc. in Management
  • M.Sc. in Microfinance
  • M.Sc. in Data Science, Big Data

    Postgraduate programmes (pre-experience)

These programmes are given by .
  • Masters in Finance:
  • * Advanced Master in Financial Markets
  • Masters in Management:
  • * Advanced Master in Innovation and Strategic Management
  • * Advanced Master in Biotech and Medtech Ventures

    Professional/Executive programmes (post-experience)

These programmes are given by .
  • Executive master's programmes
  • * Executive MBA
  • * Accelerated Programme in Management
  • * Executive Master in Tax Management
  • * Executive Master in Management
  • * Executive Master in Digital Marketing & Sustainable Strategies
  • * Executive Master in Cybersecurity Management
  • * Executive Master in Information Risk and Cybersecurity
  • * Executive Master en Management des Institutions de Santé et de Soins
  • * Executive Master in International Association Management
  • * Executive Programmme en Management et Philosophie
  • Executive education programmes

    Doctoral programmes

  • PhD in Economics
  • PhD in Management

    Partners

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 the SOCRATES and ERASMUS programmes, but also in the United States, Canada, Turkmenistan, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Egypt, Israel, South Africa, India, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Taiwan and Singapore.
Solvay Lifelong Learning is the executive education division of the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, a faculty of the Université libre de Bruxelles 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.
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History and Affiliation

Solvay Lifelong Learning operates under the umbrella of the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, which traces its academic roots back over 120 years of excellence in business education, having been established in 1903 by industrialist Ernest Solvay. As a faculty of the Université libre de Bruxelles, 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.
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Academic Programs

The institution offers programs structured into three main categories: Advanced Masters, Executive Education, and Company-Specific Programmes.

Advanced Masters

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:
  • Advanced Master in Innovation & Strategic Management
  • Advanced Master in Financial Markets
  • Advanced Master in Biotech & Medtech Ventures

    Executive Education

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:
  • General Management: Including the Executive MBA and the Accelerated Management Programme.
  • Finance & Tax Management: Such as the Executive Master in Tax Management and Finance for Non-Financials.
  • Digital Transformation & Governance: Including the Executive Master in Cybersecurity Management.
  • Sustainability: Programs like Sustainability Fundamentals and the Executive Programme in Future-Proof Real Estate.
  • Leadership: Focused on areas like People Leadership and Regenerative Leadership.

    Company-Specific Programmes

Solvay Lifelong Learning partners with companies to develop tailor-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 a co-creation methodology to ensure the training effectively bridges the gap between an organization's current skills and its strategic goals. The design process involves:
  1. Needs Analysis: Deeply analyzing the company's mission, strategy, teams, and specific challenges.
  2. Programme Co-creation: Building a customized training journey based on specified objectives and business results. This process includes developing a skills map covering both technical and behavioral competencies.
  3. Academic Team Selection: Selecting specialized experts and coaches who combine deep academic knowledge with practical professional experience.
The programs are built on four key pillars: Strategy, Practice, Collaboration, and the use of Activation 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 like wrap-ups/takeaways for collaborative reflection, and individual 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.
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Accreditations and Legacy

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 school holds three international accreditations, placing it among a select group of globally recognized business schools.
  • It maintains an extensive global network of 35,000+ alumni across more than 65 countries.
  • The institution emphasizes a rigorous curriculum and a rich heritage of academic excellence, preparing professionals to navigate complex business challenges and lead transformations.

    Research

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 and the supervision of PhD candidates. Second, the SBS-EM provides an infrastructure for research, through its three main research centres, the CEB, DULBEA, and ECARES, 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, and the Centre for Knowledge Economics.
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 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, a network of some 500 researchers in Europe.
CERMi, draws together researchers, involved in microfinance activities in developing countries, from CEB and from the Research Centre Warocque. 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.