On Thursday 5 and Friday 6 October, the office community Station close to CBS was buzzing with life as 75 specially invited master’s students gave talks on their thesis topics at the Thesis Festival. The Thesis Festival has been held since 2021. Master’s students from all Danish universities can apply to give presentations, and 75 are chosen from a range of universities and study fields. 650 people visited the festival this year and it is free to participate.

“The idea behind the Thesis Festival is to create a platform that helps spread knowledge from the many theses that are created by master’s students every year,” says Thomas Aaboe Fredholm, project manager at Station.

For Station, it is important that the festival enables the students participating to share their knowledge as well as other students – and the world at large – to gain knowledge. The bachelor’s or master’s students attending will soon be choosing topics for their own theses, but the event is also attended by high-school students who want a better understanding of which topics you can end up working with when you choose particular study fields.

Master’s students from all universities may apply to give talks, and several CBS students participated this year. This is the third year Station has hosted the festival and feedback from the previous years has been very positive.

Audience at the Thesis Festival. Photo: Jeremy Bohdan

“The students are excited about the opportunity to share the knowledge that they have spent so much time accumulating, and the festival creates connections and a network that they can use moving forward,” Thomas Aaboe Fredholm says.

Thesis Festival forces you to find your most easily accessible thesis highlights

For Irene Veje Rønsbo, a CBS master’s student of Social Sciences in Political Communication and Management, it was inspirational and entertaining to meet others who had written about topics that she knew nothing or little about, but still finds fascinating.

“Listening to the talks proved a captivating and enlightening experience that provided me with valuable insights that I wouldn’t have gained otherwise. How often do we truly delve into others’ theses? I found myself deeply fascinated and inspired by the presentations, and motivated to distil my own thesis, highlighting its most engaging and accessible aspects,” she says.

Irene Veje Rønsbo’s thesis is titled “The changing landscape of male leadership: Accountability in the aftermath of Me too” in which she explores the complex landscape of addressing sexism and sexual harassment with a focus on the unique challenges faced by responsible male leaders in effectively handling these issues. She was encouraged to sign up for the Thesis Festival by her thesis supervisor and would encourage everyone to apply for it.

“At the Thesis Festival, you not only participate in an enrichening workshop that teaches you to identify and present the core elements of your thesis in an engaging way, you also have the opportunity to share the depth of your ‘nerdy’ knowledge. While working on my thesis, I was deeply immersed in the subject matter, which made it challenging to discuss it with anyone other than my supervisor. However, this event compelled me to rethink how to communicate my research to a broader audience.”

Anna Thomasson, Dean of Education giving her opening speech at the Thesis Festival. Photo: Jeremy Bohdan.

Besides the great experience of having attended the Thesis Festival, the preparation for it also meant that she feels better prepared to write features and contribute to a debate about the topic, as she has been encouraged to do.

If you missed the festival this year, recordings of the speeches are available online at Specialefestivalen.dk. The dates for next year’s festival have not yet been announced.