The School

• Accreditation success continued in 2024 with two prestigious accolades achieved. Firstly in May the Five Year EQUIS Reaccreditation was awarded.
• Then in October the AMBA carried out an extensive audit and once again QBS was Reaccredited by AMBA: A Testament to Excellence in Management Education.
• Staff numbers increased with fifteen new Academic colleagues joining the school and six Professional Services joining the Team.
• Total increase from 2023 to 2024 is an increase of five staff members to 196 at the end of 2024.

Awards

• The school continues as a PRME Champion Institution for 2024-2025 due to the track record of impactful contributions in thought and action leadership. The world class QBS Student Hub will host the PRME conference in June 2025.
• Dr Alan Fernihough, Senior Lecturer in Economics was awarded the Barrington Medal 2024 by the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland.
• Dr David Jordan, Lecturer in Economics Appointed as Advisor to Northern Ireland’s Department for the Economy acting as an Independent Expert Advisor on Productivity.
• The Student Hub keeps winning - NI Public Sector Project Category in RICS Awards 2024 and the CEF Construction Excellence Awards 2024.

Students

• We supported 2618 students currently registered at Queen's Business School: 1963 undergraduates, 655 postgraduate taught, 18 MBA students, and 71 PhD students.
• 27% of our student body is international, supported by a dedicated team of International Student Advisers.
• The devoted Careers and Work Placement Office developed and coached 253 students to gain career-enhancing placement opportunities.
• Placements were taken up in the UK, the Republic of Ireland, and internationally; in countries including Spain, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Austria, Germany, China, Singapore, Australia, and the USA.
• We celebrated with the students at the annual Prizegiving event, kindly sponsored by a host of brilliant business connections.

Research

• Led by Dr Hangfei Guo, Senior Lecturer in Supply Chain Management at Queen’s Business School, we secured one of the largest research grants – a £6.25m UKRI Award to Revolutionise UK Supply Chains.
• Dr Juliet Hassard from QBS co-authored a New Study which Finds Mental Health Training for Line Managers Linked to Better Business Performance.
• Research by Dr David Jordan and Professor John Turner  showed productivity gap in Northern Ireland has widened.
• Follow #QBSResearch to stay up to date.

Global Reach

• With now more than 60 live global partnerships – the opportunities for students and staff to study, research and work abroad are vast.
• This includes 26 study abroad agreements across the Americas, Europe and Australia; summer schools in Italy, the Netherlands, and the USA; and research collaboration agreements in South Africa, Belgium, Ireland and Kazakhstan.
• A number of new agreements signed with partners such as Harbin University of Science and Technology and Narcoz University, Kazakhstan.

Connections With Industry

• The Business Clinic proved increasingly popular, with organisations locally  and globally benefitting from student consultancy support.
• In 2024, we sponsored the Women In Business Awards, Sustainability Awards, CIPD NI Awards, EMEEN Panel Discussion and Vava Awards.
• The 2024 cohort of Data Duo Mentoring partnerships were completed. With a good number of partnerships from companies, and some students offered graduate jobs as a result of successful relationships.
• Queen's Receives Largest In-kind Donation From US Tech Company to support SMEs, government agencies, and social enterprises to leverage business data and analytics to drive innovation, address challenges, and enhance decision making.     
• Countless awards and events sponsored to support the local business community, a few examples Women In Business Awards NI 2024, Business Eye Awards 2024, VAVA Awards 2024, and a Fireside Panel Discussion.
• And much more. Follow #QBSBusiness to stay up to date.

Executive Education at the Clinton Leadership Institute

• Help To Grow: Management course continued to upskill business owners from across Northern Ireland with 48 completing the programme in 2024.
• 409 participants upskilled in leadership and management, digital, data and in advanced manufacturing leadership through the SKILL UP initiative. 
• Three calls of the Digital Transformation Flexible Fund were delivered by the Institute that included 33 in-person briefing sessions across Northern Ireland in all 11 council jurisdictions, 10 online briefing sessions and 2 series of 14 webinars to an audience of 1237 attendees from the Micro and SME business community.

Events

• Glenlola Collegiate students win the 2024 NI Schools’ Business Challenge
• International Women's Day 2024: Reach For Better Business
• Students Prizegiving 2024
• Queen’s Graduates Connect In London
• CAN – Giving Back to Local Community
• Queen's Business School Hosts Major Datathon at Global Innovation Summit 2024
• And many more. See all past events here.

Goodbye 2024

And a huge thanks to our students, staff, and all our colleagues in academia and industry for a fantastic year. From those front and centre of Queen's Business School to those working hard behind the scenes, we wish you all a peaceful festive break with your loved ones.