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Advanced Topics in Leadership Research - 5 ECTS


Date and time

Monday 28 September 2026 at 09:00 to Friday 2 October 2026 at 15:30

Registration Deadline

Monday 10 August 2026 at 23:55

Location

TBA, To be confirmed, 2000 Frederiksberg TBA
To be confirmed
2000 Frederiksberg

Advanced Topics in Leadership Research - 5 ECTS


Course Coordinators: Sara Louise Muhr, Florence Villeséche & Michael Pedersen, Department of Business Humanities and Law (BHL)

Faculty

Professor Sara Louise Muhr
Department of Business Humanities and Law

Associate Professor Michael Pedersen
Department of Business Humanities and Law

Associate Professor Florence Villeséche
Department of Business Humanities and Law

Assistant Professor Nicole Ferry
Department of Management, Society and Communication

Associate Professor Eric Guthey
Department of Management, Society and Communication

Associate Professor Sverre Spoelstra
Lunds University

Prerequisites

The participants are expected to submit a 5-page description of their full PhD project one week before the course. The student papers will be discussed in small groups in a feedback session during the course. The students are therefore required to read each other’s papers before the course starts.

Content and objectives of the PhD course:

This course offers an overview of current debates and themes in the field of leadership studies, including a broad range of perspectives, ranging from transformational, shared, and distributed leadership, leadership and ethics, discursive leadership studies, critical perspectives, and leadership development, among others. In particular, the course aims to focus on existing and potential interfaces, connections, and frictions between leadership studies and other fields within organization studies.

 

The course will be divided into 2 themes a day, that is, 8 themes in total plus feedback sessions discussing the students’ projects and a final session on the future of leadership studies:

  • Theme 1: Overview and history of leadership studies
  • Theme 2: Shared, distributed, complexity & relational leadership
  • Theme 3: Leadership and being 
  • Theme 4: Leadership and digitization
  • Theme 5: Leadership and well-being
  • Theme 6: Diversity, inclusion and leadership
  • Theme 7: Power, responsibility and leadership 
  • Theme 8: Leadership development

Teaching style

The course is organized as a 5-day on-site learning experience. The pedagogy includes teacher and student presentations, break-out sessions, “PhD troubleshooting” sessions (a half-day session focused on the specific problems or challenges that the participants encounter in their PhD work in relation to the topic of leadership) and intensive reading and discussion of texts. The pedagogical approach reflects that a productive learning experience is co-created; hence, students will be invited to mobilize their knowledge (their PhD research) in relation to not just the texts but also in relation to their colleagues’ work. This interactive learning experience is complemented by concise input and guidance of debates by faculty.

Learning objectives

After the course, the student is expected to be able to

  • Engage with the field of leadership studies, acknowledging the variety of methodological and theoretical approaches, and formulate a valid research contribution to it.
  • Critically discuss current issues in the field of leadership studies, particularly concerning the intersection between leadership and organization studies.
  • Advance their PhD significantly within a deeper sense of the overall leadership research terrain


Workload:

Type  Hours
Teaching 35
Reading 95
Paper production 10

 

Preliminary Schedule

Day 1

 Activity

 Faculty

9:00 – 10:00

Welcome

Sara, Michael & Florence

10:00 – 12:30

Theme 1: Overview and history of leadership studies

Sara 

12:30 – 13:30

Lunch

 

13:30 – 16:00

Theme 2: Shared, distributed, complexity & relational leadership

Sara

16:00 – 16:30

Groupwork and discussion: How do the themes from today link with our PhD projects?

Sara 

Day 2

 

 

9:00 –  9:30

Wrap up from yesterday

Florence

9:30 – 12:00

Theme 3: Leadership and being 

Florence

12:00 –13:00

Lunch

 

13:00 – 15:30

Theme 4: Leadership and digitization

Sverre 

15:30 – 16:00

Groupwork and discussion: How do the themes from today link with our PhD projects?

Sverre 

Day 3

 

 

9:00 – 9:30

Wrap up from yesterday

Michael

9:30 - 12:00

Theme 5: Leadership and well-being

Michael

12:00 – 13:00

Lunch

 

13:00 – 15:30

Theme 6: Diversity, inclusion and leadership

Sara 

15:30 – 16:00

Groupwork and discussion: How do the themes from today link with our PhD projects?

Sara 

18:00 -

Dinner (not included in fee)

 

Day 4

 

 

9:00 – 9:30

Wrap up from yesterday

 Florence

9:30 - 12:00

Theme 7: Power, responsibility and leadership 

 Florence

12:00 – 13:00

Lunch

 

13:00 – 15:30

Theme 8: Leadership development

Nicole & Eric 

15:30-16:00

Groupwork and discussion: How do the themes from today link with our PhD projects?

Nicole & Eric

Day 5

 

 

9.00-10.00

Wrap up from the week

Sara, Florence & Michael

10.00-12.30

Feedback on student projects:

Small groups of 3-4 students with each their instructor.

Sara, Florence, Michael, Nicole, Eric & Sverre

12.30-13.30

Lunch

 

13.30-15.30

Wrap-up of the course, the future of leadership studies

Sara, Florence & Michael

 

Preliminary literature for the themes:

To be updated.


Note:
In case we receive more registrations for the course than we have seats, CBS PhD students will have first priority. Remaining seats will be filled on a first come first serve.

Registration Deadline and Conditions

The registration deadline is 10 August 2026. If you wish to cancel your registration, it must be done by this date. By this deadline, we determine whether there are enough registrations to run the course or decide who should be offered a seat if we have received too many registrations.

If seats are still available, we will extend the registration deadline to fill the remaining spots. Once you receive our acceptance/welcome letter, your registration becomes binding, and no course fee refunds will be issued. The binding registration date is the deadline mentioned above.
 
 
Payment Methods
 
Ensure you choose the correct payment method when finalizing your registration:
 
CBS students:
Select the payment method CBS PhD students. The course fee will be deducted from your PhD course budget.
 
Students from Other Danish Universities: 
Select the payment method Danish Electronic Invoice (EAN). Provide your EAN number, attention, and any relevant purchase (project) order number.
If you do not pay via EAN number, select Invoice to pay via electronic bank payment (+71).
 
Students from Foreign Universities:
Select the payment method Payment Card. If you are unable to pay by credit card, choose Invoice International to pay via bank transfer.
 

Organizer Contact Information

CBS PhD School
Nina Iversen

Phone: +45 3815 2475
ni.research@cbs.dk

Organizer Contact Information

CBS PhD School
Nina Iversen

Phone: +45 3815 2475
ni.research@cbs.dk