University of St. Gallen

Overview

The University of St. Gallen (HSG) is a public research university in Switzerland. It is still known as HSG from its past name in German, Handels-Hochschule St. Gallen. Founded in 1898, it has built a reputation of being a specialist in the fields of law, economics, international affairs, and business administration. Many university ranking organizations consider it as one of the leading business schools in the world.

Since its inception, the university has undergone many name changes. One of them was the University of St. Galen for Economics, Law, and Social Sciences (Hochschule St. Gallen für Wirtschafts-, Rechts- und Sozialwissenschaften). This reflected the specialist nature of the university curricula. It was only in 1989 that it took on its current name but retained the HSG abbreviation.

Today, HSG continues to provide specialist educations through the following school divisions: (1) School of Management, (2) School of Finances, (3) School of Economics and Political Science, (4) School of Humanities and Social Sciences, its (5) Law School, and the (6) School of Computer Science. Courses range from those in International Affairs to Marketing Management.

What is unique about HSG is that its schools provide courses in an integrative manner and are given in an interdisciplinary manner. For instance, its approach to teaching economics is to make its various schools teach it through their particular lenses and shared understanding. The Schools of Management, Economics and Political Science, and Finance contribute to its teaching. Meanwhile, the HSG Law School has its primary focus on Business Law. Collaborations within schools are required to provide a holistic education in these subject areas. Moreover, its School of Humanities and Social Sciences also takes an integrative approach. It models its teaching and research by drawing from 12 subject areas in various related disciplines.

The university’s newest school, the School of Computer Science, was added in 2020. It is designed to start accepting students for a master’s program in computer science. Moreover, it is on track to offer a bachelor’s degree in the field as well. Currently, the school’s researchers and professors are doing active research in the fields of data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.

The university also hosts and is affiliated with around 32 research institutes. This is all to provide its graduates with a chance to be trained in their fields using real-world dynamics. The institutes the university hosts are being run independently and in an entrepreneurial manner. They are also active in consultancy work for both public and commercial organizations.

Furthermore, the university encourages its students to collaborate closely with the professional world. To this end, it leverages partnerships to bring students and researchers close to the intersection between academia and industry. This brought about the creation of spin-off companies with ties to HSG.