The study program in Mathematical Economics was initiated because, in 2008, it was assessed that there was a good chance it could also be successful in Aalborg, just as it had been in Aarhus, Odense, and Copenhagen. The Mathematical Economics program was first established in 1971 at Aarhus University and became a great success over the years. Later, permission was granted to start the program at Odense University (which later became the University of Southern Denmark), and much later, at the University of Copenhagen.

Back to AAU: Visionary people, such as the then Dean Frede Blaabjerg and the then Head of the Department of Mathematical Sciences, Susanne Christensen, assessed in 2008 that there was a market for education in Mathematical Economics at AAU as well. However, back then, we could not simply start a university program. We had to apply and obtain permission from the Accreditation Institution under the Ministry of Research in Copenhagen. I — who at the time was employed at Aarhus University — was then affiliated as an external member of the working group that would handle the application process. When our application was approved by the Accreditation Institution in Copenhagen, AAU (specifically the Department of Mathematical Sciences) needed someone "within the field," so to speak, and I, being a Mathematical Economist myself from Aarhus University, ended up being permanently employed at AAU in 2009, primarily to launch the Mathematical Economics program.

It was a fruitful process in the working group (with a fine collaboration within the working group) that in 2008 led to the program being approved to start in September 2009.

The Mathematical Economics program can objectively be said to have become a tremendous success at AAU as well. The number of graduates has been steadily increasing since the first graduates completed their studies in 2014. There is high demand for our graduates in the business sector. As far as we know, all of them are employed. Our graduates have learned an analytical approach to problem-solving, where they acquire technical (mathematical) specialist knowledge that is crucial for this analytical approach. I assume that this, along with the group-oriented teaching and PBL (Problem-Based Learning), contributes to the high demand for our graduates in the job market.

The biggest challenge is — and has always been — the lack of staff in the research and education group behind Mathematical Economics. Fortunately, today we have several younger colleagues in the group, but to maintain the research foundation of the program, more colleagues in Mathematical Economics will be needed in the future, as the program is the largest among the three programs at the Department of Mathematical Sciences.

Next, of course, are the declining student cohorts, which also mean that the growth in the number of Mathematical Economics students is stagnating or even declining.