Nova School of Business and Economics

Nova School of Business and Economics, commonly known as Nova SBE, was founded in 1978 as part of Universidade Nova de Lisboa, a public research university established in Portugal's post-revolution period as a deliberate break from older, more rigid academic institutions. Located in Carcavelos, just west of Lisbon, Nova SBE occupies a striking oceanside campus that opened in 2022, replacing its former Campolide premises. The school's founding philosophy was shaped by economics more than management — an unusual starting point for a business school, and one that still distinguishes how faculty approach problems: with rigour first, practice second. Today, Nova SBE positions itself as Portugal's leading business school and a credible voice in Southern European business education, with a clear ambition to be competitive at the European level.

Accreditations and Rankings

Triple Crown Accredited:

• AACSB
• EQUIS
• AMBA

Fewer than 1% of business schools worldwide hold all three accreditations simultaneously. Nova SBE is among them.

Rankings:

• Financial Times European Business School Ranking: #37 in Europe (2023)
• Financial Times Masters in Management: #28 globally (2023)
• Financial Times Executive Education Open Programs: ranked among the top European programs (2023)
• QS Global MBA Rankings: listed among top programs in Southern Europe

Executive Education at a Glance

Nova SBE Executive Education has been growing steadily into a serious player in the open and custom program market, with particular strength in leadership, strategy, finance, and sustainability — the last of which reflects the school's formal commitment to impact-driven research through its Nova SBE Impact Lab. The portfolio spans both open enrollment and corporate programs, with custom work representing a significant and growing share; major Portuguese and multinational companies operating in the Iberian and Lusophone markets frequently commission tailored programs directly. Open programs typically run between two days and several weeks, with formats ranging from fully in-person residentials on the Carcavelos campus to blended and online options that have expanded since 2020. Flagship offerings include programs in leadership development, financial management, digital transformation, and sustainability strategy. Fees for open programs generally range from approximately €1,500 for shorter modules to €8,000 or more for intensive multi-day or multi-week formats. The school does not widely advertise blanket scholarships for executive participants, though corporate group rates and early-bird pricing are commonly available.

Campus and Facilities

The Carcavelos campus, inaugurated in 2022 and designed by the architectural practice Frederico Valsassina, sits on 4.5 hectares next to the Atlantic coast, roughly 25 kilometres from central Lisbon. It is one of the most architecturally deliberate new business school campuses in Europe — open-plan, flooded with natural light, and organised around collaboration rather than hierarchy. For executive participants, the facilities include dedicated breakout spaces, seminar rooms built for small-cohort discussion, and a campus environment that is deliberately different from the urban conference-hotel circuit that many executive programs rely on. The city of Lisbon itself adds a layer that is difficult to replicate: as one of Western Europe's fastest-growing tech and startup ecosystems — home to Web Summit since 2016 — it provides a live case study in digital economy transition that participants can observe and engage with outside the classroom.

Faculty and Research

Nova SBE's faculty numbers approximately 150 PhD-qualified academics, with a notably international profile — a significant proportion completed their doctoral training at leading North American and Northern European universities, giving the school an intellectual cosmopolitanism that is not typical of Southern European institutions. Research strengths cluster around economics and public policy, finance, marketing science, and — increasingly — sustainability and impact measurement, the latter anchored by the Nova SBE Impact Lab, which focuses on applied research into social and environmental challenges. Faculty are expected to maintain active research agendas, and many consult regularly with European institutions, central banks, and multinational corporations, which means the gap between what they publish and what they teach in executive programs tends to be narrow. The school also maintains a formal connection to the Banco de Portugal's research network, reflecting its deep roots in economic rather than purely managerial thinking.

Student Body, Alumni, and Career Outcomes

Executive cohorts at Nova SBE draw heavily from Portugal and the broader Lusophone world — Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, and Cape Verde — reflecting the school's unique positioning at the intersection of European and Portuguese-speaking markets, a geographic reach that very few European business schools can match organically. The broader alumni network spans over 20,000 graduates across more than 70 countries, with strong concentrations in financial services, consulting, and consumer goods. Major employers of Nova SBE alumni include McKinsey, EY, Deloitte, Santander, and Jerónimo Martins, the latter being one of Portugal's largest corporations and a significant recruiter from the school's programs. For senior professionals, the alumni network's density in Lisbon's growing tech and financial sectors, combined with its reach into Portuguese-speaking markets in Africa and South America, represents a genuinely distinctive kind of connectivity.