Mathias Bruhn, Socialt Udviklingscenter Development Director

Why did you choose to study Global Development at UCPH and how has your experience been?

I studied anthropology on my bachelors degree and after that, I had a year where I worked on different social innovations organizations. I was part of a large student group called DANSIC (Danish social innovation club) and I felt that I wanted to make social change and work with social transformation rather than studying it. I wanted to be better at actually making change happen and working with different types of actors while understanding different languages and types of research. For me, it was a good way to broadening my way of understanding what makes social change, and it was also a good way to continuing a more interdisciplinary path.

I think the Master was both confusing and challenging along the way, but also a very good experience. I was part of the first year and thought that they succeeded on doing many things that they set up for.

What do you highlight the most from this experience?

What I really bring with me is the degree to which I can understand different types of sectors or disciplines. I now have a very good understanding of how various research and working areas work, both for themselves and together, so that broad level of understanding is very important for the work I do now.

What was your employment situation after finishing the degree?

I had a job opening when I ended, I was doing an internship as a junior consult at the place where I was working just before I handed my thesis. It was a small organization called Social+ which advices small volunteer organizations and municipalities that are making development and innovation initiatives all over Denmark. It is also a small hub for innovation that could bring the best ideas from the social field in Denmark and then offer them free consultancy and support. After that, I joined a larger organization that was linked to that, which is called Social Development Center - where I am still now after 5 or 6 years. I have been working on different roles, but now my position is Development Director. I am in charge of developing new initiatives in our organization and other organizations all over Denmark with a social change focus. We work together with foundations or municipalities, volunteer organizations in bringing social change in Denmark for the most vulnerable people here.

What advice would you give to current GD students and recent graduates?

In terms of the way to go ahead with the study part, my best advice is to not think that you should be able to do everything at the highest possible level or understand everything perfectly, you should get a broad ground and sense of the different disciplines and how they function, what they contribute with and what you can personally use them for in your career afterwards. Kind of focus in what you think you will work with afterwards and build it around that, making sure that you have a basic sense of the various disciplines.

It’s very hard to give advice, it’s very random what happens and the possibilities that end up being for every person, but my advice to find a good spot is doing a lot of things while you are studying and not focus 100% on the studies, but being aware of what’s happening around, get a good student job or build different types of network with some of the places that you want to work with afterwards. If you don’t want to be a scientist afterwards, don’t be too hang up on every text, studying matters, but also does the world around you.