What makes Berghs so special? | Berghs School of Communication

The first week of each new year begins with an all-school project. We don't just do this to help students meet with departments staff; it also serves as a statement of purpose: a purpose to work over traditional disciplines and to instate the school's pedagogical aim of integrated communication.

Lots of schools and universities offer a wide range of courses, but what makes Berghs unique, is that we are able to combine advertising, marketing, production PR and design into a focused concept of integrated communication. We are so convinced by this that two months after our kick-off we organize another whole week of all-school collaborative projects under the name 'Brand-X'. Again students from every department work together using their own special skills and areas of expertise.

For over sixty years the school has been consistently developing a program of study that mixes the strategic, creative and production aspects of communication into a cohesive unity. In this sense, the school is both visionary but also reflects many of the key developments within today's communications industry. Whilst many people talk about integrated marketing communications - at Berghs it is a reality.

Perhaps the best example of how we try to find a synergy between analysis, strategy, creativity and production are the examination projects that the students in different departments work on together. This project dominates the final term for students in art direction, copywriting, marketing, strategic information & PR, interactive communication and account management. The projects involve the creation of a communication platform for a real client including a strategic analysis, communication plan, idea and concept development, creative brief and presentation of communication solutions with a full production and PR plan.

Each year we work with a range of different companies and organizations. From MTV to Skandia or from Djurgårdens football team to Amnesty International. Many of these projects are implemented by our clients, giving to some of our students, immediate employment on graduation.

As close to the real world as you can get
What also distinguishes Berghs from virtually every other school we know of, is the direct link we maintain with the professional communications industry and business interests in Sweden. Each year we work with numerous companies and professional organizations. The projects carried out by students from every departments are based either on real world problems and are set by professionals.

The school employs around 800 lecturers, teachers and supervisors every academic year. About 80% of these teachers are drawn directly from industry and business ensuring that the knowledge base of the school is constantly updated in relation to the professional workplace. Students also undertake practical training and the school has unrivalled placements at almost all of the leading design and advertising agencies.

Life after Berghs
No school can guarantee a student a job after they have graduated, but given Berghs' unique role within Swedish education, we can promise that we will get you as close to your career goal as possible. A diploma from Berghs carries real weight in many areas of communication in Sweden. No other school has placed so many students directly into the communications industry as we have. Within advertising, for example, we estimate that almost three quarters of all active Swedish art directors, copywriters, planners and account managers are Berghs' graduates.

We work hard to ensure that this continues and recent survey shows that close to 90% of our recent graduates have found employment in leading companies such as Brindfors Enterprise, Ogilvy, Garbergs, Björn Borg, Åkestam Holst and MTV.

Berghs also has a tradition of entrepreneurship. Numerous agencies and companies got their start from Berghs. The network that students build with each other during their study means that graduates from different departments have banded together to form a range of different kinds of companies and agencies. A short list of some of these would include: Graceland, Traktor, Storstadsfilm, Neuwasser, Sugarhill and many more.

Application
In 2010 the school had 180 fulltime students with an average age of 27. Applicants to the school must demonstrate knowledge and work experience in their chosen field of study or a related discipline and previous academic study in their area. They must also complete a number of application assignments.

Faculty
The school has ten permanent teachers but employs around 800 lecturers, teachers and supervisors every academic year. About 80% of these teachers are drawn directly from the communications industry ensuring that the knowledge base of the school is constantly updated in relation to the professional workplace. The remainders of the school’s teachers are drawn from academia and are lecturers from many of the Sweden's leading universities.