Master in Finance

Program overview

The Master’s program (38.04.08) in Finance (MiF) provides training for both professionals in financial and risk management, and for scholarly researchers in the area of finance.

The program focuses on creating and developing competencies in financial management and risk management for financial institutions and non-financial companies. The main emphasis is on contemporary theory and modern practices in corporate finance and risk management. At the same time, the program provides fundamental knowledge in the broad area of finance that ensures our graduates are prepared for a diversity of career pathways, including in, the real sector of the economy, banks, investment funds, consulting companies, insurance companies, and elsewhere. The focus on research-based teaching, delivered through a combination of student research projects, internship opportunities, dissertation work, and taught courses also equips students for entry into an academic career via a Ph.D. program.

Pixabay / pexels

The program is designed to serve different types of students. For graduates in Economics or Finance, the program is an ideal opportunity to continue and deepen their studies, but it is also suitable for strong students with a previous background in other subject disciplines. We incorporate ‘adaptation’ modules that are designed specifically for helping the transition from other disciplines into the finance sphere.

The program has been thoughtfully designed through a process of collaborative work between researchers and practitioners in the area of Finance and has involved international benchmarking, incorporation of best practices, and understanding how best to exploit the local comparative advantages. It complies with the Law of the Russian Federation on Education and, through this, a set of educational and professional standards, regulations, and other approved documents of the federal and institutional levels. It is also aligned to international standards and requirements, including the European Qualifications Framework (EQF).

Curriculum

According to the Russian educational standards, the programme includes 6 mandatory courses (marked with green color) and 8 electives (marked with orange color). To smooth the academic progress for students who never studied Finance previously, the programme proposes optional adaptation courses (marked with blue color), which do not have an ECTS score. Research is a compulsory part of the study process. Research seminar goes weekly; at the 1st year students perform a term paper; internship and master’s dissertation are the research activities for the 2nd year.

The duration of the Programme is 2 years (4 semesters), which corresponds to Russian Legislation; each semester consists of 60 ECTS and divided into 2 quarters. Each quarter is completed with a mid-term control. The study load is usually around 20 contact hours per week at the 1st year and 16 hours at the 2nd year, including the Research seminar.

The curriculum structure is presented below.

Intended Programme Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

• Understand the challenges of uncertain economic environment, assess them and take appropriate financial and investment decisions
• Demonstrate deep knowledge and critical understanding of theories, principles, concepts and methodologies in finance

Intellectual skills

• Use strong analytical skills and apply them to solve practical problems
• Examine and critically appraise research methods and tools relevant for research in finance
• Plan and perform an independent research project in the area of finance
• Evaluate and design financial strategies for companies and financial institutions in a turbulent environment

Professional skills

• Evaluate risks of financial decision-making in different contexts
• Take the responsibility and persuade the audience in the efficiency and reasonability of your decisions
• Demonstrate a range of generic skills including information and time management, team and project work, computing and autonomous learning
• Demonstrate an innovative, open and ethical mindset