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Master's Programme : Finance, Investment and Fintech

 

Form of study: full-time

Period of study for economists: 3 semesters, admission from winter semester

Period of study for non-economists, including students with Bachelor's degree in P.F. 3.8. Economics with 180 or 210 credits: 4 semesters, admission from winter and summer semester

 

Director: Assoc. Prof. Bozhidar Nedev, PhD

e-mail: bozhidar.nedev@feb.uni-sofia.bg

Administrator: Asst. Prof. Desislava Petkova

e-mail: d.petkova@feb.uni-sofia.bg

 

Aim of the programme:

The aim of the programme is to train graduates to become successful in the field of financial and non-financial institutions, fintech companies, pension funds, investment intermediaries, etc. The main educational objectives of the Master's programme are related to deepening the professional training achieved in the previous degree of education and the formation of profiled training, providing theoretical and practical knowledge and skills necessary for the management of processes in financial business environment, through opportunities to apply modern strategies and techniques, as well as a wide range of approaches and methods related to financial investment activities. The Master's programme is interdisciplinary in nature and aims to provide students with theoretical and practical knowledge and skills in finance, investment and financial innovation.

Graduates of the programme obtain the qualification of Master in Finance, Investment and Fintech.

 

Tuition fees in Sofia University for the academic 2023 / 2024 year

 

Admission requirements: see general requirements.

 

Career implementation of the graduates

Graduates of the programme can pursue professional careers as specialists, managers, directors and senior-level experts in the management of financial and non-financial institutions, commercial activities in companies, ministries and municipalities, in companies with foreign financial brokerage houses, research and development units, as well as in higher education institutions. Graduates can also apply their knowledge and skills to create own business, etc.

The duration of studies is 1.5 years (3 semesters) and 2 years (4 2 semesters) for students with a Bachelor's degree in P.F. 3.8 Economics with 180 or 210 credits. The Master's programme is structured to ensure coverage of a wide range of topics and approaches in the practice of financial investment field. The programme starts with introductory courses on the management of investment and trading in currencies and financial instruments, covering topics on the infrastructure of financial markets, the nature of securities, the ordering of exchange trading orders through specialized software and financial data analysis with Excel. Some of the key courses are devoted to financial analysis, financial technologies (fintech), digital business processes and models, crypto-currencies and blockchain trading, and derivative financial instruments. The course on financial technologies provides students with an in-depth knowledge of the digital technologies and introduces them to contemporary examples of fintech services and products from home and abroad. There are also courses with a strong practical focus such as crypto-currencies and blockchain trading, trading currencies and financial instruments, business valuation, alternative investments and applied macroeconomic analysis.

In addition, students can choose between specialized courses, covering topics such as data analytics using software such as R and Python, business analytics, banking, accounting, financial management, etc. In addition to exams as a traditional approach to assess students' progress, the educational process also includes practical problem solving and case studies, guest lectures by business experts.

Non-economist students compulsorily take four general economics preparatory courses - microeconomics, macroeconomics and financial reporting in the first semester, and finance in the second semester of study. With similar introductory courses, the Master's programme for Bachelor's degree with 180 or 210 credits also starts. The aim is to ensure a minimum basic training and knowledge in fundamental economic and financial disciplines that is to support the successful mastery of specialised subject matter in compulsory disciplines such as applied macroeconomic analysis, financial analysis of the firm, derivative financial instruments, etc.

The Master's programme is completed by the development of a Master's thesis (within November and March) on a topic jointly defined and implemented in collaboration with interested representatives from the fields of finanece, investments and fintech - ecosystem. In this respect, the Matser thesis could also serve as a tool to facilitate the transition to the market labour market.