English-language Master of Science – full-time in only four semesters
Following the courses of the advanced fundamental phase (sem 1 & 2), the modular curriculum offers four focus options in the specialization phase (sem 2 & 3): You can put together your subject combination individually as well as choose a thematic focus of your master thesis in accordance with your professional and personal interests. While transferable sklills courses complement lectures in the advanced fundamental phase (sem 2), the specialization phase is flanked with topical issues from financial practitioners and economic policy decision makers (sem 3).
Advanced fundamental courses (7 x 6CP) ensure that students acquire a thorough knowledge in the core areas of finance, economic theory, and quantitative methods as well as in programming as needed in finance and economics.
To individually customize your learning experience according to you personal career plans, you can choose six advanced topics courses (6CP each) from the following four fields of specialization:
With advanced course topics from the areas of Behavioral Finance, Big-Data-Based Personal Finance, Computational Finance Credit Risk, Derivatives, Hedge Funds, Investment & Pension Finance, Real Estate Finance, Risk Management of Insurance Companies.
With advanced course topics from the areas of Banking & Securitization, Banking and the Real Economy, Design Thinking in Finance, Financial Systems, International Financial Architecture, Market Microstructure, Mergers & Acquisitions, Real Estate Finance.
With advanced course topics from the areas of Comparative Economic Analyses, Economic Growth, Fiscal Stabilization Policy, Household Finance & Macroeconomics, International Macroeconomics, Labor Markets and the Macroeconomy, Monetary Theory & Policy, Macroeconomics & Social Insurance, Economics of Taxation.
With advanced course topics from the areas of Applied Financial Development, Empirical Asset Pricing, Empirical Monetary Economics, Financial Econometrics of High Frequency Data, Household Finance Econometrics Macroeconometric Forecasting, Multivariate Statistics for Large Micro Data Sets, Stochastic Calculus in Finance and Economics.
Transferable skills courses (2 x 3CP) will support you in developing your personal abilities essential for a career in financial markets and economic policy analysis. Among others, the transdisciplinary topics taught include:
The practical aspects of the curriculum in the specialization phase are deepened by practice topics courses (2 x 3CP) focussing on how academic principles are applied by financial market practitioners and decision makers in (macro-) economic policy. Theses courses are taught by high-level practitioners from central banks, treasuries, international organizations and the private financial sector.
The master thesis (24 CP) is a substantive piece of work that demonstrates your in-depth familiarity with a particular topic from the program’s fields. A typical thesis will provide an original, critical synthesis of existing research, as well as evidence of your independent research, using relevant theoretical and/or empirical methods.
Your work on the master thesis will be facilitated through individual advising by a program faculty member as well as a Master Thesis Seminar (6 CP), providing opportunity to collect feedback from peers and a wider range of faculty members on your master thesis project. The master thesis should signal to future employers your ability to carry out independent work on challenging substantive issues in global finance and/or economic policy analysis.
Within the optional "Experience Frankfurt Finance" component of the program offered annualy in May, you will get the opportunity to
In case you register for the optional "Experience Frankfurt Finance", you will be enrolled at Goethe University for the time of semester 4 to allow for free or cost-reduced access to Goethe University and parts of the broader public infrastructure. While major parts of the "Experience Frankfurt Finance" offering are free of charge, expenses for travel, accommodation and meals are not included.
The GFE program features rigorous advanced fundamentals and specialization courses in Finance and Economics, backed by supporting courses in Econometrics, Data Science and Programming. Based on my great experience with the academic environment at VGU, I strongly believe that graduates from GFE will make glittering careers in the world of finance and economic analysis.
Networking is an integral part of your study experience. We regularly invite prominent guest speakers from various backgrounds to talk about current topics in the global finance industry. While chatting with the experts in an intimate setting, students and alumni gain unique insights into how these experts are dealing with industry specific challenges and opportunities.