The program offers a structured approach to learning, combining intensive coursework with practical modules:
Following the foundational courses in semesters 1 and 2, the modular curriculum provides specialized courses in four fields during semesters 2 and 3.
This specialization phase involves:
In semester 4, the thematic focus of the Master's thesis may be chosen by the individual professional and personal interests.
Advanced fundamental courses (7 x 6 CP) ensure that students acquire a thorough knowledge in the core areas of finance, economic theory, quantitative methods, and programming as needed in finance and economics.
The modular curriculum offers advanced topics courses in four fields during the specialization phase. Students choose six advanced topics courses (6 x 6 CP). The fields of specialization are:
With advanced course topics from areas such as Behavioral Finance, Big-Data-Based Personal Finance, Computational Finance, Credit Risk, Derivatives, Hedge Funds, Investment & Pension Finance, Real Estate Finance.
With advanced course topics from areas such as Banking & Securitization, Banking and the Real Economy, Financial Systems, International Financial Architecture, Market Microstructure, Mergers & Acquisitions.
With advanced course topics from areas such as 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.
With advanced course topics from areas such as 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.
Transferable skills courses (2 x 3 CP) will support students in developing the abilities essential for a career in financial markets and economic policy analysis. Among others, the transdisciplinary topics taught may include:
The practical aspects of the curriculum are deepened by practice topics courses (2 x 3 CP), focusing on how models and methods, as studied in the advanced fundamentals and advanced topics courses, are applied by financial market practitioners and economic policy decision-makers. High-level practitioners from central banks, treasuries, international organizations, and the private financial sector teach these courses. The topics taught may include:
The master thesis (24 CP) is a substantive work demonstrating a student’s in-depth familiarity with a particular topic from the program’s fields. A typical thesis will provide an original, critical synthesis of existing research and evidence of the student’s ability to conduct independent research using relevant theoretical and empirical methods.
The student’s work on the master thesis will be facilitated through individual advising by a program faculty member and a master thesis seminar (6 CP), which will provide the opportunity to obtain feedback on the master thesis project from peers and a more comprehensive range of faculty members. The master thesis will demonstrate the student’s ability to work independently on challenging issues of global finance and economic policy analysis.
Within the optional Experience Frankfurt module of the program offered annually in early summer, students will have the opportunity to
In case a student registers for the optional "Experience Frankfurt" module of the program, the student will be enrolled at Goethe University Frankfurt for the fourth semester, allowing free access to Goethe University Frankfurt and free or cost-reduced access to parts of the broader public infrastructure. While the major parts of the "Experience Frankfurt" module are free of charge for program participants, 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.