A Unique Combination of Advantages

A specialised program

All courses are specialised and advanced within the broad field of finance and banking. They are offered only to the Master students.

Financial insights are combined with macroeconomics and monetary policy

Finance is not an isolated world. The interrelationships between finance and banking and macro-economic policy are studied extensively. Advanced courses in the economis of financial markets, monetary economics, corporate finance and organisation of financial markets describe the larger setting in which finance should be situated.

You will become familiar with the most recent techniques used in finance

All courses are strongly founded in academic research. Students will be guided through recent academic papers and encouraged to use the tools and models proposed to analyse and solve real-world problems.

Thorough quantitative basis

Because of the availability of abundant data, solving finance and banking problems often involves extensive number crunching. Although most courses will discuss appropriate methods to perform such analyses, an advanced course in financial econometrics will provide the students with the necessary background.

Enjoy interactive education and train your presentation skills

In the Master a lot of time will be devoted to classroom discussion, presentations of case studies and papers, and expositions of analyses of real-world problems. By doing so, students will be able to train their oral and written presentation skills. They will learn how to state and defend their arguments as well as to (critically) evaluate the statements of students and teachers.

Working together in applying concepts

Many assignments and cases are to be solved by teams of two to four students. These assignments serve to better grasp theory and to be able to handle real-world finance problems. Because of the importance of these assignments, as a general rule, there will be no lectures after lunch. For most courses, the grades on the assignments will weigh heavily on the final grades.

Excellent computer facilities

In order to be able to work in the best circumstances, the university offers a computer room reserved exclusively for the Master students. Besides specialised statistical and econometric software, standard packages as Microsoft Office, E-mail software, and Internet browsers are also installed on the computers. To download data, the faculty subscribes to Datastream Data Channel, from which most financial and macroeconomic data can be accessed.

Opportunity to obtain in-the-field experience

The assignments prepare for a final graduation project. During the last two months of the program, teams of two students will be given the opportunity to work full-time on a project in a financial institution under the supervision of both the academic staff and a company supervisor. Examples of such projects are available here.

Getting international exposure

In finance and banking it is important to have an international dimension and obviously international problems will be discussed in most courses. In addition, we will frequently invite internationally renowned guest speakers and guest professors. For instance, we are glad that Frank Smets, who is head of the Monetary Policy Research unit of the European Central Bank, has agreed to teach Monetary Economics in the program. Of course, also by choosing English as the common language in the program, we explicitly want to attract an international student population.

Extensive professional support

Many courses are taught by members of the Department of Financial Economics. This department hosts a young team of professors and researchers. Their research covers most subfields in the domain of finance and banking. All teachers and researchers will be available to help students finding their way in the world of finance. In addition, the program co-ordinator assists students with more practical problems.

Opportunity to spread courses over 2 years

The possibility exists to spread the Master Program over two years.

An attractive study environment

The city of Ghent hosts the largest student population of the country; the University alone accounts for 31 000 students, enrolled in 9 faculties. The Faculty of Economics and Business Administration is situated close to the Medieval city centre. Theatres, musea and sporting facilities are within walking distance. Student housing is comfortable and affordable.