Description

The Master's program in Money and Finance (MMF) is an innovative joint venture of the Department of Money and Macroeconomics and of the Department of Finance, both located in the new House of Finance. The program offers promising students from all over the world an intellectually stimulating and challenging setting in which to prepare for their professional careers in central banking, commercial banking, insurance and other financial services. By being located in Frankfurt, one of the world's leading financial centers and the only city in the world with two central banks (the ECB and the German Bundesbank), it offers unique opportunities for interaction with practitioners. The program is taught exclusively in English; knowledge of German is not required for admission to, or completion of the program. It has been designed with a view to establishing itself as a leading Masters program integrating studies in monetary economics, macroeconomics and finance and a major gateway to high-profile jobs in the banking and financial sector.

Highlights

The Master's program in Money and Finance is designed as a four-semester program, with the fourth semester being devoted to research and writing of a Master's thesis. It has five major components:

* Core courses (5 courses)
* Electives (6 courses)
* Topical courses (4 courses)
* Seminars (3 seminars)
* Master's thesis

Core courses are intended to provide the basic tools for the subsequent courses and the thesis work. As such, they are required for all students. Three courses provide the necessary background in Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, and Econometrics. Two courses are devoted to Asset Pricing and to Corporate Finance. Short descriptions of core courses are provided below.

Electives are chosen from two lists of available courses, one coded M and one coded F. These courses are intended to provide advanced specialized knowledge in areas that should be chosen by the student with a view to future career plans. Results from recent, cutting-edge research in these areas are distilled in order to extract lessons relevant for banking and financial practice, as well as for policy design. Students are required to have completed three courses from each list by the end of the program. Two lists of elective courses are provided below, together with short course descriptions. The lists are indicative and will be continually updated to reflect new trends in relevant research and changes in the composition of the pool of instructors.

Topical courses are intended to provide a close look at how academic principles are applied to work carried out by practitioners in central and commercial banking, and in the broader financial sector. They are typically taught by central bankers and practitioners in the banking and financial sector. While core and elective courses draw on the research expertise of the Goethe faculty, topical courses take advantage of our location by drawing on our extensive links to financial institutions in Frankfurt. Students are expected to take two topical courses with code M and two with code F. The list of topical courses provided below is indicative. It is expected that the list will be revised more frequently than the list of electives, in our effort to focus on current issues and state-of-the-art practices.

Seminars are of two types:
* Field seminars encourage students to read, think, and work extensively on a topic of interest to them and then to present their work together with all other students. A seminar provides a natural setup for learning how to make effective presentations of specialized topics, as well as how to benefit from the knowledge of others. Seminars are typically held outside the university, in locations that are conducive to productive but informal interaction between students and faculty (e.g., in University-owned facilities in Rieszlern resort, Austria). Each student takes two field seminars, one coded M and one coded F. Indicative lists of available seminars are provided below, together with short descriptions.

* The thesis seminar provides an opportunity to final-semester students working on their thesis to present their research to faculty and to their student colleagues and to get useful feedback and guidance on completing an interesting and relevant piece of work. Each student is expected to take part in one thesis seminar with students working on related topics. Thesis seminars will typically be offered as 'block seminars', during a 1-4 day period. Like field seminars, they will often be held in conference-like settings that combine productive academic interaction with some recreational possibilities.

Master's thesis research is conducted during the last semester of the program, under the supervision of a Chair contributing to the MMF Program. Mutual consent of the student and of the Chair Professor is required for supervision. The thesis is a substantive piece of work that demonstrates in-depth familiarity with a particular topic in monetary economics, finance, or their interaction, as well as ability for some original work. A typical thesis will provide an original, critical synthesis of existing research, as well as evidence of some new research undertaken by the student using relevant theoretical or empirical methods. The thesis should meets high academic standards and signals to future employers the student's potential for independent work on challenging issues. With the consent of the Professor of the supervising Chair, it is possible to complete the thesis without being resident in Frankfurt. If this option is chosen, the student should keep in close contact with the supervising Chair, as needed for completion of the thesis, and should also participate in the relevant thesis seminar.

Minimum Education

Bachelors

Subject Areas

• Economics
• Finance

Cost in US$:

Please inquire for specific semester fees.

Program Fees Include:

Regular term fees of ca. 250 USD include public transport.

This Program is open to

Worldwide Participants.

Typical Living Arrangements

• Dormitory
• Independent living

Participants Travel

Independently

Typically Participants Work

Independently

Application Process Involves

• Online Application plus Application Assessment
• Resume
• Transcript
• Written Application

Goethe University's Mission Statement

Our Mission: As the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, we want to... (1) Generate outstanding achievement in pioneering areas of research and teaching based on a wide spectrum of subjects and occupy a leading position in the educational landscape. (2) Impart excellent scientific methodology and expertise as well as orientation and education in addition to provide a comprehensive offering of advanced education. (3) Foster exchange in diverse regional and international networks. (4) Contribute to solutions of societal, political, economic and cultural problems through close contact between research and practice. (5) Set the highest standards of scientific accomplishment and service both internally and externally and critically examine and improve our achievements as a learning institution on a continual basis. (6)Link our activities through active campus development.

Year Founded

1914