Current students
Programmes
By default, you are enrolled in the basic programme, MSc in Finance (90 ECTS).
Any student can register at the latest, by the end of semester 3, in one of the three enhanced programmes:
- MSc in Finance (120 ECTS) or
- MSc in Finance with Data Science Major (120 ECTS) or
- MSc in Finance with Sustainability Major (120 ECTS).
All students who start their 4th semester without having registered in an enhanced programme can no longer register in any enhanced programme.
All details can be found it the current study plan and directive.
MSc in Finance (120 ECTS) Research Option
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What you need to know
- During the 4th semester, you have the option to write a Master thesis (30 ECTS) independently or during a training period at a financial institution or at the finance department of a corporation.
- To write a master thesis you must have acquired at least 30 ECTS in line with the MScF in Finance (90 ECTS).
- Prior registration to the Enhanced programme is required, at the latest by the end of semester 3.
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Enhanced programme registration
- Enhanced programme registration form to be given to Kira Facchinetti until 8 December 2023.
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Supervisors and topics
Fiechter Peter
Potential topics for the master thesis may include but are not limited to:
- Economic consequences of changes in or adoption of accounting standards, accounting regulation, or accounting rules (e.g., market reactions, cost of capital, or liquidity)
- Determinants of accounting choices
- Effects of heterogeneous accounting standards or accounting choices on information asymmetry or information precision
- Earnings management, discretionary accounting, and disclosure quality (e.g., earnings smoothing, small positive gains, value relevance, large negative net income, timely loss recognition, or target accounting)
- (Economic) consequences of fair value accounting
- Effects of banking regulation and “Too-big-to-fail” issues
- Economic consequences of (U.S.) cross-listings
Guidance for writing the Master thesis in Financial Accounting
Hasler Michael
- Theoretical asset pricing
- Portfolio selection
- Bayesian learning models
Salva Carolina
- Corporate and international finance
- Valuation
- Financial markets
Sonney Frédéric
Topics for the Master thesis will be related to Asset Management and/or Capital Markets. Below are a few themes or ideas that I would be happy to discuss further:
- The Global Minimum Variance portfolio and Risk Budgeting techniques
- The determinants of "intra-market" correlations
- The value of financial analysts' forecasts for portfolio managers
- Financial analyst forecasts: skill, luck, or...?
- Stock market: do "crowded names" behave differently from the rest of the market?
- Hedge fund indices: are they representative of the industry?
- Hedge fund replication: could an "indexed" product do a good job?
- Hedge funds before and after the financial crisis. What has changed?
Starica Catalin
Statistical and econometric aspects of:
- The use of financial statements for firm valuation (multiple valuation, earnings forecasts)
- Enterprise valuation - accounting based modeling (cash accounting, accrual accounting, discounted cash flow valuation, residual earings model, abnormal earnings growth model)
Weigert Florian
- Hedge funds
- Mutual funds (investment funds)
- Empirical asset pricing
- Behavioral finance
- Risk management
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Step by step - documents, dates and deadlines
Information sheet 2023-2024
- Please read carefully the information sheet "Master thesis - Academic year 2023-2024 - Step by step" which will give you the details regarding the requirements, dates, deadlines and documents to submit.
Research thesis forms
- Internship/Research application form
- Pledge of honour
- Validation and assessment of the thesis/report
Internship thesis forms
- Internship/Research application form
- Internship and confidentiality agreement
- Internship certificate
- Pledge of honour
- Validation and assessment of the thesis/report
Guidelines
MSc in Finance (120 ECTS) Data Science Option
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What you need to know
- During the 4th semester, you have the option to earn 30 ECTS in the Data Science track and to bring the total amount of ECTS to the number of 120.
- Prior registration to the Enhanced programme is required, at the latest by the end of the semester 3.
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Enhanced programme registration
- Enhanced programme registration form to be given to Kira Facchinetti until 8 December 2023.
MSc in Finance (120 ECTS) Sustainability Option
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What you need to know
- During the 4th semester, you have the option to earn 30 ECTS in the Sustainability track and to bring the total amount of ECTS to the number of 120.
- Prior registration to the Enhanced programme is required, at the latest by the end of the semester 3.
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Enhanced programme registration
- Enhanced programme registration form to be given to Kira Facchinetti until 8 December 2023.
Selecting courses
- All course information is indicated in the yearly study plan and directive.
- Further details, such as teaching team, content, evaluation mode, exams, documentation, etc are given in each course description.
In addition
In place of the electives (E), a maximum of 15 ECTS can be earned by:
- Passing classes in other master programmes at the Faculty of Economics and Business and/or MScF programmes in other Swiss universities. Approval of the Director of the MScF is mandatory.
- Passing the CFA level I exam (6 ECTS).
- Passing the GARP/FRM part I exam (6 ECTS).
- Participating in the "CFA Institute Research Challenge Final, Switzerland" (3 ECTS).
- Conducting an internship of at least 6 weeks including the writing of a report supervised by a professor of the Faculty of Economics and Business. Approval of the Directory of the MScF is mandatory (6 ECTS).
See all details below.
Courses in other master programmes
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What you need to know
- Approval of the Director of the MScF is mandatory. The student should send a request to Prof. Weigert indicating the course and including the course description (pdf).
- If he approves, Prof. Weigert informs by email the Secretariat of the Faculty of Economics and Business and the student.
- It is the students' responsability to contact the university regarding all the administration issues.
- BeNeFri/Azur: students attending courses at the universities of Bern, Fribourg, Lausanne and Geneva are entitled to train fare reimburement. For complete information on how to proceed, please refer to the Mobility page on the website of the Faculty of Economics and Business.
CFA level I exam (6 ECTS)
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What you need to know
- 6 elective ECTS can be earned by passing the CFA Level I exam.
- Students should register in IS-Academia to the course "CFA level I (5AF2031).
- To validate the credits, students should send to Kira Facchinetti the email received from the CFA Institute with the exams results.
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CFA Institute - Level I, II & III exams - scholarship information
- Per annum, we award nine CFA Program Awareness Scholarships for UniNE MScF students willing to enroll in the CFA Program and who meet the programme entrance requirements.
- CFA Program enrolment fee is waived and exam registration is reduced to USD 400.
- Exam Information, Dates and Fees.
- If a student has already registered for an exam she/he can not apply for a scholarship.
- Students applying for a Student Scholarship should simultaneously apply online and submit the CFA / GARP scholarship application form to Kira Facchinetti.
- Priority is given to 1st-year students.
- Applications are reviewed once a year and should be submitted until 31 January 2024.
- Students are informed of the outcome in February 2024.
Next application deadline: 31 January 2025.
GARP/FRM part I exam (6 ECTS)
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What you need to know
- 6 elective ECTS can be earned by passing the GARP/FRM part I exam.
- Students should register in IS-Academia to the course "GARP/FRM part I exam (5AF2042)".
- To validate the credits, students should send to Kira Facchinetti the email received from GARP informing them that they have succeeded.
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GARP/FRM Part I exam - scholarship information
- Per annum, we award 6 FRM Part I scholarships for UniNE MScF students who meet the programme entrance requirements.
- The scholarship covers the exam registration fee and enrollment fee.
- FRM Program and Exams.
- Students applying for a GARP/FRM exam scholarship should complete the CFA / GARP scholarship application form and submit it to Kira Facchinetti.
- Priority is given to 1st-year students.
- Applications are reviewed once a year and should be submitted until 31 January 2024.
- Students are informed of the outcome in February 2024.
- Scholarship recipients have up to 30 September 2024 to register and sit for the exam.
Next application deadline: 31 January 2025.
CFA Institute Research Challenge (3 ECTS)
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What you need to know
- 3 electives can be earned by participating in the CFA Institute Research Challenge Final, Switzerland.
- Finalists should register in IS-Academia for the course "CFA Institute Research Challenge Final (5AF2043)" to validate the credits.
- CFA Institute Research Challenge
Internship with report (6 ECTS)
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What you need to know
- 6 ECTS can by earned by conducting an internship of at least 6 weeks including the writing of a report supervised by a professor of the Faculty of Economics and Business.
- Approval of the Director of the MScF in mandatory.
- No internship can be carried out during the first semester of the MScF programme nor should the internship negatively affect other course work.
- Supervisors
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To do before your internship
1. Find a suitable internship position with a company.
2. Send an email to Prof. Weigert with all the following information:
- Name of the company where you plan to do the internship
- Website link
- Contact person (tutor)
- Detailed topic
- Dates and duration of the internship
- Work percentage.
- If one of the above elements is missing or is not available at the time of the request, please specify why this information is not available to you.
3. If the internship is approved by Prof. Weigert, find a supervisor and then give to the secretariat (Kira Facchinetti) the following forms, completed and signed:
- Internship/Research application form (signed by the student)
- Internship and confidentiality agreement (signed by the student and the company/institution).
4. The secretariat arranges signature by the supervisor and returns fully signed documents to the student.
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To do during your internship
Write a brief report, respecting the following requirements:
- Cover page template
- Style guidelines
- A4 format, Times New Roman 12, double-spacing
- 3 sections: 1. Introduction, 2. Core (motivation, job description, link with financial theory, main challenges), 3. Conclusion
- 10-15 pages (without appendices).
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To do at the end of your internship
Send to Kira Facchinetti the following document:
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When and how to register and submit your report
1. At the beginning of the semester (Fall or Spring) during which you will submit your report, register in IS-Academia for the course "Internship with report (5AF2040)".
Make sure to respect the course registration dates which are indicated on the Faculty website, page "Courses". This will automatically register you for the exam session of that semester. The exam dates are indicated on the Faculty website, page "Exams".
2. Four weeks before the beginning of the exam session, send the final version of your report (in pdf format) to your supervisor. At the same time send to Kira Facchinetti the following documents:
- Final version of the report (in pdf format)
- Pledge of honour
- Validation and assessment of the thesis/report (only complete the Student contact details).
If the grade is under 4, register in IS-Academia for the August/September retake session.
Projects
Data Science Project (9 ECTS)
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What you need to know
- The Data Science Project is offered during the Spring semester and allows students to validate 9 ECTS.
- It is only available for students who have registered for the Data Science Option: Master in Finance with Data Science Major, 120 ECTS.
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Supervisors
Potential supervisors can be found within the professors of the teaching team of the Master of Science in Finance.
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Step by step - documents, dates and deadlines
1. Select a supervisor
At the beginning of the Spring semester, find a supervisor and discuss your potential project.
When you have the supervisor's approval, give to Kira Facchinetti, the Project application form, completed and signed by yourself and your supervisor.
2. Register in IS-Academia
Between 19 February and 15 March 2024, register in IS-Academia for the course "Data Science Project (5AF2038)". This will automatically register you for the June 2024 exam session.
3. Submit the project/report
For style guidelines and cover page for a report, please refer to the information in the right-hand column.
On 3 June 2024, send your project/report to your supervisor and give to Kira Facchinetti the following documents:
- Pledge of honour
- Validation and assessment of the thesis/report (only complete the Student contact details).
If the grade is under 4, register in IS-Academia for the August/September retake session.
Sustainability Project (9 ECTS)
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What you need to know
- The Sustainability Project is offered during the Spring semester and allows students to validate 9 ECTS.
- It is only available for students who have registered for the Sustainability Option: Master in Finance with Sustainability Major, 120 ECTS.
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Supervisors
Potential supervisors can be found within the professors of the teaching team of the Master of Science in Finance.
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Step by step - documents, dates and deadlines
1. Select a supervisor
At the beginning of the Spring semester, find a supervisor and discuss your potential project.
When you have the supervisor's approval, give to Kira Facchinetti, the Project application form, completed and signed by yourself and your supervisor.
2. Register in IS-Academia
Between 19 February and 15 March 2024, register in IS-Academia for the course "Sustainability Project (5AF2051)". This will automatically register you for the June 2024 exam session.
3. Submit the project/report
For style guidelines and cover page for a report, please refer to the information in the right-hand column.
On 3 June 2024, send your project/report to your supervisor and give to Kira Facchinetti the following documents:
- Pledge of honour
- Validation and assessment of the thesis/report (only complete the Student contact details).
If the grade is under 4, register in IS-Academia for the August/September retake session.