Participating Universities
The School of Computing (or Računarski fakultet – RAF in Serbian) is the leading Computer Science Faculty in Serbia. Created 20 years ago and designed from the start to be a cutting-edge private educational institution, RAF is located on pictoresque Kneza Mihaila Street, justs steps away from the confluence of Danube and Sava rivers. RAF currenly has 13 academic programs on Bachelor, Master and PhD levels and around 1500 students. RAF graduates are highly sough-after both in Serbia and well beyond. Several of them started their own successful companies. While most of the programs at RAF are related to Computer Science and Computer Engineers, RAF has, also, highly innovative academic programs in Digital Arts (on all three levels) and a Master in Computational Finance (MCF) (https://mcf.raf.edu.rs/). MCF is the first program in our region fully integrating advanced finance training with computer science, data science, mathematical modeling, machine learning and blockchain.
PhD, as a higher form of university education in finance has been a continuing concern over its 100 years of existence of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies as well as for the nearly 70 years since the creation of the finance specialization as a distinct faculty at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies. Throughout the existence of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies, one can find clear a tendency towards the selection of topics, as subjects for doctoral theses, which fell largely in the sphere of finance, addressing current issues regarding public finance, corporate finance, taxation, currency and credit, insurance, foreign currency relations, the stock exchange in the period between the two world wars and, more recently, the capital market. In this context it should be noted that in the period between 1921 and 1948 numerous doctoral theses focused on banking and financial issues were successfully defended publicly.
Furthermore, especially in the interwar period, the position of doctoral supervisor for topics regarding finance, banking, and insurance, was held by the leading figures in the field at the time, such as: prof. dr. Ion N. Angelescu, acad. prof. dr. Ion Răducanu, acad. prof. dr. Victor Slăvescu. In the period that followed until December 1989, the former Faculty of Finance used to organize three doctoral programs, namely: Finance and Insurance, Currency, Credit, Money Circulation and Foreign Currency Relations. The Faculty of Finance, Insurance, Banking and Stock Exchange, whose existence dates back to the 1992 – 1993 academic year, currently hosts a PhD program in Finance, bringing together scientific advisors from the two departments of the faculty, the Department of Finance and Department of Money and Banking. As a pioneer of the concept of organizing a Doctoral School, in 1994 the Faculty of Finance, Insurance, Banking and Stock Exchange obtained its own Doctoral School accreditation as a European Centre of Excellence from the European Commission. This certification was the result of an international competition in which the DOFIN program (Doctoral School of Finance and Banking), which was initiated in partnership with the University of Reading in the UK – ICMA Center and the Erasmus University in the Netherlands, was selected to conduct research and studies based on qualitative and quantitative analyses of financial phenomena. The Doctoral School of Finance and Banking was coordinated by PhD. Professor Moisa Altar, from the Money and Banking Department of the faculty. Many of the PhD students from the Doctoral School of Finance and Banking, who have defended their theses, are today leading experts in the field of finance. Whether they work in Romania or abroad, at prestigious universities, in multinational companies or at numerous European and international bodies, they are recognized in the real economy as renowned specialists.
School of Economics and Business, University of Ljubljana (the SEB LU) was established in 1946. It is one of 23 schools/faculties and 3 art academies of the University of Ljubljana, the largest public university in Slovenia with over 40,000 students. The School of Economics and Business is the largest higher education and research institution in the field of business and economics in Slovenia, and the university’s biggest centre for executive education. By receiving the prestigious AMBA accreditation for its executive MBA, the SEB LU is among 1% of schools in the world that boast the so-called “triple crown” accreditation (EQUIS, AACSB, AMBA). It is positioned as a school of choice within Central Europe and has international partnerships with some 200 leading universities world-wide. SEB LU’s mission is to broaden horizons and build competencies for the socially responsible management of business and economic challenges. The school offers education at all university levels (undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, executive, and lifelong learning) and numerous areas of specialisation. Almost all study programmes are aimed at an international audience and are consequently offered in English.
The money and finance department at the SEB LU offers courses on topics such as corporate finance, financial markets, banking, accounting, and investment analysis within Master in quantitative finance and actuarial sciences, Master in bank and financial management, Master in money and finance, and Doctoral programme.