Master
2023/2024
Mentor's Seminar
Type:
Compulsory course (Strategic Corporate Finance)
Area of studies:
Finance and Credit
Delivered by:
School of Finance
Where:
Faculty of Economic Sciences
When:
1 year, 1-4 module
Mode of studies:
offline
Open to:
students of one campus
Instructors:
Maria S. Kokoreva
Master’s programme:
Strategic Corporate Finance
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
7
Contact hours:
52
Course Syllabus
Abstract
For the 2nd year’s students (2024-2025 years):The discipline Mentor Seminar takes place throughout the course of study and is compulsory for students in the “Strategic Corporate Finance” Study Programme. In the course of communication with the mentor, the student forms his/her individual study plan, receives additional feedback for their studies, Master's theses and career tracks. The seminar is held in English. This seminar is for students who are interested in all types of financial decisions in corporations: financing, investment, and payout policy. We will also cover issues on corporate governance mechanisms. For those who are interested in private equity and venture capital, we will discuss the peculiarities of financial decision-making for VC-backed companies. We do not limit our seminar in terms of specific capital markets, so we will discuss developed and emerging capital markets. This is a seminar for students who are mostly interested in empirical corporate finance issues. This seminar is worth choosing for those who are new in finance or are interested in corporate finance in general but have not decided on the specific field yet. The seminar is useful for those who are building a career in corporations, private equity and venture capital, and investment banks.----------------------------------For the 1st year’s students (2024 – 2025 years):There is no fundamental difference whether you want to develop in an academic or business environment. This track is suitable for students who are just choosing their way and research topics that will be related to different areas of their lives. The formed research portfolio will be useful for your further individual development and employment. The main purpose of the track is to help and support students during their studies on the program: to understand the system of choosing courses, projects, form an individual studying plan, choosing a topic for research. The research being developed may be related to the organizational and technological transformation of business in a company, evaluation of the impact of such transformations on financial and economic indicators, identification of the effectiveness of the implementation of such transformations, etc.
Learning Objectives
- To obtain a systematic understanding of current research directions in the field of financial decision-making by companies
- To form an individual study plan
- To develop a research proposal
Expected Learning Outcomes
- Selecting an individual study plan for the first half of the year
- Selecting an individual study plan for the second half of the year
- Writing a research proposal and research schedule (for the 1st year students)
- Defence of Master's thesis (for the 2nd year students)
Course Contents
- Introduction to the structure of the “Strategic Corporate Finance” study programme
- Monitoring of students' uptake of the learning process
- Mentor's introduction seminar
- Discussion of recent literature on corporate financial decision-making
- Discussion of problems in study or research process
- Discussion of the research proposal
Assessment Elements
- Research proposal
- Master thesis predefence
- ActivityActivity at mentor classes including research progress discussion
Interim Assessment
- 2023/2024 4th module1 * Research proposal + 1 * Research proposal
- 2024/2025 4th module0.15 * Activity + 0.15 * Activity + 0.15 * Activity + 0.15 * Activity + 0.7 * Master thesis predefence + 0.7 * Master thesis predefence
