NewsStatements by Students
"What I like most are the flexibility of the program and the freedom it gives to the students. At the end of the first year, after tasting everything interesting, we can choose to focus on either mathematical or economical aspect of finance. With plenty of courses offered in both areas, we can design our own curricula respectively. This structure is great for beginning graduate students, because interests and career goals of them vary.
Another feature of the program is the practical work involved in the courses, seminars and thesis. In the course of preparation, we learn how to review literature, translate problems, come up with new ideas, program and calculate, support your arguments and summarize. In the presentation, we learn how to speak to the audience and make them understand. According to the personal experiences of my fellow students and myself, what we did in the seminars and thesis proves to be very relevant to finding a position later, in both industry and academia."
Jun, student from China.
(After graduating in 2012, Jun went to Tampere, Finland, where he is studying for a PhD in computational finance.)
"I see three strong advantages in studying the MSc Finance program at Ulm. First, I feel the course offers a perfect mixture between theoretical and practical knowledge. My first degree was in mathematics, where knowledge was passed on through a piece of chalk on the blackboard. As much as I enjoyed this experience, in Ulm many courses are real-life oriented, we are able to gain experience applying knowledge and handling data using software such as Bloomberg, DataStream, MATLAB, R, or C++. I personally found this extremely helpful during my internships. Second, the diversity of students in the program is just surprising. Colleagues literally come from around the globe (of course, Germany too!) and it is a great opportunity to be able to network with such a diverse range of colleagues. Third but not least, I find this program very flexible. You have an opportunity to become a teaching assistant in your third semester. You can write your master's thesis in collaboration with a renowned institution. You could perhaps do an exchange semester in the USA or take a semester off doing an internship. I have seen colleagues structure their own unique master's program here.
Finally, as a student studying finance, taught to make 'rational' decisions, I would like to end by saying that the cost and quality of education in Ulm leads me to believe that I was able to maximize utility doing my master's degree here."
Ken, current student from Japan.
"I joined the MSc Finance for two reasons. First, I see risk management, finance and actuarial technologies as a high-growth area and the MSc Finance is at the forefront of this trend. Second, I enjoy studying and working with a multidisciplinary team of professors and branch experts. In addition to finance, I advanced my knowledge in actuarial studies, economics and software. During my studies I worked as an intern for a Liechtenstein insurance, where I was involved in internal model development for the innovative product line Variable Annuities.“
Ksenia, from Russia.
"During this Master Program in Finance I was honored to meet and work with people from all around the world in a very friendly and challenging environment.
I was very positively impressed by the high level in Finance and Financial Mathematics from this top-ranking program, with excellent internationally recognized professors. Additionally, this program opened many doors for me and my fellow students. In my third semester I got the opportunity to work for the Institute of Finance as a teaching assistant and in the fourth semester I am writing my thesis for an internationally leading company. I highly recommend this program!"
Christian, from Ecuador.
(After graduating, Christian found a job in the international audit firm KPMG. He works in a team that focuses on the analysis of investment portfolios.)
"The time to study as a master student of finance in Ulm University gives me a unique and impressive experience. The most attractive point for me is the diversified curriculum of the program that gives a chance to learn the most developed financial related theories and principles. Although it was a little bit challenging at the beginning, with the help of excellent professors and passionate colleagues I have gained much quantitative skills and problem-solving capabilities which will no doubt benefit my future studies and career. Furthermore, there are also other forms of learning, e.g., sport, travel, internships, social activities, all of which give me both fun and knowledge. I really appreciate and enjoy the life in Ulm."
Shuonan, from China.
(After graduating, Shuonan found a position at the University of Trier in Germany where she is studying for a PhD in finance.)
When I decided to do a Master in Finance I faced a problem of choice, since there were many universities which offered programs with this or similar name. Till this moment I had already spent several years studying in Germany. While checking alternatives it drew my attention, that a lot of key positions in finance departments across the country were occupied by graduates of university of Ulm. I also found out that it is possible to start actuarial education for free while being a student. I checked the description of the Master program more thoroughly, visited the university, talked to the master students and ultimately applied for the place. Now, 4 years later I am very glad about my choice. The level of the program, which has a clear quantitative focus, was very high. But high were also the expectations on students: we were supposed to accomplish all courses within 3 semesters. On one hand, this short time interval is quite observable and motivating. On the other hand, one has to keep the pace all time long. In this sense some features of the program were quite helpful: we studied in relatively small groups and had to submit weekly homework. There was quite a good mix on “paper” and “computer” tasks. To give some examples: I simulated Markov chains in Maple and calibrated models in Matlab, downloaded data from Bloomberg (the faculty has its own Bloomberg class) and analyzed it in Excel. All this experience and knowledge became very useful when I started to work in financial companies.
Dmitri graduated in 2007 and then worked in the structuring department of a large bank before he became a quantitative trader in a specialized company.