Financial Mathematics (first cycle)
Study program cycle and type:
First cycle academic study program.
Anticipated academic title:
Bachelor in Financial Mathematics (academic).
In Slovenian: diplomirani finančni matematik (UN), diplomirana finančna matematičarka (UN), abbreviated to dipl. fin. mat. (UN).
Duration:
3 full years (6 terms) based on 180 ECTS credits.
Basic goals:
The principal goal of the academic study program in Financial Mathematics is to create experts capable of solving hard mathematical problems arising in the banking and insurance sector, in trading activities of stock exchanges and brokerage firms, and in management of pension and health funds. Graduates of this study program also acquire enough theoretical knowledge to be able to proceed with the Financial Mathematics program in the second cycle.
Generic competencies developed by the student:
- ability of abstract thinking and problem analysis,
- ability of sorting out effective solutions and of their critical evaluation,
- ability of application of knowledge at solving practical problems,
- ability of using and following the expert literature,
- ability to set forth both written and oral presentations of specialized topics,
- ability to work both individually and as part of an (international) team,
- ability of lifelong self-education.
Subject specific competences developed by the student:
- basic knowledge of mathematics, basic knowledge of economics and finance, basic knowledge of informatics,
- ability to solve non-deterministic problems with the help of probability theory and statistics,
- ability to solve deterministic problems with the help of optimization methods and operations research,
- ability of computation of approximate solutions with the help of numerical methods,
- ability to use computers to solve problems and present results.
Employment possibilities:
Graduates of the academic study program in Financial Mathematics can find employment in:
- banks and insurance companies,
- stock exchanges and brokerage firms,
- pension and health benefits companies,
- both the public sector and agencies as well as in the private sector, for example the logistics sector (optimization).
Admission requirements and admission limitation measures
Admission to the study program is open to either:
a) Holders of the matura certificate.
b) Holders of the vocational matura certificate obtained in any of the four-year high school programs. In this case, an additional examination in one of the general matura subjects different from those of the vocational matura is required. Either one of the vocational matura subjects or the additional one must be mathematics.
c) Holders of the final examination certificate obtained in any of the four-year high school programs prior to 1 June 1995.
In case the number of applicants exceeds the maximum availability, the applicants are selected according to their final matura (or vocational matura) grade, their mathematics matura (or vocational matura) grade, their grade point average (GPA) in the last two years of high school, and their final mathematics grades in the last two years of high school. These are weighted in the following way.
Applicants under a)
- Matura certificate grade - 30 % of points
- Matura mathematics exam grade - 30 % of points
- GPA in the 3rd and 4th years of high school - 20 % of points
- Final grade in mathematics in the 3rd and 4th years of high school - 20 % of points ;
Applicants under b)
- Vocational matura grade - 20 % of points
- Matura or vocational matura mathematics exam grade - 40 % of points
- GPA in the 3rd and 4th years of high school - 10 % of points
- Final grade in mathematics in the 3rd and 4th years of high school - 30 % of points ;
Applicants under c)
- Final examination grade - 30 % of points
- Mathematics final examination grade or mathematics grade in the 4th year of high school in case of exemption from the final exam - 30 % of points
- GPA in the 3rd and 4th years of high school - 20 % of points
- Final mathematics grade in the 3rd and 4th years of high school - 20 % of points
Enrollment requirements
Enrollment in the first study year is granted upon admission.
For enrollment in the next study year it is necessary to earn 50 ECTS credits from courses and exams in the current study year.
In addition to the credit quota, the completions of the following exams are obligatory:
- for enrollment in the 2nd year: Analysis 1, Analysis 2, Algebra 1 and Computer lab,
- for enrollment in the 3rd year: all exams of the 1st year, Probability theory 1, Analysis 3 and Seminar 1.
Re-enrollment requirements
For re-enrollment in the same study year, a student needs to earn:
a) at least half of all possible credits of the current study year (30 ECTS credits), and
b) all credits from the previous study years.
Re-enrollment is only possible once in the course of studies. A change of the study program as result of disability of enrollment in the next study year is automatically counted as re-enrollment.
Finishing requirements
To finish the program, students need to complete all exams.
Validation of competences, knowledge, and skills acquired prior to admission to the study program
Students may apply for validation of their competences acquired previously by means of various forms of education if their competences match those of one or more courses offered within this study program. In a formal written request submitted to the mathematics department at the FMF, the applicant must specify the course(s) whose competences he or she had already mastered, and attach accredited transcripts proving it. When considering the possible validation of competences corresponding to a particular course, the department study committee bases its decision on a comparison of
- the duration of the educational process where the student acquired the competences with the duration of the respective course(s), and
- the scope of the previously acquired competences with the goals of the respective course(s).
If the study committee decides to validate the previously acquired competences, the student is awarded all ECTS credits that correspond to the respective course(s). In the validation process, the study committee follows The rules and guidelines for validation of informally acquired knowledge and skills, accepted by the Senate of The University of Ljubljana on 29 May 2007 (http://www.uni-lj.si/o_univerzi_v_ljubljani/statut_in_pravilniki.aspx).
Grading system
The methods for testing the competences, knowledge, and skills are described in the courses syllabi. The basic knowledge testing rules are explained in the Exam guidelines of the FMF. Course examinations are either written or oral or both. They can have the form of midterm exams, oral defense of midterm exams, written exams, oral exams, seminar or project work and oral defense of seminar and project work. Grading is based on the grading scale determined in the Statute of The University of Ljubljana. All forms of examinations are graded by grades 1-10, out of which 6-10 are passing grades, and 1-5 are failing grades. The following grading scale is most commonly used for grading the score of a written course examination:
| Score (in %) | grade |
|---|---|
| 50 - 59 % | 6 |
| 60 - 69 % | 7 |
| 70 - 79 % | 8 |
| 80 - 89 % | 9 |
| 90 - 100 % | 10 |
Curriculum
The spreadsheet data are given for both the winter and the summer term.
Each term comprises 15 weeks of classes.
Abbreviations:
L = lectures per week (in hours),
P = problem sessions per week (in hours),
Lab = lab classes per week (in hours),
S = seminars per week (in hours),
ECTS = ECTS credits worth,
TSW = estimated total student workload (in hours).
1st year
| Winter term | Summer term | Total | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Course | L | P | Lab | S | ECTS | TSW | L | P | Lab | S | ECTS | TSW | ECTS | TSW |
| Analysis 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 210 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 210 |
| Analysis 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 210 | 7 | 210 |
| Algebra 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 240 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 180 | 14 | 420 |
| Discrete mathematics 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 150 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 150 |
| Microeconomics | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 180 | 6 | 180 |
| Optimization methods | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 180 | 6 | 180 |
| Proseminar | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 120 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 120 |
| Computer lab | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 180 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 180 |
| Introduction to programming | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 150 | 5 | 150 |
| Weekly total | 12 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 30 | 900 | 13 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 900 | 60 | 1800 |
| Term total | 180 | 165 | 45 | 0 | 195 | 195 | 30 | 0 | ||||||
2nd year
| Winter term | Summer term | Total | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Course | L | P | Lab | S | ECTS | TSW | L | P | Lab | S | ECTS | TSW | ECTS | TSW |
| Analysis 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 270 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 270 |
| Probability theory 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 150 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 150 | 10 | 300 |
| Financial mathematics 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 150 | 5 | 150 |
| Macroeconomics | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 180 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 180 |
| Financial markets and institutions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 180 | 6 | 180 |
| Programming 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 150 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 150 |
| Numerical methods 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 150 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 150 |
| Numerical methods 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 150 | 5 | 150 |
| Money and finance | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 180 | 6 | 180 |
| Seminar 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 90 | 3 | 90 |
| Weekly total | 14 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 900 | 13 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 30 | 900 | 60 | 1800 |
| Term total | 210 | 150 | 30 | 0 | 195 | 165 | 0 | 30 | ||||||
3rd year
| Winter term | Summer term | Total | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Course | L | P | Lab | S | ECTS | TSW | L | P | Lab | S | ECTS | TSW | ECTS | TSW |
| Financial lab | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 150 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 150 |
| Statistics 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 150 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 150 | 10 | 300 |
| Random processes 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 150 | 5 | 150 |
| Operations research | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 180 | 6 | 180 |
| Game theory | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 180 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 180 |
| Seminar 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 90 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 30 | 4 | 120 |
| Elective courses | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 330 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 390 | 24 | 720 |
| Weekly total | 11 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 30 | 900 | 13 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 30 | 900 | 60 | 1800 |
| Term total | 165 | 150 | 0 | 75 | 195 | 180 | 0 | 15 | ||||||
In addition to the obligatory courses, each student opts for elective courses of total worth 24 ECTS credits.
Of those, at least 5 ECTS credits must be earned by taking courses offered by the Department of Mathematics at the FMF, and at least 5 ECTS credits by taking courses offered by the Department of Money and Finance at the Faculty of Economics (EF).
Courses offered by the Department of Money and Finance
| Course |
|---|
| Financial economics |
| Public finance |
| International finance |
| Monetary economics |
| Corporate finance 1 |
| Theory of corporate finance |
| Taxes and corporate tax burden |
| Financial statement analysis |
| Corporate finance 1 |
| Financial institutions |
| Financial institutions management 1 |
| Theory of financial intermediation |
| Taxes and corporations |
| Econometrics 1 |
| Financial analysis 1 |
| International trade politics |
| International financial environment |
| Market organization and structure 1 |
| Principles of accounting |
| Fundamentals of financial and management accounting |
| Securities |
| European monetary system |
Courses offered by the Department of Mathematics at the FMF
| Course |
|---|
| Mathematical modelling |
| Coding theory and cryptography |
| Discrete mathematics 2 |
| Data structures and algorithms 1 |
| Data structures and algorithms 2 |
| Database basics |
| Point-set topology |
| Algebra 2 |
| Algebraic curves |
| Introduction to geometric topology |
| Algebra 3 |
| Affine and projective geometry |
| Introduction to differential geometry |
| Analysis 3 (Program Mathematics) |
| Analysis 4 |
Students studying at a foreign institution as part of the Socrates-Erasmus exchange program can transfer up to 30 ECTS credits awarded at that institution in the case of a single term exchange or 60 ECTS credits in the case of a full year exchange.