UNWE and UniCredit Bulbank are partners in creating a joint Master’s programme in one of the most desired and attractive areas in the financial sphere – Quantitative Finance. Today, the Rector of UNWE, prof. DSc Dimitar Dimitrov and the CEO of UniCredit Bulbank, Ms Teodora Petkova signed the framework cooperation agreement in “Ceremonial” Hall at UNWE.

The agreement states that in order to ensure a closer link between science, education and business, the two institutions will cooperate in clarifying the curriculum and syllabus of the Quantitative Finance Programme.

The Master's programme developed by the Department of Finance and the Department of Statistics and Econometrics meets the latest trends in the employers’ search for well-trained financial professionals and is in line with the leading standards globally. It will offer practice-oriented and multidisciplinary training and building of skills, knowledge and competencies to perform quantitative financial analyses, corresponding to the changing and dynamic financial environment.

Quantitative Finance is taught at a number of leading universities worldwide, such as Baruch College, City University of New York, Princeton University, Columbia University, University of Washington, University of Strathclyde, UK, Glasgow.

UNWE will be the first university in Bulgaria, which together with UniCredit Bulbank will implement and offer students the opportunity to study this Master's programme.

"By signing this agreement we join hands with UniCredit Bulbank and take another step towards the realization of one of the most important priorities for our university, which is to meet the expectations of the business, by opening modern, innovative and sought-after specialty trainings by employers to build prepared and competitive young people, future experts in finance and economics", commented prof. Dimitrov.

"Data analytics is one of the skills of the future. The new Master's programme in Quantitative Finance will create leaders in an area that businesses have a conscious need for, in order to succeed in the long run. Data analysts improve the ability of companies to make adequate decisions in situations of unprecedented change and to predict future trends on the basis of data models.  I am glad to return to UNWE, this time as a representative of the largest bank in our country, UniCredit Bulbank, to combine efforts in the training of the best experts in Quantitative Finance on the market", said Teodora Petkova, Chairperson of the Management Board and Chief Executive Officer of UniCredit Bulbank.

The framework agreement aims to provide better opportunities for career development and realization of students from UNWE through on-site visits to the offices of UniCredit Bulbank, meetings with experts, organization of trainings and undergraduate internships and practical work placements. It is envisaged that students who have performed well during the internship will have the opportunity to start work.

The training in the new Master's programme in Quantitative Finance will start in 2021/2022 academic year.

The other activities under the framework agreement include public lectures, scientific forums, master classes and other initiatives.

The coordinator of the agreement on behalf of UNWE is Assoc. Prof. DSc Gergana Mihaylova-Borisova, Deputy Head of the Finance Department, and on behalf of UniCredit Bulbank – Mr. Borislav Bangeev, Chief Risk Officer and Member of the Management Board of the bank.

On the part of UNWE, the signing was attended by the Vice-Rector for Research and International Cooperation, Assoc. Prof. DSc Mihail Musov, the Vice-Rector for Institutional and Business Cooperation and Student Policies, Prof. DSc Tsvetana Stoyanova and the Assistant Rector Prof. DSc (Econ.) Kiril Stoychev.

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