| Study programme | dokFINdAJ - finance |
| Study | stupeň - III. - doctoral, forma - full time, typ - Single degree study |
| The name of the university | Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica |
| The seat of the university | Národná 12, 974 01 Banská Bystrica |
| The name of the faculty | The Faculty of Economics |
| The seat of the faculty | Tajovského 10, 975 90 Banská Bystrica |
Graduate profile
The Finance study programme is based on acquiring knowledge, skills, and competencies in finance at the level of allowing graduates to efficiently communicate with the national and multinational scientific and professional community in all sectors of the national economy.
KNOWLEDGE: Doctoral study graduates in the Finance study programme have mastered appropriate methods of essential and applied research to solve problems in finance theory, banking and finance economics, financial management, public finance, the economics and management of innovations, quantitative finance, and finance macroeconometrics.
SKILLS: Graduates of this study programme are able to design and create research process in the field of finance independently, innovatively with academic integrity, focusing on various areas of finance. Depending on the character of the research problem and the research area, graduates are able to formulate research theses and hypotheses, evaluate and verify them scientifically, applying appropriately corresponding research methods. They have prerequisites for solving and verifying complex theoretical and practical problems and conducting extensive research in finance at various levels of the national economy as well as at the multinational level. Based on their findings, graduates are able to propose, verify, and implement research approaches in an innovative way. They are able to apply a range of quantitative methods in theoretical or applied finance at the micro as well as macro levels. Based on their findings, graduates are able to propose, verify, and implement research approaches in an innovative way. Graduates acquire specific methods of scientific work, the ability to apply specialised knowledge in theory and practice alike. They are also able to apply complex and new strategic approaches when solving a research task, using their specialized skills and techniques relevant to the selected topic, their ability to expand on new ideas, making novel contributions and thus further developing the field of Economics and Management.
COMPETENCIES: Graduates of the Finance study programme are not only able to apply constructive criticism and comprehensive evaluation when analysing a researched phenomenon, but also to predict its further development and adopt interim as well as long-term decisions. They are also able to creatively implement new findings in pedagogical, wider economic, and social practices, and participate in the creation of approaches to economic development with the emphasis on the area of finance. On top of that, they are able to solve complicated novel innovative research tasks and present their research findings in scientific and technical publications respected both by the national and international scientific communities. Thanks to their independent, critical, analytical, and conceptual thinking, doctoral graduates are able to present the results of their research in their own country as well as abroad. Thus, graduates can be employed in research institutes, in key institutions in state administration, in international institutions of a global and regional character when theoretical knowledge is at the centre of solving problems in economic practice. Their ability to further theoretical knowledge and use scientific methods of research makes them ideal candidates for scientific work. They can find employment to a full degree in leading managerial, strategic-planning, and analytical positions in private and public sector establishments related to finance at various levels of national or multinational institutions and companies. Graduates are competent to publish papers in journals of international quality, cope with issues in the field of finance at an international level and discuss scientific results and attained results in the field of finance at international forums and on online scientific platforms.
Learning objectives
This study programme aims to achieve the following learning objectives:
1. Acquiring knowledge in advanced finance is necessary for scientific work in the field, for constructing theoretical and applied models, for assessing the effects of political-economic decisions and for empirical research.
2. Acquiring critical view and argumentation capabilities in order to recognize and analyse finance phenomena and processes.
3. The application of acquired theoretical knowledge and all methodological approaches when analysing finance, its individual parts and policies, by using abstract and creative scientific thinking.
4. The integration of acquired factual, conceptual, procedural, and cognitive knowledge when writing scientific papers or dissertations and their synthesising when improving on existing phenomena and finance processes.
The main learning outcomes in the study programme is the following knowledge, skills and competencies:
1. KNOWLEDGE: Graduates have mastered appropriate methods of essential and applied research to solve problems in finance theory, banking and finance economics, financial management, public finance, economics and management of innovations, quantitative finance, and finance macroeconometrics. They are knowledgeable in appropriate research methods of formulating and evaluating research theses, as
well as verifying research hypotheses in finance. They also have an overview of standards in scientific work and have acquired the essential ethical principles of scientific publishing.
2. SKILLS: Graduates are able to design and create research process in the field of finance independently, innovatively with academic integrity, focusing on various areas. They have prerequisites for solving and verifying complex theoretical and practical problems and conducting extensive research in finance at various levels of the national economy as well as at the multinational level. They are able to apply a range of quantitative methods in theoretical or applied finance at the micro as well as macro levels. Graduates are able to formulate research theses and hypotheses, evaluate and verify them scientifically as well as set up a domestic or foreign scientific research project.
3. COMPETENCIES: Based on the gathered knowledge, graduates are qualified to apply constructive criticism and comprehensive evaluation, analyse researched phenomena, as well as predict their further development and adopt interim as well as long-term decisions. In particular, graduates are capable of suitably using attained knowledge of diverse financial theories, formulating scientific hypotheses of research in the field of finance and are also capable of creating theoretical and empirical models in analysing and describing financial phenomena. Subsequently, they are capable of assessing suitability of instruments chosen to control and regulate financial processes in practice. Their abilities to expand on theoretical knowledge and use scientific methods of research makes them ideal for academic work and work in domestic as well as foreign research institutes, in key institutions in state administration or in international institutions of a regional and global character. Graduates are able to work in teams and take initiative in contributing to fulfilling the aims and goals of scientific projects.
Linkage of the graduate profile with the learning objectives:
The profile of a graduate of the study program Finance is shaped so that it corresponds to the needs of applied practice and makes it possible for scientific knowledge in the field of finance to expand in correlation with these needs. On the one hand, the offer of the five profile courses and their content is derived from the requirements of practice with an orientation to needs of higher management tiers of the macro and micro sphere; on the other hand, they reflect contemporary trends of scientific research in the field of finance. Profile courses are designed to enable doctoral students to attain knowledge, skills and competencies to achieve high-quality and internationally accepted scientific results. Profile courses also reflect the experience of their servicing teachers gained by their employment in central banking and in government decision-making authorities as well as for international institutions, in accord with the needs of theoretical research in the field of finance.
The main measurable indicators of the study programme outcome are the following:
1. Active participation in a scientific research project and publishing outcomes from each doctoral candidate.
2. Every graduate is to publish their research outcome recorded in WoS or Scopus databases by the end of their studies (outcome published or approved to be published).
3. Participation in mobility abroad by at least 50% of graduates.
Top-tier managers and specialists:
· Financial analyst and a specialist in finance, insurance and other financial services not listed elsewhere SK ISCO-08: 2413999
· National economy specialist SK ISCO-08: 2631001
· Economic analyst, forecaster SK ISCO-08: 2631002
· Research worker in banking Qualification Code: C2413028-00564 SK ISCO-082413028
· Professional Qualification Code: C3311001-01582 SK ISCO- 083311001
· Investment Operations Specialist on financial markets – Portfolio Manager for DSS Qualification Code: U2413025-00554 SK ISCO-08: 2413025
· Economic Analyst Qualification Code: U2631002-01045 SK ISCO-08: 2631002
· Investment Manager – Portfolio Manager Qualification Code: C2413026-01591 SK ISCO-08: 2413026
· Dean, Vice-Dean SK ISCO-08: 1345002
Most of the indicated professions require a high degree of knowledge, skills and competences in the field of finance and economics that are attainable by studying the proposed study program (in particular, in the area of cognition, modelling and forecasting of phenomena across the full spectrum of finance). The profession of leading university employees (dean and vice-dean) special competences in the sphere of management
and broader financial management are required.
Graduates are qualified to work as top-tier analysts and specialists in state administration, financial and non-financial institutions, as well as research and scientific staff or university teachers. Thanks to their scientific and methodological skillset, they may find employment in national and international institutions of a financial or non-financial character.
The first doctoral candidates in the study programme at the MBU Faculty of Economics graduated in the academic year of 2016/2017. From the total number of 8 successful graduates of full-time studies in the Finance study programme, 3 of them work at the MBU Faculty of Economics as research assistants. Other graduates work as specialists in the area of investments, audit or are in top positions in businesses. From the total number of 8 graduates of full-time studies in the Finance study programme, 4 have received awards at the global level, demonstrating the quality of the offered study programme.
Employability is also judged based on the soliciting of Finance study programme graduates regarding their opinions of the Horizon 2020 docEnhance international project. A report tracking the careers of doctoral graduates was written as part of the project. Besides MBU in Banská Bystrica, 8 other higher education institutions in the EU participated: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece), UiT Arctic University of Norway (Norway), Maastricht University (Netherlands), Technical University of Munich (Germany), University of Alcala (Spain), University of Chemistry and Industry Prague (Czech Republic), MNOVA University Lisbon (Portugal) and University of Sassari (Italy).
Link to the project website: https://docenhance.eu/career-tracking/
Awarded students of the Finance study programme:
Tax Advisors Awards
2019 - Ing. Kamil Ščerba, PhD. – The attitudes to tax evasion and tax avoidance and policies to reduce tax evasion - supervisor: prof. Ing. Marta Orviská, PhD.
2019 - Ing. Viacheslav Natorin, PhD. – The present state and perspectives of Islamic banking in Europe – supervisor: prof. Ing. Hussam Musa, PhD.
2020 - Ing. Denisa Mlynárová, PhD. – Environmental taxes as an instrument of environmental policy and their effects – supervisor: prof. Ing. Marta Orviská, PhD.
The competition is organized by the Slovak Chamber of Tax Advisers https://skdp.sk/webnew/main.nsf/0/61d8f037d6a403f8c12582490034 611c?OpenDocument&ExpandSection=3
Student Personality of Slovakia 2020/2021 in social sciences
2021 - Ing. Petra Cisková, PhD. – Dynamics of Slovak economy and possibilities of the financial crises regulation by monetary and fiscal policy – supervisor: prof. RNDr. Rudolf Zimka, CSc.
The competition was organized by JCI-Slovakia under the auspices of Zuzana Čaputová, the president of the SR and professionally covered by the Slovak Rectors’ Conference and Slovak Academy of Sciences http://www.studentskaosobnost.sk.
The written consent of the awarded graduates together with the public disclosure of their data is part of the document.
Všeobecná úverová banka, a.s. (General Credit Bank), Mlynské nivy 1 St, 829 90 Bratislava // Ing. Elena Kohútiková, PhD. (Vice-Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board)
F.D. Roosevelt University General Hospital of Banská Bystrica, Námestie L. Svobodu 1 St, 975 17 Banská Bystrica // Ing. Miriam Lapuníková, PhD., MBA (General Director)
Ministry of Labour Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic, Špitálska 4 St, 816 43 Bratislava // Mgr. Boris Sloboda, PhD. (Director General, EU structural funds)
The listed employers have expressed their opinions about the study programme’s quality by writing a stakeholder assessment report on the study programme. These assessment reports along with the opinion of the person responsible for the study programme on the integration of the stakeholders’ comments are provided in the annexes of this
accreditation document.
The rules on creating study plans in the study programme are defined in the Academic Policies and Procedures of the MBU https://bit.ly/3p2hFdm as well as in Academic Policies and Procedures of the MBU Faculty of Economics https://bit.ly/3DjS6IC. During the creation of the recommended study plan, other rules than the documents mentioned served as guidelines in the process:
- Credit allocation to courses depends on the required time commitment of students. As a rule, this amounts to 1800 hours per academic year in full-time studies and 1440 hours per academic year in part-time studies, including self-study and individual research/artistic/other activities equal to approximately 30 hours per credit.
- The allotted number of credits reflects the time commitment of students required to acquire the prescribed learning objectives.
- The time and content successiveness of the courses in the recommended study plan is set so that, by completing a course, students receive the required knowledge, skills, and competencies.
Specifically, the following factors were taken into consideration:
- Profile courses are taken only from the pool of compulsory or elective courses.
- Credits obtained from completing a profile course is generally higher than from a secondary course.
- Number of credits received from profile courses amounts to at least half the total number of credits received for compulsory courses.
The description of the study programme includes the names of compulsory and elective courses, the credit values of each course, basic educational activities and the number of allotted hours, the recommended term of study, the student workload measured in hours and teachers of the course. The study plan includes profile courses that are highlighted. Learning outcomes, the rules of their assessment, educational activities, teaching methods, curriculum, student workload are all included in course information sheets. The recommended study
plan is found as an annex in the accreditation document.
https://umbsk.sharepoint.com/:f:/s/VnutornySystemKvalityUMB/EsOs2Pz0M81BlaXXYgddPW8BPVRXt-rdIDfrR18S8luJsA?e=KUQzuA
The state examination consists of a dissertation thesis defence. In order to take the state examination, students must successfully complete all compulsory courses and a set number of elective and optional courses in the study and the scientific parts of their studies, including a state examination in the form of a dissertation defence.
Requirements for the regular completion of studies and other rules regulating study discontinuation, an individual study plan and change of a study programme are defined in the Academic Policies and Procedures
of the MBU Faculty of Economics https://bit.ly/3DjS6IC, of Directive No. 7/2021 on doctoral studies https://www.ef.umb.sk/index.asp?uid=1872 and MBU Directive No. 10/2021 on establishing field committees for doctoral studies at MBU https://www.ef.umb.sk/index.asp?uid=1921.
Number of credits for compulsory courses required for proper completion of studies/completion of a part of studies - 86
(36 study part + 20 doctoral examination + 30 top international quality paper)
Number of credits for elective courses required for proper completion of studies/completion of a part of studies - 48
(18 study part + 30 scientific part)
Number of credits for compulsory courses required for proper completion of studies/completion of a part of studies - 6
(study part)
Number of credits for the final thesis and the defence of the final thesis required for the proper completion of studies - 40
Number of credits for professional practice required for the proper completion of studies/completion of a part of studies - 0
The rules for the verification of learning outcomes, student assessments, and the possibilities of appealing against the assessment are defined in Academic Policies and Procedures of the MBU Faculty of Economics, Art. 18 https://bit.ly/3DjS6IC, MBU Directive No. 7/2021 on doctoral studies, Art. 7 and 13 https://www.ef.umb.sk/index.asp?uid=1872 and MBU Directive No. 10/2021 on establishing field committees for doctoral studies at MBU, Art. 4 https://www.ef.umb.sk/indexasp? uid=1921. The verification methods for accomplishing learning outcomes, course completion criteria and requirements are listed in study programme course information sheets and announced to students at the start of a semester. The verification and assessment process results are announced to students in the academic information system. If students request so, teaching staff are required to provide feedback on their assessment results. The possibilities of assessment correction procedures are defined in the Academic Policies and Procedures of the MBU Faculty of Economics, Art. 18 https://bit.ly/3DjS6IC, MBU Directive No. 2/2017 on handling complaints https://bit.ly/3xZhLVF. Students may also ask the following for help: the chairperson of the field subcommittee of the relevant study programme, the Head of the department or Vice-Dean for pedagogical activity, whose responsibility is to look into every claim.
The requirements for the recognition of studies or its part are defined in the Academic Policies and Procedures of the MBU Faculty of Economics, Art. 11 and Art. 27 https://bit.ly/3DjS6IC, MBU Directive No. 7/2021 on doctoral studies, Art. 6, 7, 11, 13
The list of all offered topics for dissertations in the last 5 years is part of the annex for Study programme accreditation application.
Rules for the assignment, processing, opposition, defence and evaluation of final theses in the study programme
The rules concerning final theses are defined in MBU Directive No. 2/2021 Layout of University Written Assignments, Final Theses or Habilitation Theses https://bit.ly/31wKllO, in the Academic Policies and Procedures of the MBU Faculty of Economics, Art. 21 and Art. 22 https://bit.ly/3DjS6IC, MBU Directive No. 7/2021 on doctoral studies, Art. 16(8) https://www.ef.umb.sk/index.asp?uid=1872
Opportunities and procedures for participation in student mobility
Supporting individual mobility opportunities for students is one of the essential priorities of the MBU internationalization strategy. This priority is specified in the “Internationalisation Strategy” https://bit.ly/3dyvR7l as well as in MBU Directive No. 4/2019 on ERASMUS+ mobility opportunities at MBU https://bit.ly/ 3DEvRx4. Information on mobility opportunities abroad are available to the public on the MBU Faculty of Economics webpage https://bit.ly/3rUE266 in both Slovak and English. The recommended study programme contains an elective course of this kind for each semester, International Mobility 1 in the winter semester and International Mobility 2 in the summer semester.
Rules for adherence to academic ethics and rules for drawing consequences
Students are regularly informed about the principles and rules of adherence to academic ethics in the first year of their studies, this is a part of Research Methodology and Ethics 1 and Research Methodology and Ethics 2. Teachers and supervisors thoroughly examine the authenticity of the Dissertation thesis, submitted seminar papers, written scientific papers, published scientific contributions or projects. In Art. 18(9) https://bit.ly/3DjS6IC of the Academic Policies and Procedures of the MBU Faculty of Economics; cheating while carrying out study responsibilities is considered a disciplinary offence. The disciplinary commission of the MBU Faculty of Economics handles all disciplinary offences. Its status and activities are regulated by the MBU Disciplinary Procedure for students and MBU Negotiations procedure for students https://bit.ly/31E2UEv. An Ethics Committee was established at MBU, responsible for solving problems related to the following of academic ethics by employees and students alike. Relevant information related to the Ethics Committee and its activity are available to the public on the university website. https://bit.ly/3oBITr0. Students at MBU are bound by its Code of Ethics https://bit.ly/3EBcZ3t. Every student may, at the same time, complete the ethical decision-making training in an online space in accordance with MBU rules https:// bit.ly/31KQ9Yg. Documents are released on the university and faculty websites.
Procedures applicable to students with special needs
The university and its sections offer applicants and students with special needs appropriate adjustments and support services, creating an environment that aims at balancing study offers at MBU. Procedures for applicants and students with special needs are listed in the Study Guide for students with special needs studying at MBU and other released instructions on the university webpage https://bit.ly/3dxWlFW. A position of Coordinator for students with special needs has been created at MBU Faculty of Economics. Their job is to provide such students with support during their adaptation to the university environment and help them solve various study-related situations. https://bit.ly/3yk15Zv.
Procedures for filing complaints and appeals by students
Processes when submitting student complaints and appeals are defined in MBU Directive No. 5/2019 on internal system of submitting and examining anti-social activity notices https://bit.ly/3pGmVlI, in MBU Directive No. 2/2017 on handling complaints https://bit.ly/3rLppSA.
The list of courses and their information sheets are listed in the annexes of the application for accreditation of the study programme.
Current academic calendar
The AR timetable is available on the Faculty's website: https://www.ef.umb.sk/student/doktorandske-studium/dokumenty/harmonogram-akademickeho-roka-doktorandskeho-studia.html
Current schedule
The current timetable is available on the Faculty's website: https://www.ef.umb.sk/student/doktorandske-studium/informacie-o-studiu/rozvrh-doktorandskeho-studia.html
prof. Ing. Emília Zimková, PhD.
Department of Finance and Accounting
Faculty of Economics, MBU in Banská Bystrica
Tajovského 10, 975 90 Banská Bystrica
+421 48 446 6322
https://www.portalvs.sk/regzam/detail/11453
prof. Ing. Emília Zimková, PhD. | Ekonomická fakulta, Univerzita Mateja Bela (umb.sk)
Finančná ekonómia
(Financial Economics)
prof. Ing. Emília Zimková, PhD.
Department of Finance and Accounting
https://www.portalvs.sk/regzam/detail/11453
prof. Ing. Emília Zimková, PhD. | Ekonomická fakulta, Univerzita Mateja Bela (umb.sk)
Finančný manažment
(Financial Management)
prof. Ing. Peter Krištofík, PhD.
Department of Finance and Accounting
https://www.portalvs.sk/regzam/detail/11202
prof. Ing. Peter Krištofík, PhD. | Ekonomická fakulta, Univerzita Mateja Bela (umb.sk)
Ekonómia a manažment inovácií
(Economics and Management of Innovation)
doc. Ing. Peter Pisár, PhD.
Department of Finance and Accounting
https://www.portalvs.sk/regzam/detail/11458
hprof. Ing. Peter Pisár, PhD. | Ekonomická fakulta, Univerzita Mateja Bela (umb.sk)
Aplikovaná finančná makroekonometria
(Applied Financial Macroeconometrics)
doc. PhDr. Ing. Martin Boďa, PhD.
Department of Quantitative Methods and Information Systems
https://www.portalvs.sk/regzam/detail/11590
doc. PhDr. Ing. Martin Boďa, PhD. | Ekonomická fakulta, Univerzita Mateja Bela (umb.sk)
Teórie financií
(Finance Theories)
doc. Ing. Ján Huňady, PhD.
Department of Finance and Accounting
https://www.portalvs.sk/regzam/detail/16168
doc. Ing. Ján Huňady, PhD. | Ekonomická fakulta, Univerzita Mateja Bela (umb.sk)
SAPC of the relevant persons is available as an annex in the application for accreditation of the study programme.
prof. Ing. Emília Zimková, PhD. - VUPCH_Zimková
prof. Ing. Peter Krištofík, Ph.D. - VUPCH_Krištofík
prof. Ing. Peter Pisár, PhD. - VUPCH_Pisár
doc. PhDr. Ing. Martin Boďa, PhD. - VUPCH_Boďa
doc. Ing. Ján Huňady, PhD. - VUPCH_Huňady
doc. PhDr. Ing. Martin Boďa, PhD.
Kvantitatívne financie (Quantitative Finance)
Aplikovaná finančná makroekonometria (Applied Financial Macroeconometrics)
048/446 6617
https://www.portalvs.sk/regzam/detail/11590
doc. Ing. Mária Horehájová, PhD.
Mikroekonómia (Microeconomics)
048/446 2615
https://www.portalvs.sk/regzam/detail/11209
doc. Ing. Martin Hronec, PhD.
Makroekonómia (Macroeconomics)
https://www.portalvs.sk/regzam/detail/11233
doc. Ing. Ján Huňady, PhD.
Teórie financií (Finance Theories)
Verejné financie (Public Finance)
https://www.portalvs.sk/regzam/detail/16168
prof. Ing. Peter Krištofík, PhD.
Finančný manažment (Financial management)
Ekonómia a manažment inovácií (Economics and Management of innovation)
Behaviorálne financie (Behavioural Finance)
048/446 2121
doc. Ing. Jana Marasová, PhD.
Mikroekonómia (Microeconomics)
048/446 2617
https://www.portalvs.sk/regzam/detail/11215
prof. Ing. Hussam Musa, PhD.
Medzinárodné financie (International Finance)
048/ 446 6315
https://www.portalvs.sk/regzam/detail/11455
prof. Ing. Juraj Nemec, CSc.
Metodológia a etika vedeckej práce 1 (Research Methodology and Ethics 1)
Metodológia a etika vedeckej práce 2 (Research Methodology and Ethics 2)
048/446 6318
https://www.portalvs.sk/regzam/detail/11585
doc. Ing. Peter Pisár, PhD.
Ekonómia a manažment inovácií (Economics and Management of Innovations)
Verejné financie (Public Finance)
Hodnotenie verejných programov a verejných politík (Evaluation of Public Programs and Public Policies)
048/446 6324
https://www.portalvs.sk/regzam/detail/11458
prof. Ing. Emília Zimková, PhD.
Metodológia a etika vedeckej práce 1 (Research Methodology and Ethics 1)
Metodológia a etika vedeckej práce 2 (Research Methodology and Ethics 2)
Teórie financií (Finance Theories) Finančná ekonómia (Financial Economics)
Monetárna ekonómia (Monetary Economics)
048/446 6322
The list of supervisors of final theses is available as an annex in the application for accreditation of the study programme.
SAPC of the dissertation supervisors is present as an annex in the application for accreditation of the study programme.
Ing. Stanislava Honzová, 2nd year, full-time studies, study in Slovak
Study officer
PhDr. Ingrid Balážová,
048 446 2141
Accommodation officer
Mgr. Ján Grener
Head of the Central Office of Accommodation Facilities of MBU
048/446 6914
Social Affairs Officer
Jana Lobbová,
048 446 1152
Coordinator for applicants and students with special needs
doc. Ing. Radoslav Kožiak, PhD.
048 446 2014
International Relations Officer
Mgr. Viera Pavlovičová
048/446 6727
Other administration staff (if established)
Project administration
Ing. Denisa Voskárová
048/446 2179
Centre for Research and Development
Ing. Marta Húšťava Šipulová
048/446 7177
The Faculty of Economics of MBU has enough spatial, material, technical resources as well as information channels to sustain the study programme. Classes take place in two faculty buildings, the main building and the new building, in which the premises consist of quality lecture rooms and classrooms offering a comfortable learning process for all students. Every classroom is furnished with new technical equipment i.e. a data projector, video camera, speakers with microphone to allow for distance or hybrid forms of teaching. Computers in the faculty computer classrooms have valid licenses for MS Office, SPSS Statistics and other licenses inevitable for the learning process. Besides the classrooms, there are multiple places for students in the building premises. Students may use rooms for self-study or teamwork available in each of the buildings. The main building also features a chill zone as well as a reading room in the library. The new building features a self-study centre available to all
students. The faculty also has at its disposal modern information and communication technology, enabling it to arrange videoconferences or other online video sessions with both domestic and foreign universities. Students may also freely use the university library, which offers comprehensive services including on-site as well as off-site book loans, bibliographic, information or counselling services. All students have valid access to electronic databases provided by the faculty university licensing (e.g., ProQuest eBook Central, Emerald, Science Direct, Wiley Online Library, HST, etc.). They may use the online library, i.e. virtual classroom, offering them unlimited access from their homes.
All information on the study programme including information sheets of the individual courses are available in the Academic Information System (AIS2). Essential information and the recommended study plan of the individual study programmes is available on the faculty webpage in the Study Guide. Course syllabuses, the criteria on meeting requirements for credits and qualitative assessment are released together with the study materials in the courses created in the LMS Moodle e-learning gateway. It is primarily used as a primary tool for directing distance learning (release of study materials, handing out assignments and their assessment, the distribution and evaluation of exams). In LMS, individual subject courses are available to students with essential study materials needed to successfully complete and pass a given course.
Access to study literature according to Course information sheets, access to information databases and other information sources
The university library offers students not just traditional printed study materials, but students may access electronic resources, scientific papers and other publications. Every university PC has access to 20 paid databases of publication outcomes through a licensed university access (e.g. ProQuest, eBook Central, Emerald, Science Direct, Wiley Online Library, HST). Students may also access these databases externally through a VPN network. The publications issued by the Belianum university publishing house are available in digital form, available to students through the Virtual Study Room https://digitalnakniznica.cvtisr.sk/page/umb-digitalna-kniznica and the MBU Repository https://repo.umb.sk/ as a consequence of the open access policy of MBU in Banská Bystrica. The Matej Bel University Library offers 5 reading rooms, the Self-Education Center, Lending Department and the Education Center. Directly on the premises of the faculty students may use the Self-Education Center (https://www.library.umb.sk/studovne/samovzdelavacie-stredisko/).
Access to information technologies
Students and employees of the faculty are ensured comfortable access to information technologies. In case of technical issues with information systems, students and employees may ask the technical support at helpdesk.umb.sk (https://helpdesk.umb.sk/) for help, where they may find general information, tutorials and the steps to access their user accounts for Office 365, AIS2, LMS Moodle, internet connection or Wi-Fi in the faculty premises and dormitories, as well as to student cards.
Students have access to schedules in the AIS2, where they can also enrol for ongoing or final assessments or receive information on their study results. Teachers communicate with students via their student mailboxes, or collectively by using mass mails in AIS2 or the relevant course in LMS Moodle. All students and teachers have access to 5 Office 365 licenses via their university accounts.
Every guarantor department has department sections on the faculty website where they inform their students about important events.
The software available to students for needs in the learning process include: Office 365 applications/MS Office 2016/2019, R and R-Studio, IBM SPSS 28 statistical software, SAP, Power BI, SQL, Inkscape, CorelDRAW, PC Translator, video recording software (some classrooms offer Camtasia, in most cases Open Broadcaster Software); as well as a
large number of standard software.
Distance learning is provided predominantly through regular video- conference online meetings according to the schedule for the relevant semester in MS Teams application.
Every course is taught in a separate team and only teachers of the course and students enrolled in the course are members of such a team. In addition to Microsoft Teams, LMS Moodle is used as a tool for providing learning materials in the form of learning texts, lecture materials, assignments, data files, assignment solutions and video presentations. LMS Moodle also serves as a place where students can hand in their ongoing and final assignments and given test checks and feedback on their assignments. Teachers may use education licenses in Slido to stir up more interaction from their students during online lessons or when collecting feedback.
If students need specialised software installed in the classroom computers, they can access it using a secured remote access through an encrypted VPN (by installing an RDP client in their PC, they may connect to the university RDS server). They will have the ability to use the
necessary software even during distance learning without limits.
Access, manuals of e-learning portals
In the case of distance (or hybrid) learning, online lessons take place in Microsoft Teams. Students are added to the team and teachers begin conducting the lessons with online lectures, practice, seminars, consultations, etc. Materials for face-to-face learning, including tutorials, are available in Slovak and English at the technical support website, at helpdesk.umb.sk (https://helpdesk.umb.sk/sk/23/zakladne-informacie- ms-teams.html). Other tutorials are partially available in LMS Moodle https://lms.umb.sk/course/index.php?categoryid=182 or on YouTube https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxzjGZonsfzV7RTjvqlUizBMq8WeOR F_N). Students and employees may ask ICT administrators at the faculty (https://helpdesk.umb.sk/user/local_admins) for help, who can also help them via remote access.
Procedures for the transition from contact teaching to distance learning
Face-to-face learning may transition to distance learning immediately as all classrooms and auditoriums used for teaching are equipped with the necessary equipment, enabling video and audio transfer through the internet. If necessary (e.g. because of the current pandemic), learning process smoothly shifts from face-to-face to distance learning in all courses of the study programme.
The Council for Budget Responsibility – participation in macroeconomics courses, lectures as a part of the scientific seminar led by Imrich Karvaš
Národná banka Slovenska (National Bank of Slovakia) – participation in macroeconomics courses, lectures as part of a scientific seminar led by Imrich Karvaš
Czech National Bank, Aston Business School in Birmingham – lectures as part of a scientific seminar,
Česká spořitelna, a.s., Všeobecná úverová banka, a.s. (General Credit Bank), Slovenská sporiteľňa, a.s. – lectures as part of a scientific seminar
The faculty connects doctoral candidates from all study programmes with the aim of furthering their scientific development, but also to help them purposefully invest their free time in the Centre for Research and Development (https://www.facebook.com/centrumrozvojadoktorandov) with a more than 20-year tradition. Students organise the Scientia Iuventa international scientific conference on their own (https://si.umb.sk). They may co-organise the Scientific seminar led by Imrich Karvaš (https://vsik.sk) and participate in it. The faculty regularly holds workshops during the academic year in order to strengthen the transferrable competencies of doctoral candidates (e.g. to support their analytical skills, stimulate career growth) and to support their mobility. The faculty regularly invites economic and financial practitioners for lectures. On top of that the university offers a wide range of possibilities for students to engage in social, sport, cultural, spiritual and social activities (https://www.umb.sk/studium/ student/volny-cas/).
Possibilities and requirements for students in the study programme to attend mobility opportunities and internships follow Directive No. 4/2019 on ERASMUS+ mobility opportunities at MBU https://bit.ly/3DEvRx4 and are available in a separate section of the MBU Faculty of Economics webpage https://bit.ly/3rUE266 Among them are mainly the Erasmus+ mobility programme, or mobility opportunities provided by the SAIA organisation. Besides studies offered to students, those also have the possibility to receive internships. The call for applications for mobility is announced every year in the first half of the winter semester. Those interested in mobility submit an application along with a letter of motivation, a CV, and a foreign language certificate. Subsequently, a pre-selection of participants takes place, which consists of an evaluation of the submitted documents and a personal interview. (face-to-face or online). The results of the pre-selections are announced to the students after the grant has been awarded by the National Agency Erasmus+. When a student completes a study mobility, the supervisor confirms the recognition of ECTS credits gained on the mobility based on the certified results statement.
Admission requirements are the same for all doctoral study programmes at the MBU Faculty of Economics in Banská Bystrica and are based on
Directive No. 7/2021 on doctoral studies, Art. 4 (https://www.ef.umb.sk/index.asp?uid=1872).
A prerequisite for admission to doctoral studies is completing Master’s degree of studies. Applicants who completed their previous degree of study abroad are obliged to present a recognition of their education certificate received outside the Slovak Republic under Act No. 422/2015 on the Recognition of Education Certificates and Professional Qualification, as amended.
Another condition is a successful pass on admission examination. The process of admission procedure and admission requirements to doctoral studies are listed in the Possibilities and Study Admission Requirements as well as a planned number of admitted applicants for the academic year of 20xx/20xx+1 https://www.ef.umb.sk/index.asp?uid=1332
Before admission procedure to doctoral studies begin, the faculty announces dissertation topics, which applicants may apply for during the admission procedure. A supervisor is listed for each of the listed topics. Doctoral studies applicants must enrol in one of the announced topics. The dissertation topics are announced on the faculty website at https://www.ef.umb.sk/index.asp?uid=1333
Regarding applicants for full-time studies, the admission examination consists of multiple aspects combined in the final assessment of each applicant and has 3 parts: (1) the applicant’s presentation of a written dissertation project in English, (2) the evaluation of the previous scientific
activities of the applicant (publication and research activities), (3) academic achievement received during the master’s degree of study. The total number of points that full-time studies applicants can receive is 100.
The admission examination for applicants of part-time studies is assessed based on 2 parts: (1) the applicant’s presentation of a written dissertation project in English, (2) the evaluation of the previous scientific activities of the applicant (publication and research activities). The total number of points that part-time studies applicants can receive is 90.
All parts of the admission examination for applicants of full-time and part-time studies take place before an examining board either in face-to- face or distance form. The examining board consists of at least 3 members as established by the Dean of the faculty for all study programmes based on the proposals from the chairpersons of the field subcommittees for the relevant doctoral study programmes.
Admission results are announced to the applicants on the faculty website on the day of the admission examination. Applicants are admitted by the Dean based on the recommendations received from the faculty admission board. The admission board consists of at least 2 members of the faculty management, the faculty secretary and at least 2 members of the examining board. The results of the admission examination are recorded in minutes from the proceedings. The admission board decide on the admission threshold and submit the admission proposal of the successful applicants to the dean.
The applicants are admitted in order based on the number of points received at the admission procedure from the total number of points, based on the planned capacity of the study programmes in the individual forms of study. The results of admission procedure are recorded in the academic information system. Applicants who meet the set requirements for study admission receive a decision on the admission to
studies with other relevant documents.
In the academic year of 2021/2022, 1 student showed interest in the study programme and did not meet the requirements for admission.
In the academic year of 2020/2021, 4 students showed interest in the study programme and 3 of them met the requirements for admission.
In the academic year of 2019/2020, 2 students showed interest in the study programme and both of them met the requirements for admission. In the academic year of 2018/2019, 3 students showed interest in the study programme and all of them met the requirements for admission.
Gathering student feedback and their opinions on the quality of the study programme is regulated by the newly adopted Directive No. 2/2022 on the rules of evaluating the education quality at MBU in Banská Bystrica. Faculty already has mechanisms of monitoring the student opinions when it comes to education quality, mainly in the case of doctoral studies.
In this regard, the faculty effort to increase the quality of the study programmes in doctoral studies takes a form of an anonymous questionnaire survey. The goal of this 21-question survey is to learn the students’ motivation to study for PhD, gather evaluation on individual parts of doctoral studies, the development of key competencies, supervision, academic and research environment as well as the personal opinions of the students. The results are submitted to the persons responsible for the quality of the study programme.
As far as the distance form of study is concerned, a Slido survey is shared with the students after the end of the examination period in both the winter as in summer semesters. Its goal is to learn the students’ opinions on the course of distance methods of teaching and identify problems
with its delivery.
The results of the questionnaire survey on the quality assessment of the study programme are given to the chairperson of the field committee and the person responsible for the study programme. The results are thoroughly examined by the dean’s collegium and critical areas are identified where further measures are taken in order to improve the faculty as well as the department delivering the study programme.
The results of the survey monitoring the satisfaction rate of students after transitioning to distance form of teaching are announced to the
teachers by persons responsible for the study programme.
Directive No. 2/2022 on the rules of evaluating the education quality at MBU in Banská Bystrica introduces the evaluation of the study programme’s quality by graduates, who graduated at least 1 year prior. The results of the questionnaire survey are given to the persons responsible for the study programme. The results shall be thoroughly examined by the dean’s collegium and based on the study programme quality appeals from graduates, further measures shall be taken in order to improve the faculty as well as the department delivering the study
programme.
Academic policies and procedures - Academic Policies and Procedures of the MBU Faculty of Economics
Scholarship policies and procedures - https://bit.ly/3uDHFyX
Disciplinary procedures and rules for proceedings of the Disciplinary Commission - https://bit.ly/3gkrH4d
Study handbook - MBU Faculty of Economics | Study Handbook
Doctoral studies – legislation - MBU Faculty of Economics | Academic Policies and Procedures for Doctoral Studies
Accessible academic environment for students with special needs - MBU Faculty of Economics | Students with special needs
Tuition and other study fees - Academic Policies and Procedures of the MBU Faculty of Economics
Student loans - MBU Faculty of Economics | Social Care for Students
Full-time and part-time job offers - Job offers | Free time | Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica (umb.sk)
Food services - MBU Faculty of Economics | Food Services
Accommodation - Central Office for Accommodation Facilities of MBU | Students | Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica
Sport activities - Free time | Students | Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica (umb.sk)
Anti-drug and counselling services - https://poradenstvo.umb.sk/
Student organisations – Centre for Research and Development - MBU Faculty of Economics | Centre for Research and Development
Student card - Student Cards | MBU Cards | Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica
Information for applicants - MBU Faculty of Economics | Apply for studies
Alumni Club - MBU Faculty of Economics | MBU Alumni Club
Ethics management and Code of ethics - https://bit.ly/32Y5A0s ; https://bit.ly/3J1EWD4
Quality policy - Internal quality assurance system | Essential Internal Guidelines of IQS | Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica (umb.sk)
Sustainable development
Student scientific activities – Scientia Iuventa - MBU Faculty of Economics | Scientia Iuventa – si.umb.sk
Career Centre - https://bit.ly/3ooQ2KJ
Scientific Journals - MBU Faculty of Economics | Scientific Journals
Links to other relevant guidelines and information are listed in the
internal assessment report.