LEPL Kutaisi International University is one of the fastest growing, high ranking and sought-after state universities in Georgia today. The KIU welcomed its first cohort of students in the fall of 2020 and held on to its top ranking in a short time (according to the average competition score for the 2021 Unified National Examinations).
There have been impressive accounts of KIU’s success reported by the European partners. As of 2021, KIU was recognized as the fastest growing and progressive educational hub in the region by the Technical University of Munich (TUM).
This year in partnership with the Technical University of Munich, KIU brings forward yet another program and announces the admission of students to the new master's program in "Finance and Information Management - FIM". FIM program was established at TUM in 2004 and has been ranked top by nationwide CHE Master-Ranking of 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017, and 2020 of the newspapers “Die Zeit” and “Handelsblatt” ranked 1st in all categories.
FIM program head at KIU is the Head of the Financial Mathematics Department at the Technical University of Munich (TUМ), Professor Rudi Zagst, who is the creator and implementor of the program at TUM. Co-head of the program is the Head of the Kutaisi International University School of Management and bachelor’s degree program in Management, Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor Natia Zedginidze-Jishkariani.
The goal of the two-year (120-credit) program is to train competitive specialists in the field of finance and information management and to enhance the expertise of practicing managers, allowing them to independently apply finance and information management in various sectors.
The concentrations that the FIM program includes are different and specific:
• Quantitative Finance – (QF)
• Financial Management (FM)
• Business and Information Systems Engineering - (BISE)
International academic personnel will be involved in the program from the Technical University of Munich, the University of Toronto and other higher education institutions.
The FIM program is rich in following teaching courses: Blockchain System Engineering, Blockchain Based Systems Engineering, Complex IT Inspection and Audit (IT Due Diligence & Audit), Financial Econometrics, Machine Learning, Digital Disruption, Innovation and Transformation, etc.. The program will be implemented in English.
What career opportunities does the FIM program offer?
There is a diverse list of areas where the FIM program graduates can find employment or continue their professional career. Those sectors will be most in demand and high-paying by 2030 such as the financial sector; start-ups, especially the so-called FinTech sector (FinTech) and insurance-tech (Insurе-Tech) companies; insurance companies; investment companies; consulting organizations that specialize in consulting digital financial services, conceptual software design and development; healthcare and pharmaceuticals; sector; Computer and data science sector; Multinational companies in distribution and production/manufacturing sectors. The career opportunities of the FIM program covers all sectors where financial management technology models are needed.
What is the program fee and is there an opportunity for students to obtain funding?
The annual program fee is GEL 12,250 for Georgian citizens, and 7,000 euros for foreign citizens. The fee covers local transportation (Tbilisi-Kutaisi-Tbilisi), KIU Internal University shuttles, welcome kit with a laptop (if necessary, a KIU laptop can be provided free of charge for the program duration), email, Office365, corporate kit, access to KIU LMS, online library, etc.
The KIU offers tuition funding to the best candidates. Funding shall be obtained after the application procedure and submission of relevant documents. Funding will be provided through the budget allocated within the relevant category. It is a competitive process and scores obtained at the Master’s program admission exam will be taken into consideration. For more detailed information on programs and grant opportunities please visit HERE.
