Degree: MASTER
Duration: 2 years (4 semesters)
ECTS: 240
Fields of study: Social Sciences, the Humanities, marketing disciplines, professional disciplines in the sphere of advertising and public relations
Languages of instruction: Russian, English (on request)

DESCRIPTION

The programme trains highly qualified creative professionals in the sphere of communication. The programme is aimed at developing such personal skills as flexibility of thinking, attention focus and accuracy of perception, logical thinking, ability to generalize, creative imagination, interest in achieving the best professional results. The programme is fundamental, universal, practice-oriented and of high cultural level. The set of disciplines and flexible teaching technologies allow the training of master degree students to meet the labour market demands. 

Forms of in-class activity: lectures, laboratory classes, practical classes, review sessions, and students’ individual work.

AIMS

organization and management  activity:
•    managing communication advertising and public relations services of a company (an organization), planning and organizing advertising and public relations campaigns, conducting events to enhance the organizational image, control and evaluating the efficiency of public relations;
•    control, evaluating the efficiency and updating the strategies, plans, campaigns and events in advertising and public relations;
•    organizing efficient internal communications, creating a favourable psychological climate in a team, motivating the staff to be active and to participate in the organization’s development, developing skills and general cultural and professional level of the staff, shaping and maintaining high level of corporate culture;

communication activity:
•    managing the design, planning, preparation and implementation of communication campaigns and events;
•    developing strategies, setting goals, working out programmes and conducting communication campaigns and events, control and evaluating the efficiency;
•    creating effective communication infrastructure of an organization, providing internal and external communication, including that with governmental agencies, public, commercial organizations, mass media;
•    organizing internal and external communication audit of an organization, developing the strategy and tactical plans, budgets in the sphere of advertising and public relations;

project activity:
•    developing strategic concepts and business plans of projects, tasks to develop them, managing project activity;
•    evaluating the quality and efficiency of projects;
•    information-analytical and forecasting-analytical activity;
•    preparing and conducting quantitative and qualitative research, analyzing and interpreting primary and secondary information, preparing social reviews, forecasts, consulting;
•    preparing and conducting surveys and questionnaires to identify the preferences of target focus-groups;
•    setting the problem, identifying goals, objectives, subject and methods of research;
•    organizing and conducting research of social environment and public opinion;
•    analyzing the obtained data and putting forward suggestions how to optimize advertising and public relations of a company / an organization and how to improve its position in the society and competitive environment;
•    drawing up expert reviews, reports and forecasts on the results of communication environment analysis;
•    developing plans, programmes and other materials containing forecasting-analytical recommendations substantiated by research;
•    conducting consultations on market and social research, planning and organizing campaigns and events in advertising and public relations, managing the activity in the sphere of professional competences;

research and teaching activity:
•    identifying trends, dynamics of processes and innovative phenomena, developing conceptual models, working plans and programmes of conducting research and methodological designs in the sphere of advertising and public relations;
•    identifying the composition and operating the main variables under study, identifying problems, putting forward hypotheses how to solve them, choosing methods, planning and organizing market and sociological research, analyzing and interpreting the results, developing basic communication strategies, as well as strategies in the sphere of improving and optimizing advertising  and public relations activities;
•    preparing articles, reports, reviews, forecasts, publication on the results of research, planning, organizing and applying the results into practice.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

On successful completion of the course the student should be able to:

•    manage the performance of professional functions in advertising and public relations in governmental, public, commercial structures, mass media, social sphere, political and economic spheres, in production, trade, science, culture, and sport;
•    maintain a dialogue, correspondence, negotiations in a foreign language within the framework of the tasks set for solving professional problems;
•    communicate in an international environment, use special features of local business culture of other countries;
•    manage the processes of strategic planning, preparing and implementing communication programmes and events, provide their quality and efficiency;
•    develop strategic concepts and business plans for projects, manage the project activity;
•    manage the work of a team, plan their work, provide its efficiency;
•    develop effective strategies and form the policy of risk management at an enterprise, make quick decisions in crisis situations;
•    develop plans and programmes of innovative activity, technical and economic feasibility of innovative projects;
•    use economic analysis in practice and develop technical and economic feasibility of projects;
•    prepare and conduct quantitative and qualitative research; develop plans, programmes and other forecasting-analytical materials;
•    apply the main concepts and principles of self-organization, evolution, regeneration and development of systems into research, take into account their dynamics and trends;
•    interpret and present the research results, make up practical recommendations based on them, put forward new hypotheses, forecast trends.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

The graduates are employed in government institutions of federal, regional and local levels, self-governing bodies; non-governmental, public and commercial organizations, mass media.