Degree: MASTER
Duration: 2 years (4 semesters)
ECTS: 120
Fields of study: Regional Economy, Social Development of the Region
Languages of instruction: Russian, English (on request)

DESCRIPTION

The programme provides Master’s degree students with academic knowledge and practical skills required in studying regional economics, establishing regional innovative, investment, economic and social programmes of development, studying the region and its positioning at national and international levels, developing foreign economic relations and intruding indicators for monitoring these processes.

In the course of the programme the students should study the recommendations on methodological and applied aspects of distributing economic entities, corporate entities, economic clusters, technology parks of business incubators, public-sector enterprises. The students also consider regional features of social development in the region, including disparity in personal incomes, gender structure, and subsistence minimum in order to produce recommendations for improving the situation in the region.

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

AIMS

research activity:
•    establishing work plans and programmes for research and development, preparing tasks for groups and individual executing;
•    developing tools for research conducted, analysing its results;
•    collecting data for reviews, reports and scientific publications;
•    gathering, processing and analysing data according to the topic of the research, selecting methods and means for addressing research challenges;
•    managing and conducting research, including statistical surveys and questionnaires;
•    developing theoretical and econometric models of the studied processes, phenomena and objects related to the sphere of professional activity, analysing and assessing the results obtained;

project and economic activity:
•    preparing tasks and suggesting project solutions taking into account the uncertainty factor;
•    assigning tasks and elaborating guidance and regulatory documents, as well as proposals and activities on implementing projects and programmes developed;
•    creating the system of social and economic indicators for economic entities
•    compiling economic sections of plans for organisations and enterprises under various forms of ownership
•    developing strategies of economic entities behaviour at various markets;

analytical activity:
•    developing and justifying social and economic indicators characterising the activity of economic entities and methods for their calculation;
•    seeking, analysing and assessing information sources for economic calculations;
•    evaluating the effectiveness of projects taking into account the uncertainty factor;
•    analysing the existing forms of management, developing and justifying the proposals on their advancement;
•    forecasting the dynamics of key social and economic indicators in the activity of the enterprise, industry, region and economy in the whole;

management activity:
•    organising teamwork for addressing economic and social challenges;
•    elaborating strategies on the development and performance of enterprises, organisation and their divisions;
•    managing economic department and divisions at enterprises and organisations under various forms of ownership, in state and municipal authorities;

teaching activity:
•    teaching economic disciplines in educational establishments of higher education, further vocational education, in professional educational organisations;
•    developing teaching and learning materials;

regional social, economic and management activity:
•    analysing social and economic development of the region according to specific sectors and types of economic activity;
•    participating in strategic planning of region development;
•    managing regional programmes development and implementation;
•    conducting comparative analysis and positioning of the region within national and international economy;
•    analysing the existing forms of management at industrial enterprises, complexes and facilities of the region and formulating proposals on their improvement;
•    assessing the effectiveness of projects on social and economic, investment and innovative development of the region.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

On successful completion of the course, the student should be able to:
•    collect, analyse and assess the results obtained by Russian and foreign researchers and identify promising trends;
•    prepare the programme of research, conduct studies, present and promote the results of research work;
•    prepare tasks and develop project decisions taking into account the uncertainty factor;
•    design strategies of economic agents behaviour at various markets;
•    prepare analytical materials for assessing activities in economic policy and strategic decision-making at micro and macro levels;
•    forecast key social and economic indicators in the activity of an enterprise, industry, region and economy in the whole;
•    apply modern methods and means of teaching economic disciplines in educational establishments of higher education, further vocational education, in professional educational organisations;
•    determine features in the loss of stability by foreign economic relations;
•    participate in elaborating key provisions in the development strategy of an enterprise, justify strategic decisions on improving the processes of strategic and tactical planning and organising production;
•    assess the proposed options of management decisions and justify the proposals on their improvement in order to implement the overall strategy of regional development (regional policy);
•    transfer knowledge to organisations and other clients concerning challenging issues of social and economic, investment, innovative and cluster development in the context of general trends in the development of the country and patterns of global development.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

On successful completion of the programme the graduates will be required by state authorities, federal and regional authorities, non-profit and public organisations that are the components for implementing social and economic policy of the region. The graduates will be able to work in economic, financial, marketing, analytical, production and economic divisions of organisations under various sectors and forms of ownership, academic and institutional research organisations, educational establishments of higher education, further vocational education, in professional educational organisations.