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BLOOMBERG FOR EDUCATION
A Bloomberg Professional Service Offering
THE BALTIC SILICON VALLEY KAUNAS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY // CASE STUDY
KAUNAS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY 2015 PROFILE » Location: Kaunas, Lithuania » Website: ktu.edu » Undergraduate & graduate enrolment: 10, 524 » Academic staff: 2,421 » Contact: K. Donelaičio Street 73 » +370 37 300 421; ktu@ktu.lt » Customer since: 2014
KTU OPENS THE BALTICS’ FIRST BLOOMBERG FINANCIAL MARKETS LAB Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) in Lithuania is one of the largest technological universities in the Baltics, boasting strong relationships with business and the scientific community. In 2014, KTU worked with Bloomberg to launch the region’s first-ever Financial Markets Lab to provide real, practical experience in the day-to-day challenges and opportunities of working in the financial markets, and enhance the university’s strong research capabilities. The partnership is well suited for two reasons: the university’s track record in providing substantive education with real-world applications, and its progressive approach to e-learning. Firstly, the work undertaken by the university is responsible for 70% of all R&D provided by Lithuanian universities for national business and industry–from local companies to the largest international corporations and state and cultural institutions. Secondly, KTU was the first Lithuanian university to broadcast and record lectures and conferences, with more than 10,000 recordings accessible openly online.
AMBITION PROVEN BY ACTION Researchers at KTU solve some of tomorrow’s most pressing problems, including the development of smart strategies and technologies for better resource supply. KTU’s School of Economics and Business leads a group of researchers from seven Lithuanian universities to establish guidelines for overcoming economic challenges and achieving national long-term competitiveness. By adding Bloomberg to its classroom, KTU is equipped with easy access to the data, information and analytics that can illuminate the mechanics of some of the world’s thorniest issues. Furthermore, KTU is no stranger to distinguished technological achievement, when considering the business and research centers they co-founded at Santaka and Nemunas. The state-of-the-art research laboratories are among the best equipped in Europe, offering large, dedicated spaces that encourage collaboration between students, researchers and businesses. HOW KTU USES THE LAB The official opening of the Bloomberg Financial Markets Lab took place in June 2015, with a 12-terminal setup. KTU’s interest in Bloomberg’s services was piqued in 2012 when its students were awarded the best results in the country in the Bloomberg Aptitude Test (BAT). The BAT was developed by Bloomberg with top financial institutions and universities to identify students for careers in finance and business. Working with Bloomberg for Education specialist Karina Collis and local businesses, KTU faculty leaders were able to secure funding to open the country’s first Bloomberg Financial Markets Lab. The lab is set up primarily for the study of financial modules at both undergraduate and masters level, with further uses in economics and accounting. However, the university expects it to reach a far broader user-base than that, with benefits in strategic management, human resources and marketing. With a view to truly rounded and well-equipped students graduating into the workplace, KTU’s Dean, Edita Gimžauskienė, noted the importance of the Bloomberg terminals: "Even in the engineering sciences, students must be aware of what is happening in the financial markets and must be able to read the business press.” The lab is being integrated into the curriculum and lectures for financial markets analysis modules. Additionally, the lab is open to students and teachers from all faculties. It is intended that teachers prepare their classes using the information available on the terminals, while students at all levels research coursework.
“ For the School of Economics and Business to create a small copy of the Silicon Valley in Kaunas is very important. We believe in technologies as a driving force for business and society.” — Edita Gimžauskienė, Dean, School of Economics and Business, KTU
IMPACT & FEEDBACK A key benefit of the Bloomberg Financial Markets Lab has been the introduction of the real world into the classroom, giving the weight of reality to often highly theoretical, conceptual work. It is now easier for teachers to communicate complex ideas to students with the aid of real cases and real data on stocks, options, currencies, bonds, volatilities, macroeconomics and more. The hands-on engagement in these subjects made possible by a Bloomberg Financial Markets Lab not only makes the process of learning more efficient, it makes it more enjoyable too. Edita Gimžauskienė, Dean, KTU said: “It is important that KTU students develop the ability to understand the real world of business and finance during their studies and be able to use the same platform, which is used by the world's financial leaders. Bloomberg Professional will be used in all economic and financial disciplines–including engineering programs–in KTU, whose distinctive feature is developing decision-making skills.” The lab is aiding recruitment, raising KTU’s already well-founded reputation as a center of technological excellence. The lab’s opening triggered an immediate rise in requests for KTU internships from universities across Europe.
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“In the age of knowledge it is very important to properly understand and analyze information. Bloomberg Platform helps improve these skills. Regardless of what my future jobs will be, knowing how to use Bloomberg’s platform will be a great advantage.” Tomas Laureckas, KTU’s Investor Club President. The university expects the lab’s benefits to be felt by Lithuania’s businesses and government organizations, who can take advantage of the research and analysis being conducted by KTU students.
“The Bloomberg Professional service holds the same importance for economics and business as magnetic resonance spectrograph, which provides images of genes in medicine. By establishing Bloomberg Financial Markets Lab at our university, we’ve made an enormous step into the future,”
HOW DID THEY FUND IT? Bloomberg offers a special pricing plan for educational institutions: get a full 12-terminal Financial Markets Lab for the price of three terminals. KTU needed to reach out for financial help from Lithuanian organizations to implement this first order of three terminals. The process started in 2014 and by the end of the year agreed sponsorship support from Lietuvos Geležinkeliai (LG), Lithuania’s national rail company–giving KTU the funds for the first three terminals needed to be eligible for the full lab. LG plans to enhance its efficiency through use of the lab’s applied research, including logistics arbitration, macroeconomic analysis, commodity markets flow forecasting and transportation now casting. In the future, KTU intends that investment will come indirectly through customized business research undertaken at the lab, enabling the lab to pay for itself through new partnerships and joint projects. ABOUT BLOOMBERG Bloomberg for Education gives teachers and students access to the same technology relied on by elite decision makers from the world of business and finance: the Bloomberg Professional service. The Bloomberg Professional service is a powerful and flexible tool for financial professionals–whatever their needs–in cash and derivatives markets as diverse as equities, currencies, commodities, money markets, government and municipal securities, mortgages, indices, insurance and legal information. The Bloomberg Professional service seamlessly integrates the very best in real-time data, news and analytics. In addition, Bloomberg users benefit from on-demand multimedia content, extensive electronic trading capabilities and a superior communications platform.
— Petras Baršauskas, Rector, KTU
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