Postgraduate Study

Masters Courses

If you've got a quantitative background, our Masters courses give you advanced specialist training in computational finance. You'll receive practical hands-on instruction with a focus on problem-solving skills that equip you for high-flying careers.

We offer three specialist one-year taught Masters courses in computational finance. You'll study a number of taught modules and then complete a dissertation project focused on the computational implementation of financial models.

Each of our courses is highly cross-disciplinary and involves some elements of programming, statistics and mathematics with the particular emphasis depending on the course you choose. All of our Masters courses can be taken on a full or part-time basis.

For our MSc Computational Finance and MSc Algorithmic Trading you'll need a quantitative background but no previous financial or computing knowledge is assumed.

Postgraduate Research

We offer postgraduate research supervision in the following areas:

• Machine Learning in the Financial Domain
• The use of computational-intelligence methods for investment decision making
• Incentives in Financial Networks (Algorithmic Game Theory)
• Blockchain

We offer Computational Finance as an MSD, MPhil or PhD. If you're interested in undertaking research in one of these areas and have a good Masters degree in a related subject we'd like to hear from you.

Your future

A number of our students have had internships with prestigious City institutions such as HSBC, Old Mutual and the Bank of England. Our students also have the opportunity to learn from and interact with industry experts during an established Expert Lecture Series.

Our PhD students are encouraged and supported to attend international conferences and summer schools.

Advisors at our Employability and Careers Centre will be available to help you with all aspects of planning your career, including application techniques and interview skills.

Real-world skills

Studying in our intellectually challenging and socially vibrant atmosphere, you'll take away problem solving skills from practical instruction which will equip you for a high flying career.

You'll gain skills from different disciplines such as programming, statistics and maths, depending on which course you choose. Our cross-disciplinary structure gives you a wide-ranging sphere of experience during your time at Essex.

Some of the skills students gain from our courses:

• High-frequency finance
• Computational methods for financial modelling
• Modelling trading strategies and predictive services
• Financial software engineering
• Quantitative finance

Diverse options

Previous students have gone on to become quantitative analysts, portfolio managers and software engineers at various institutions including major investment banks such as HSBC and Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.

Our extensive network of industrial contacts gives you the chance to work with leading figures from industry, as well as gaining and developing a solid set of skills for your career.

Alumni

The University runs an Alumni card which gives you access to events and benefits on and off our campuses.

We'd love to hear what you're doing now and so would our prospective students to help find out what an Essex degree might do for them. You can complete our graduate profile questionnaire or keep your alumni record up to date so you can receive the University's alumni e-newsletter.