The recent financial crisis that originated in the sub-prime US credit markets has provided compelling evidence that even the most sophisticated quantitative financial models have struggled (indeed failed) to match their predictive ability with observed market behavior. Given the consequences for financial risk-appraisal and the stability of global financial markets, quantitative financial models must more than ever be explicit about their assumptions (principally, which risks are priced and which are not). Consequently, the financial services industry will increasingly demand that graduates combine a quantitatively-founded understanding of market dynamics and financial risk with an ability to use financial models with a mix of common sense and intuition. Faced with these challenges, the MSc in Computational Finance (MSc CF) is an intensive 12-month, full-time programme which has been designed to balance theoretically rigorous coursework with a practical emphasis on the acquisition of advanced quantitative skills and an intuitive understanding of the dynamics of risk in financial markets. Although only in its second year of existence, the MSc CF programme has already been singled out as being academically rigorous by its external academic examiners and as being highly innovative in its delivery mechanisms. Delivery of the MSc in Computational Finance programme is largely based in the purpose-built financial markets Trading Floor. Recently completed with the support and encouragement of the international financial services industry in Ireland, the campus-based Trading Floor is located prominently in the new Kemmy Business School and is the first such facility to be located in a University on the island of Ireland.
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