Financial Mathematics MMath Placement offered

Two-thirds of this course is shared with the MMath in Mathematics. This covers several application areas – finance, statistics, operational research (i.e. how maths can be applied to commercial and industrial problems) and numerical analysis. The remaining third covers the key principles of finance. MMath students study a year further than BSc students, bringing their degree up to Master’s level.

Level 1

• Transition to Independent Learning of Mathematics (see below for more)
• Fundamentals of Mathematics
• Financial Markets
• Introduction to Data Handling for Finance
• Calculus
• Linear Algebra
• Probability and Statistics I
• Algorithms and Numerical Methods.
  
  

  Find out more information about Level 1

Level 2

• Elements of Investment Mathematics
• Computing for Finance
• Probability and Statistics II
• Operational Research
• Multivariable Calculus
• Advanced Calculus and Numerical Methods
• Linear Modelling
• Elements of Combinatorics
• Analysis 1
• Employability Skills.

Level 3

• Major Project (see below for more)
• Mathematical Finance
• Stochastic Models
• Numerical Methods for Differential Equations
• Risk and Optimisation for Financial Planning.

Level 5 compulsory

• Advanced Project
• Numerical & Variational Methods for Partial Differential
• Equations
• Risk Simulation and Decision Analysis

Level 5 options

• High Performance Computing
• Linear and Nonlinear Filtering in Financial Time Series Models
• Classification Models
• Asset Allocations Strategies

Level 3 Major Project

This is a very valuable feature of this Financial Mathematics course – a substantial piece of individual, course-related work personally supervised by a staff member. Projects are often connected to staff research areas and may also be in response to industry demands. Work on the project accounts for about one-third of your Level 3 study load.

Explore in-depth a topic of particular interest to you or work on a practical problem – the choice is yours.

Although students who undertake a work placement year can choose to focus their Level 3 project on their work experience, they may also select from the projects offered each year by the Mathematics staff. During 2010-2011 over 150 project titles were available to final year Mathematics undergraduates. These covered a very wide range of mathematical areas and applications including, for example:

• The very famous 'travelling salesman problem' (also known as 'the lazy waiter'!)
• The discovery and identification of clustering behaviour in financial markets
• The mathematics of complex networks such as the web, or even Facebook
• Applications of statistics to the Premier League, police complaints data and global warming
• Investigating traffic flow (are traffic lights better than roundabouts?).

In addition to all of these topic areas, our students also have opportunities to study modern theories in quantitative finance, with particular emphasis on the mathematics and computation underlying the powerful and influential financial derivatives (e.g. options) industry. Often termed the ‘Black-Scholes theory’, this is famous for winning its discoverers a Nobel prize, as well as for its misapplication often being blamed, rightly or wrongly for the current worldwide financial crisis.

Most of our projects can be carried out in ways that suit the student's strengths and interests. For example, it is often possible to choose to emphasise concrete applications or abstract theory, and the project can be carried out using theoretical tools only, or computational tools only, or a mixture of both. Using the research experience gained from this module, you will then be able to choose to undertake more advanced project and self-study modules at Level 4 if you wish.

Read more about the structure of undergraduate degrees at Brunel and what you will learn on the course.