In order to provide students with a route to high quality careers in the financial industry and to provide the financial sector with a stream of highly trained specialists in Quantitative Finance, we introduced in 2007 a Master of Financial Mathematics Program. The program offers intensive, high-level training in principles of financial modelling and its mathematical foundations, statistical techniques, risk assessment, and computational techniques of financial mathematics.

The program is unique in its in-depth analysis of financial modelling issues. This is achieved through a well-balanced combination of advanced mathematical techniques of stochastic analysis, numerical methods and sophisticated statistical techniques. Drawing on the resources of the Departments of Statistics and Applied Mathematics at the School of Mathematics and Statistics, we offer the most advanced program in Financial Mathematics in Australia.

The history of enrolments into the relevant courses shows that such a challenging program will be attractive to numerous students from Australia and from overseas. Similar programs, combining advanced mathematical theory, numerical methods and statistics of financial markets, exist at several top universities, such as the Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University, Courant Institute at New York University, Imperial College, King's College London or University of Southern California.

For information on the teaching staff and their research interests see the research groups.

The program is oriented towards graduates with a degree in an area with a significant quantitative component (such as Science, Engineering, Finance) who wish to develop their knowledge and skills in mathematical, statistical and computational methods applied to modern finance. It is an appropriate program for graduates who wish to work as quantitative financial analysts with investment banks, hedge funds, insurance companies, consulting firms, and other financial institutions. The program is ambitious and oriented towards highly motivated students with a strong quantitative background.

The program focuses on the following skills:

The requirements for admissions are:

A 3-year undergraduate degree equivalent to a Bachelor's degree in a discipline with significant mathematical component

OR

A 3-year undergraduate degree equivalent to a Bachelor's degree in a discipline related to Finance and with substantial experience in application of mathematical methods in Finance.

Exemption and/or advanced standing may be approved by a program authority for a course already completed as part of another award at UNSW or another university. Admission to the program is possible in Term 1 only.

After Semester 1 students may choose not to graduate from the Master of Financial Mathematics and instead apply to transfer to either the Graduate Diploma in Statistics or Master of Statistics Program provided that the rules of admission into those degrees are satisfied.

Students who initially satisfied the criteria for the Master of Financial Mathematics Program but enrolled into the Graduate Diploma in Statistics or Master of Statistics Program may transfer to the Master of Financial Mathematics Program after Semester 1. The Program Authority may approve transfer of credit for students who wish to transfer to the Master of Financial Mathematics Program from either the Graduate Diploma in Statistics or Master of Statistics.

The academic requirement for the degree is 72 units of credit (uoc). Unless otherwise indicated, all courses listed below are 6 UOC each.

The core set of six compulsory courses is designed to give a deep knowledge of the fundamentals of financial mathematics with the special emphasis on financial modelling and pricing of financial derivatives. Entry to the program is available in Semester 1 only.

Please take notice that the next entry to the program starts in Semester 1 2008. If you wish to enrol in the program but you have doubts about your current qualifications (insufficient background in Probability, Statistics and Stochastic Processes) you are advised to enrol in the Graduate Certificate in Statistics in Semester 1 2008 and to take the following two bridging courses: MATH5846 and MATH5856 offered in Semester 1 2008. Assuming that you complete these courses with a credit average, you will be allowed to transfer to Masters of Financial Mathematics or to Master of Statistics.

Additional four elective courses may be taken either from the School of Mathematics or from another School at UNSW (Commerce, Banking and Finance, Actuarial Studies). The non-exhaustive list of electives is given below. The electives are designed to provide opportunities to learn some important applications of Statistics in Finance, Biological and Medical Science, Industry and Economics. It is advised that students consult the Financial Mathematics Program Coordinator about the choice of courses and their order.

The project provides an opportunity to specialise in a particular area of Financial Mathematics and to develop research capability. The candidate presents a typed project report, in the layout of an article, along with an oral presentation summarising the main points. A convenient room equipped with computing facilities is available for students working on their projects.

Recent examples of master's projects (the projects listed below were completed within Financial Mathematics stream of Masters Program in Statistics)

For the convenience of part-time and full-time students, classes are typically taught from 5:30pm to 8:00pm on weekdays during semester.

All coursework masters programs at UNSW are fee-paying. Australian residents, eligible for the Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP), previosuly known as HECS will be able to apply for means tested CSP scholarship for coursework master programs. The Master in Financial Mathematics course is included in this scholarship scheme. This means that it will remain fee-paying, but students who meet the criteria will pay on a CSP basis. The fee schedule can be found on the web page of the Faculty of Science.

For further information on the Masters in Financial Mathematics Program contact:

A/Prof Marek Rutkowski
School of Mathematics and Statistics
University of New South Wales
Sydney 2052 Australia
Phone: (02) 9385 7020
Fax: (02) 9385 7123

Dr Donna Salopek
School of Mathematics and Statistics
University of New South Wales
Sydney 2052 Australia
Phone: (02) 9385 7030
Fax: (02) 9385 7123

Inquiries via e-mail must be sent to pg.MathsStats@unsw.edu.au