Degree Programme in Financial Mathematics and Economics

        It is a response by members of the Departments of Mathematics and Economics to perceived new demands in the labour market for graduates with a rigorous training in a specialized area of Financial, including Actuarial, Mathematics which has a widespread application in a number of diverse areas. One of the major areas of application is in the domain of economic and management decision making and consequently the mathematical component of the new degree is complemented by a four-year programme in Economics with a particular focus on Financial Economics.

        The aim of the degree is to equip the mathematically competent students with a more specialized focus at the level of mathematical theory and analysis while simultaneously providing them with an exposure to a major area of application in the economic and commercial domains.

        The employment prospects for graduates with this degree are excellent and located in two broad areas: the first is in the area of specialized quantitative analysis of decision making in the economic and commercial areas such as economic modeling, actuarial work, banking and risk investment; the second in the area of Information Technology, Computer Science and Software Engineering.

        The new degree course was motivated by a number of major considerations:

(i) The rapid technological changes now occurring and spanning an expanding range of new information technologies, which will dominate extensive areas of commercial, economic and social life by the end of the century, are primarily based on major developments in mathematical theory and analysis. There is prima facie a compelling case for focusing these developments within the structure of a special degree to provide a structured orientation and focus of application for these developments thereby equipping our graduates with the specialised knowledge to utilize these new technologies in different area of application.

(ii) One of a number of potential areas of application of these new information technologies is in the economic and commercial areas and the major orientation of this degree is clearly directed to these particular areas of application. While the inclusion of Financial Economics provides a specific orientation for application the degree retains a strong mathematical bias which provides the analytical base of the new technologies.

(iii) Trends in the labour market of advanced countries indicate the increasing premium that the corporate and financial sectors place on highly numerate graduates with the ability to apply the new technologies in a commercial environment. In the United Kingdom the usual output of mathematics graduates, with no accompanying economic or business training, is approximately 4,500 of which over 40% go directly into the commercial sector, particularly accounting, actuarial work and banking, while 25% go into the computer industry. By comparison, Ireland produces only about 1/5 pro-rata the number of Mathematics graduates as the UK, which has had a highly developed financial sector for many years. The situation in the other advanced countries of the EU is similar to that of the UK. This new degree will combine the strengths of highly numerate graduates who will also possess an understanding of the economic and commercial environment, and the techniques involved in forecasting and determination of risk.

        The demand from financial institutions for well qualified mathematicians is substantial. New institutions are setting up in Ireland and recent advertisements indicate an expanding market with a demand for highly numerate professionals. These are needed in order, for example, to understand models for financial derivatives, (and their limitations), option pricing, neural networks, and the sophisticated mathematics, statistics and computing now being utilised by these institutions.

Back : Financial Maths Contents. Forward : Syllabus Proposal for 1999/2000 Year.