MSc/PG Dip Operational Research and Finance: University of Southampton

Course Description

This programme in Operational Research (OR) and Finance is designed to provide a firm grounding in financial knowledge suitable for a career in financial institutions, while combining this with training in a broad range of additional numerate skills covering mathematical modelling and optimization.

This programme, linked to the School of Management's MSc Management Sciences and Finance, offers a firm grounding in finance in preparation for a career in financial institutions. You will develop an understanding of how OR, statistical and optimisation techniques are applied to practical problems, and will acquire many key workplace skills. A three-month industrial placement follows successful completion of the instructional component.

Programme Structure

Compulsory modules

• Corporate finance
• Deterministic OR methods
• Presenting reports
• Spreadsheet and database modelling
• Statistical methods
• Stochastic OR methods
• Visual basic for applications

Optional modules

• Constraint satisfaction
• Consultancy skills
• Credit scoring and data mining
• Economics
• Financial portfolio theory
• Financial risk management
• Forecasting
• Game theory
• Project management
• Trends in IT

Entry requirements

• Upper second-class honours degree or equivalent in a subject involving a significant amount of quantitative work (e.g. computer science, economics, engineering, mathematics, physics, statistics), or relevant work experience