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Financial Mathematics

MSc (NFQ Level 9)
Internships Available

This course is available through the following application route(s)

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The MSc in Financial Mathematics is designed for students with an undergraduate degree in Mathematics or a related field, who wish to gain a competitive advantage in the financial sector by acquiring the strong mathematical and statistical background demanded by high-level quantitative roles. The proposed programme will equip students with the relevant contemporary knowledge and skills, including new digital innovations such as machine learning with financial applications, computational finance and statistical and data analysis. In the Summer Trimester students will explore their theoretical and applied knowledge in greater depth by completing a dissertation or they will be able to apply their theoretical knowledge to real-world situations via a work placement with a financial firm.

  • In the Autumn and Spring Trimesters, you will take a mixture of face-to-face and online modules.
  • In the Summer Trimester, you will have the opportunity to apply for a summer work placement with a Dublin-based financial firm, or a dissertation supervised by a member of faculty.
  • Upon completion of the programme, you will be able to understand, critique and judge the suitability of a number of advanced financial mathematical models, manipulate, analyse and discern the reliability of financial data sets, and be acquainted with industry practice.

About This Course

Upon completion of the programme the students will be able to:

  • demonstrate a deep knowledge of quantitative methodologies needed for jobs in investment banks and financial institutions.
  • apply financial mathematical theory and quantitative methodologies to real-world situations.
  • critique and understand the limitations of financial mathematical models, judging the suitability of financial mathematical models and understand industry practice.
  • write and run computer programmes that analyse complicated financial systems and data sets.
  • analyse the reliability of a financial data set.
  • generate new knowledge through research.
  • access library and online resources to develop and understand financial mathematical theory and models.
  • continue to study in a manner that may be largely autonomous.
  • train others in the use of financial mathematical models.

Graduates with training in Financial Mathematics can cover upper-level quantitative roles in several sub-sectors such as:

  • Quantitative analysis in financial firms and hedge funds
  • Risk modelling in banking and insurance
  • Computational modelling in fintech
  • Research and academia

Internship opportunities* are available and the following are industry partners where students were previously placed for a summer work placement: AIB, FINCAD (Zafin Capital Markets Group) and Grant Thornton Advisory, Quantitative Risk.

*Placements are secured through a competitive process and are not guaranteed.


Below is a list of all modules offered for this degree in the current academic year. Click on the module to discover what you will learn in the module, how you will learn and assessment feedback profile amongst other information.

Incoming Stage 1 undergraduates can usually select an Elective in the Spring Trimester. Most continuing undergraduate students can select up to two Elective modules (10 Credits) per stage. There is also the possibility to take up to 10 extra Elective credits.

Module Type Module   Trimester Credits
Stage 1 Core Modules
 MATH40690 Stochastic Calculus Autumn  10
Stage 1 Core Modules
 MATH40720 Fin.Risk Measurement & Mngmt Autumn  10
Stage 1 Core Modules
 MATH40730 Counterparty Credit Risk Spring  10
Stage 1 Core Modules
 MATH40740 Advanced Financial Models Spring  10
Stage 1 Options - A)4 of:
Students should choose options in consultation with the programme director. In particular, it is strongly recommended that students take MATH40430 Measure Theory and Integration and ACM30080 PDEs in Financial Maths in the Autumn Trimester, and ACM30070 Computational Finance in the Spring Trimester, if they have not taken equivalent courses before.
 ACM30080 PDEs in Financial Maths Autumn  5
Stage 1 Options - A)4 of:
Students should choose options in consultation with the programme director. In particular, it is strongly recommended that students take MATH40430 Measure Theory and Integration and ACM30080 PDEs in Financial Maths in the Autumn Trimester, and ACM30070 Computational Finance in the Spring Trimester, if they have not taken equivalent courses before.
 ACM40660 Scientific Programming Concepts (ICHEC) Autumn  5
Stage 1 Options - A)4 of:
Students should choose options in consultation with the programme director. In particular, it is strongly recommended that students take MATH40430 Measure Theory and Integration and ACM30080 PDEs in Financial Maths in the Autumn Trimester, and ACM30070 Computational Finance in the Spring Trimester, if they have not taken equivalent courses before.
 ECON42560 Behavioural Economics Autumn  5
Stage 1 Options - A)4 of:
Students should choose options in consultation with the programme director. In particular, it is strongly recommended that students take MATH40430 Measure Theory and Integration and ACM30080 PDEs in Financial Maths in the Autumn Trimester, and ACM30070 Computational Finance in the Spring Trimester, if they have not taken equivalent courses before.
 MATH40430 Measure Theory & Integration Autumn  5
Stage 1 Options - A)4 of:
Students should choose options in consultation with the programme director. In particular, it is strongly recommended that students take MATH40430 Measure Theory and Integration and ACM30080 PDEs in Financial Maths in the Autumn Trimester, and ACM30070 Computational Finance in the Spring Trimester, if they have not taken equivalent courses before.
 STAT40730 Data Programming with R (Online) Autumn  5
Stage 1 Options - A)4 of:
Students should choose options in consultation with the programme director. In particular, it is strongly recommended that students take MATH40430 Measure Theory and Integration and ACM30080 PDEs in Financial Maths in the Autumn Trimester, and ACM30070 Computational Finance in the Spring Trimester, if they have not taken equivalent courses before.
 STAT40800 Data Prog with Python (online) Autumn  5
Stage 1 Options - A)4 of:
Students should choose options in consultation with the programme director. In particular, it is strongly recommended that students take MATH40430 Measure Theory and Integration and ACM30080 PDEs in Financial Maths in the Autumn Trimester, and ACM30070 Computational Finance in the Spring Trimester, if they have not taken equivalent courses before.
 COMP47470 Big Data Programming Autumn and Spring (separate)  5
Stage 1 Options - A)4 of:
Students should choose options in consultation with the programme director. In particular, it is strongly recommended that students take MATH40430 Measure Theory and Integration and ACM30080 PDEs in Financial Maths in the Autumn Trimester, and ACM30070 Computational Finance in the Spring Trimester, if they have not taken equivalent courses before.
 ACM30070 Computational Finance Spring  5
Stage 1 Options - A)4 of:
Students should choose options in consultation with the programme director. In particular, it is strongly recommended that students take MATH40430 Measure Theory and Integration and ACM30080 PDEs in Financial Maths in the Autumn Trimester, and ACM30070 Computational Finance in the Spring Trimester, if they have not taken equivalent courses before.
 ACM40990 Optimisation in ML Spring  5
Stage 1 Options - A)4 of:
Students should choose options in consultation with the programme director. In particular, it is strongly recommended that students take MATH40430 Measure Theory and Integration and ACM30080 PDEs in Financial Maths in the Autumn Trimester, and ACM30070 Computational Finance in the Spring Trimester, if they have not taken equivalent courses before.
 COMP40725 Introduction to Relational Databases and SQL Programming Spring  10
Stage 1 Options - A)4 of:
Students should choose options in consultation with the programme director. In particular, it is strongly recommended that students take MATH40430 Measure Theory and Integration and ACM30080 PDEs in Financial Maths in the Autumn Trimester, and ACM30070 Computational Finance in the Spring Trimester, if they have not taken equivalent courses before.
 ECON42360 Energy Economics and Policy Spring  5
Stage 1 Options - A)4 of:
Students should choose options in consultation with the programme director. In particular, it is strongly recommended that students take MATH40430 Measure Theory and Integration and ACM30080 PDEs in Financial Maths in the Autumn Trimester, and ACM30070 Computational Finance in the Spring Trimester, if they have not taken equivalent courses before.
 ECON42710
Advanced Econometrics: Time Series		 Spring  5
Stage 1 Options - A)4 of:
Students should choose options in consultation with the programme director. In particular, it is strongly recommended that students take MATH40430 Measure Theory and Integration and ACM30080 PDEs in Financial Maths in the Autumn Trimester, and ACM30070 Computational Finance in the Spring Trimester, if they have not taken equivalent courses before.
 STAT40750 Statistical Machine Learning (online) Spring  5
Stage 1 Options - A)4 of:
Students should choose options in consultation with the programme director. In particular, it is strongly recommended that students take MATH40430 Measure Theory and Integration and ACM30080 PDEs in Financial Maths in the Autumn Trimester, and ACM30070 Computational Finance in the Spring Trimester, if they have not taken equivalent courses before.
 STAT40850 Bayesian Analysis (online) Spring  5
Stage 1 Options - B)1 of:
Students take exactly 1 module from this list. Availability of Financial Work placements subject to approval of Programme Director and host firm (sufficiently high Autumn Trimester GPA and interview process in Spring Trimester).Co-supervised by the host firm and a member of faculty.
MATH40750 Financial Work Placement Summer  30
Stage 1 Options - B)1 of:
Students take exactly 1 module from this list. Availability of Financial Work placements subject to approval of Programme Director and host firm (sufficiently high Autumn Trimester GPA and interview process in Spring Trimester).Co-supervised by the host firm and a member of faculty.
MATH40760 Financial Dissertation Summer  30

Sam O’Neill, Quantitative Risk at Grant Thornton

I found the degree throughout engaging. I enjoyed the broad range of topics covered in the degree from pure mathematics to behavioural economics and game theory. I was heavily involved with the Chess Society, serving as Secretary and then Auditor during my time at UCD and I still compete with the UCD chess team in the Leinster leagues. I have since graduated and am now working in Quantitative Risk at Grant Thornton.

Financial Mathematics (T341) Full Time
EU          fee per year - € 9530
nonEU    fee per year - € 22530

Financial Mathematics (T349) Part Time
EU          fee per year - € 5170
nonEU    fee per year - € 14550

***Fees are subject to change

Tuition fee information is available on the UCD Fees website. Please note that UCD offers a number of graduate scholarships for full-time, self-funding international students, holding an offer of a place on a UCD graduate degree programme. For further information please visit International Scholarships.

  • The minimum entry requirement will be a 2:1 (or equivalent grade) BSc in Financial Mathematics, Mathematics, Applied and Computational Mathematics, or Statistics.
  • Applicants whose first language is not English must also demonstrate English language proficiency of IELTS 6.5 (no band less than 6.0 in each element), or equivalent.
  • Students meeting the programme’s academic entry requirements but not the  English language requirements, may enter the programme upon  successful completion of UCD’s Pre-Sessional or International Pre-Master’s Pathway programmes. Please see the following link for further information http://www.ucd.ie/alc/programmes/pathways/ 
You may be eligible for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), as UCD recognises formal, informal, and/or experiential learning. RPL may be awarded to gain Admission and/or credit exemptions on a programme. Please visit the UCD Registry RPL web page for further information.

Full Time option suitable for:

Domestic(EEA) applicants: Yes
International (Non EU) applicants: Yes

Part Time option suitable for:

Domestic(EEA) applicants: Yes
International (Non EEA) applicants: No


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General application route(s) for Irish/UK/EU applicants* for International (non-EU) applicants* to Financial Mathematics:

ROWCLASS Apply to   Application Type  
showAudience-audienceEU showAudience-audienceInt T341
Financial Mathematics
Master of Science
Full-Time
Commencing September 2024
 Graduate Taught Closed
showAudience-audienceEU showAudience-audienceInt T349
Financial Mathematics
Master of Science
Part-Time
Commencing September 2024
 Graduate Taught Not available to International applicantsClosed
showAudience-audienceEU showAudience-audienceInt T341
Financial Mathematics
Master of Science
Full-Time
Commencing September 2025
 Graduate Taught Apply
showAudience-audienceEU showAudience-audienceInt T349
Financial Mathematics
Master of Science
Part-Time
Commencing September 2025
 Graduate Taught Not available to International applicantsApply
* you can change options at the top of the page
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