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IFT is home to three taught Master's programmes and a PHD. We have a substantial research portfolio in digital finance and alternative investment and all our students can benefit from extensive links to world leading industry in London and internationally, state-of-the-art facilities at UCL and our esteemed teaching staff who are experts in their fields. 

Teaching at IFT is unique, since it is delivered by both academic and industry experts. We believe this provides students with the best of both worlds, providing a rigorous foundation of key theories and concepts, and consolidating this with an understanding of real-world applications. 

Our dynamic Banking and Digital Finance MSc is our flagship programme. Launched in 2019, this MSc gives students a systematic understanding of advanced financial technologies, bringing theory and methods to life through the extensive use of relevant practical applications. 

The primary objective of our Banking and Digital Finance MSc is to provide students with the tools and skills to gain an in-depth understanding of the finance and banking industry. The programme is highly applied and the teaching is research-driven, allowing our students to gain access to the most innovative aspects of digital finance.

For more information about the IFT click here

Superpowers

  • Finance and Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data in Quantitative Finance
  • Financial Analytics and Machine Learning

Keywords

  • Blockchain
  • Asset Pricing
  • Risk Analysis
  • Quantitative Asset Allocation
  • Corporate Financial Strategy
  • Photo of Francesa Medda
    Francesca Romana Medda, FICE
    Professor of Applied Economics and Finance
    Francesca Medda is Professor of Applied Economics and Finance at the University College London (UCL). She is the Founder and Director of the UCL Institute of Finance & Technology. From 2020, Medda has coordinated the digital strategy in the Italian Financial Conduct and Supervisory Authority (Consob). In Consob she led three main projects on the digitalisation of supervisory activities. She also coordinated the group dedicated to the Consob regulatory sandbox and is a member of the Italian Fintech Committee. Her research focuses mainly on innovative finance and technology, sustainable finance, and impact investments. Her work is published in leading academic and practitioner journals. Since 2012 she has served as economic adviser to the UK Ministry of Environment and Agriculture (Defra) and the UK Ministry of Finance (HM Treasury). Since 2016 Medda has been Vice-President of the UK Parliamentary and Scientific Committee. She has worked actively with the private and public sector, including The European Investment Bank, The World Bank, UNESCO, and UN Habitat. Professor Medda holds several research grants of more than £15m, two of which pertain to the application of complexity analysis in the real world. In 2023, she is on the Standout 45 Women in Fintech, for making a real and lasting impact in FinTech, over and above her day-to-day role.
  • photo of Rami
    Dr Ramin Okhrati
    Lecturer in Digital Finance
    My background is in Mathematical Finance having a BSc, an MSc, and a PhD in Mathematics (more specifically Applied Probability) with concentration in Actuarial and Finance. I have a lot of experience in theoretical and computational finance (driven by AI and machine learning methods) and financial technologies both from industrial (through consultancy and collaboration) and academic perspectives. Before joining UCL, I worked at the Mathematical Sciences of the University of Southampton (from 2013 to 2019) and a held a one year postdoctoral fellowship (2012 to 2013) at the Financial and Actuarial Mathematics group of Vienna University of Technology in Austria.

    I am the founder and the head of UCL-AIRiskLab. AIRiskLab is an intellectual hub of innovative ideas and critical analysis of AI modelling in risk management. AIRiskLab is committed to leveraging AI modelling and algorithms in risk management and study their long- and medium-term impacts on financial stability and sustainability, based on a broad interpretation of risk in finance.

Testimonials

  • "I came across IFT when researching for a programme that would combine a specialisation in finance, while developing my quantitative and programming skills to better position me for the job market. Throughout the programme, practical exercises and coursework have helped me to put into practice my financial and coding skills to address current challenges through the adoption of ML and AI models. the lectures were able to create an interactive environment to discuss case studies and material that also helped me to further develop my problem solving and communication skills. " Andrea Bassini MSc Student (2021/2022)

Advantages

  • Sponsor a PHD student
    If you would like one of our students to apply their learning in the real world, why not sponsor a PHD. Sponsorship costs £20k and the IP will be yours.
    Banking and Digital Finance Msc
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