PhD Research in Mathematical Finance

The Mathematical Finance Section offers opportunities for PhD research on a wide range of research topics in mathematical finance and related areas of mathematics such as probability theory and stochastic analysis. The Mathematical Finance group at Imperial College is the largest research group in this field in the UK and recognized as one of the leading research groups worldwide. The Department of Mathematics at Imperial College, one of the best in the UK and Europe, provides an excellent research environment and our extensive links with the financial sector in the London area provides numerous opportunities for interfacing research with applications.

The Mathematical Finance group is part of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral training (CDT) in Financial Computing and Analytics which offers 4-year fellowships for students undertaking a MRes followed by a PhD. 

PhD research undertaken on a full-time basis normally takes between three and four years. PhD research may also be done on a part-time basis in exceptional cases (see below), in which case it takes at least four years and up to six years.

Postgraduate students are evaluated at different stages during their PhD, following the Framework for Research Degree Progression

Funding

PhD students may be  funded  through a variety of sources. The Mathematical Finance Group is part of the EPSRC Doctoral Training Centre on Financial Computing and Analytics, which awards 4-year fellowships to students who undertake an MRes followed by a PhD on topics related to mathematical modeling and computational methods in finance.

The Department of Mathematics also offers a limited number of funding opportunities on a competitive basis. UK and European Union students are eligible for EPSRC Doctoral Training Awards (DTA), which cover tuition fees and (for UK students) maintenance. There is also a limited number of grants from private sources. Other sources of funding for PhD students include:

Some PhD students in Mathematical Finance are funded by financial institutions, either as part time or full-time students. For more information on PhD funding/general information click here.

Part-time PhD

Applicants with a masters degree and 3-5 years of industry experience may apply for a part-time PhD.
Part-time applicants should be industry professionals working on topics closely aligned with their proposed research project. 

Part-time PhD applicants need to follow the same procedure and meet the same academic standards as full-time PhD applicants for admission. Upon admission, part-time PhD students should commit to attending the College and meeting their supervisor regularly,  typically 1 working day per week. 
A part-time PhD  takes at least four years and up to six years to complete.
Part time PhD students are evaluated according to the same academic standards as full-time PhD students.
Part-time PhDs do not qualify for  PhD funding

Admission procedure

Applicants interested in undertaking PhD research in the Mathematical Finance Group may apply to the MRes programme in Mathematical Sciences, specifying Mathematical Finance or Stochastic Analysis as the desired concentration. Applicants holding a first-class MSc degree in Mathematics may apply to the PhD programme in Mathematics at Imperial College, specifying Mathematical Finance as the desired field of research. Admission to the program is competitive and students are selected based on academic criteria from an international pool of applicants. Students are not expected to arrive with a fully formulated research programme in hand, but you should put some thought into the topic you might be interested in pursuing, for example by checking the research topics currently pursued by our group. Members of the section will be glad to discuss with you about current research opportunities.

London Graduate School

Find out about the London Graduate School, which offers PhD students lecture courses and seminars in Mathematical Finance