King's College London

Students in the Department of Mathematics worked with financial giant Santander to push boundaries at the heart of the sector this year as they partnered with industry experts to help solve some of the bank’s trickiest problems.

A cohort of students from the Financial Mathematics MSc joined forces with mentors from the company as they tackled specific projects to help make the bank’s processes more efficient, particularly in the field of quantitative analysis.

Concerned with the use of mathematical and statistical models in finance to help predict risk and facilitate trade, this area is reliant on said models being robust, fast and accurate. By understanding the needs of partners within the business, the students developed bespoke solutions to test cases that utilised the latest theoretical frameworks taught in the classroom.

Following the completion the project, the group of six students were asked to present their solution to their supervisors and experts across the bank, answering questions about their model’s applicability to the specific issue they were tasked with, alongside challenges across the business.

As well as gaining a familiarity with the way that financial institutions function, the experience allowed students to learn the soft and technical skills necessary to make an impact in a sector that has recently seen a dearth in qualified graduates.

Quantitative Analytics Manager at Santander and main industry sponsor of the programme, Dr Juan Carlos Moreno-Paredes said, “The Santander University Engagement Programme is a great opportunity for students to work on real-world problems in the financial sector, guided by academic experts within the industry.

“Not only do students get the opportunity to apply themselves to real-world problems in preparation for when they join the job market, we get the benefit of their world-class education and how they bring some of academia’s latest approaches to the problems we’re trying to solve.”

Reflecting on what the programme meant for students, Dr Cristin Buescu, Senior Lecturer in Financial Mathematics and academic lead for the project said, “Students thrive when they get to apply the skills they have learnt in their course to real-world problems. Outside the classroom, problems are not neatly separated by chapters in a textbook. They’re complicated, knotty, and require getting people onside to fix them.

“By communicating the value of their solutions throughout the project’s lifetime, they’re practising the skills they’ll have to use everyday in the world of work. For recent graduates to have the industry expertise, facetime and connections with top analysts like our class do is of enormous benefit to them.”