Master's Programme in Mathematics – Financial Mathematics

The programme comprises 120 credits, corresponding to two years of full-time study. It is also possible to take out a one-year Master’s degree (60 credits) within the programme. It offers a combination of courses that give you the mathematical background in finance, and in financial computational methods and modern aspects of machine learning, as well as computer science combined with economic theory.

The first semester begins with a course in probability and martingales along with an economics course in financial theory. Next, you take a specialised course in financial derivatives in parallel with a course in statistical machine learning. After these courses, you can customise your study programme based on options in suggested study plans, or include some courses from other subject areas.

Suggested elective courses within the programme cover the mathematical and computational aspects of partial differential equations and their applications to finance, time series and Monte Carlo methods. It also include courses in macro- and microeconomic theory and an introduction to data analysis.

In the final semester, you complete a degree project worth 30 credits in which you apply your knowledge. You write an independent paper on a topic in financial mathematics. You can choose to do your degree project in one of our research areas with a researcher as your supervisor or as a project in collaboration with a business, organisation or government agency. It is not uncommon for the degree project to lead to your first job.

If you choose to take out a one-year Master’s degree, you will complete a smaller degree project worth 15 credits during the second semester of the programme.

Courses within the programme

See the programme outline for courses within the programme.

In addition to the courses specified in the programme outline, which only include courses in mathematics, you can choose to include other courses in the programme. If you are unsure whether a course can be included in a degree from the programme, please contact a study counsellor.

The programme is taught in English, mainly in the form of lectures, lessons and seminars and is continuously developed through dialogue between the teaching staff and the students. You study in an international environment where between half to one-third of the students on the programme come from abroad.

To succeed in studying mathematics studies you need to be able to work independently – individually and in groups. You can always discuss and get help from your teachers, whom are all researchers at the Department of Mathematics. The Department of Mathematics’ research groups are active and hold regular seminars. Master’s students are welcome to participate in these seminars.

Study environment

Uppsala University also has a reputation as Sweden’s best study environment, with our unique student life of thirteen student nations with a truly fantastic range of activities and traditions. Uppsala is a city of just the right size and is one of Europe’s largest growth areas, close to jobs, Stockholm and Arlanda International Airport – and thus the whole world.

You study in an international environment where between half to one third of the students on the programme come from abroad.

Both teaching and research in mathematics is located at the Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University’s largest campus, situated in beautiful surroundings about three kilometres south of Uppsala city Centre. This is where cutting-edge research in a broad field of science, technology, mathematics and computer science takes place. Our students have access to many attractive spaces in close proximity to the research environments and the Department’s doors are always open for students wanting to get in touch with their teachers.

Read more about student life at Uppsala University.

Study abroad

You have the option of studying courses at a university abroad for one or two semesters of the programme. Uppsala University has student exchange agreements with many universities around the world. The Department of Mathematics has student exchange agreements with several universities that excel in mathematics in particular, for example in France, Germany, Scotland and Japan.

There is consistent demand for financial mathematicians all over the world and the increased use of large datasets and artificial intelligence is creating new opportunities to develop more advanced models and algorithms.

A range of types of employers in the world of finance may be interested in the skills of mathematicians. These include banks, insurance companies, hedge funds, asset management firms and other financial institutions. These organisations need mathematicians to analyse complex financial data, develop and implement models for assessing risk and return, and help them make investment decisions.

Many of our alumni who have graduated with a Master’s degree in financial mathematics work as various types of analysts, mainly in the banking sector. Another title that is becoming more common among the programme's alumni is Data Scientist. The programme’s alumni can be found at companies such as Combient, Swedbank, Uppsala Monitoring Centre, Qliro, Zettle (PayPal), Max Matthiessen Group, Nordea and many more.

Even though most graduates in financial mathematics move into working life after their studies, a number of our former students have gone on to doctoral studies, both in Sweden and abroad. In addition to research in financial mathematics, Uppsala University also has a Centre for Interdisciplinary Mathematics (CIM) which can offer interesting doctoral projects in the field.

Career support

Throughout your entire study period, you can receive guidance and participate in events and activities that prepare you for working life. The Department of Mathematics holds an annual career day where former students talk about their education and career paths. In the field of technology and natural sciences, a large career fair is organised annually where you can meet future employers.

You can find more information about the career day and where our former students work on the Department of Mathematics career pages.

Faculty of Science and Technology's career counselling service

UU Careers