Operational Research and Finance

Entry requirements

First or upper second-class honours degree or equivalent in a subject involving a significant amount of quantitative work (e.g. computer science, economics, engineering, mathematics, physics, statistics), or relevant work experience.

Months of entry

September

Course content

The MSc in Operational Research and Finance at the University of Southampton will equip you with skills in revenue management, credit scoring, and financial risk management that are highly sought by employers, and this degree will give you a deep understanding of applied analytics and financial modelling that is applicable across the financial institutions.

The summer dissertation gives you an opportunity to develop your research skills, often in a commercial setting, and our industrial liaison team will work with you to find a project that suits your skills and ambitions.

Operational Research is the application of scientific methods to the study of complex organisational problems. In this degree course, there is an emphasis on complementary financial studies. Even within the same organisation Operational Research and Finance tends to be highly varied because of its project-driven nature. This breadth of experience offers an exciting and rewarding career in many financial organisations, enabling many Operational Research workers to progress to a career in general management. Moreover the nature of the work brings an Operations Research and Finance graduate into early contact with senior management, and career advancement is typically rapid.

An MSc is generally accepted as being highly desirable for starting and developing a career in OR and financial modelling. The MSc is also a good preparation for research work.

All MSc students have the opportunity to compete for a three-month summer project with an external organisation, which will form the basis of their dissertation. Alternatively, students have the option of working on an internal project linked to cutting-edge research led by one of our academics.

Information for international students

IELTS score of at least 6.5 overall, with at least 6 in each component (intensive summer language course available if required).

Fees and funding