Quant Guide 2020: Erasmus University Rotterdam

Rotterdam, Netherlands

Photo: Erasmus University Rotterdam

 

Erasmus University Rotterdam’s 12-month Master in Quantitative Finance, appearing in Risk.net’s quant guide for the second time, is led by professor of financial econometrics Dick van Dijk.

The programme consists of seven compulsory modules and a project-based seminar sat by all candidates, of whom there were 100 in last year’s intake; asset pricing; financial derivatives; Bayesian econometrics in finance; quantitative methods in fixed income; quantitative risk management; advanced time series econometrics; and portfolio management. In terms of the split by subject matter across the modules, that equates to 35% of the course spent on asset and derivatives pricing topics, 35% on econometrics material, 15% on risk management, and 15% on portfolio management.

The seminar on offer functions as a project course or practicum, where students work in teams to test hypotheses, conduct research and present on their findings. Teams number four students each, and research topics are set by financial firms including asset managers, hedge funds and insurers.

Master’s students also complete a dissertation. Research questions and methodologies are decided upon by the candidate, who must then make a proposal to academic advisers. 

The Erasmus degree also performs well on costs and graduate salaries. The tuition fees, of €2,083 ($2,300) for EEA students and €15,000 for internationals, are below average for the guide as a whole, and compare favourably with graduates’ reported average annual starting salaries of €60,000, a solid showing among European programmes.

View this institution’s entry in the 2017 guide

View other universities and a guide to the metrics tables