Quant Guide 2022: Monash University

Melbourne, Australia

 

 

Monash University’s Master of Financial Mathematics is led by Ivan Guo, a senior lecturer in the university’s school of mathematics, who remains the programme’s academic director. This year, the Melbourne-based university has added Kaustav Das as assistant lecturer.

The programme has also added a new elective course covering optimisation for data analytics. Other modules include an elective course focused on Python programming, in addition to both compulsory and elective modules on quant modelling, statistical learning and machine learning using Matlab and R. Courses on Python and machine learning have proven popular among students, according to the university.

“We did note the average academic performance of students has dropped by a few percent compared to previous years,” Guo says of the second year of online instruction. “This is likely due to pandemic fatigue and disengagement due to prolonged remote learning.”

As of November 5, 2021, the university has only allowed fully vaccinated staff and students to engage in face-to-face teaching. However, remote learning is still possible for those who are not fully vaccinated, as well as overseas students.

Guo says that the pandemic’s impacts on employment have been limited, pointing out that employment rates increased slightly due to a high demand for quants in Australia and China. Monash’s employment rates recorded six months after graduation improved from 81% in 2021’s Quant Guide to 86%.

“There is still a strong demand for quant graduates on the market,” Guo says.

The number of full-time students has decreased from 23 to 16 this past year as the number of applications received has gone from 354 to 203. Career support is organised through the non-programme-specific Monash Career Connect, overseeing around 500 employees, in addition to industry professionals, and organising individual career advice sessions.

View this institution’s entry in the 2021 guide

View other universities and a guide to the metrics tables