GRA 6558 Consultancy Project for MSc in Quantitative Finance

GRA 6558 Consultancy Project for MSc in Quantitative Finance

Course code: 
GRA 6558
Department: 
Finance
Credits: 
18
Course coordinator: 
Costas Xiouros
Course name in Norwegian: 
Consultancy Project for MSc in Quantitative Finance
Product category: 
Master
Portfolio: 
MSc in Quantitative Finance
Semester: 
2021 Spring
Active status: 
Active
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching language: 
English
Course type: 
One semester
Introduction

This course, Consultancy Project for MSc in Quanitative Finance, is part of the +1 Model for MSc in Quantitative Finance.

This course intends to give students a sense of how to solve a real quantitative finance problem for a company or public entity. Students will experience first-hand how to solve a concrete business problem in groups and present the solution to a panel of high level executive decision makers within the organization.

The course is divided into two parts, where no part requires the student to be physically present at the Oslo campus.

Learning outcomes - Knowledge

After having completed this course, students should be familiar with applying one or several methods/digital tools learned in the programme to address a specific business or public domain problem. The problem can have a national and/or international application. In doing so, the students will also acquire industry specific knowledge of real life challenges and problems and what kind of tools are being used.

Learning outcomes - Skills

Students will obtain specific digital skills within the area of data management, modelling and data analysis. In addition, the students will learn how to apply their knowledge to real life problems, communicate their results both verbally, through a presentation, and in writing, through preparing the consultancy report. Finally, working in groups the students will experience and learn skills teamwork skills.

General Competence

Students learn how to evaluate a business problem from several angles and will experience firsthand the importance of reflecting how the suggested solution will add value to the organization and/or sustainability to the public sector through the suggested solutions. The students have to be critical to any data provided and also need to critically evaluate their suggested solution and understand its limitations and applicability.

Course content

Part 1

The student groups are presented with data and a real problem from a company or public entity. The data will be of a structured/semi structured format, and the inherent business problem will be roughly outlined. The students will then spend a total of 5 weeks applying various methods/tools to model and analyse the data in order to outline a suggested course of action for the business in question. The students will provide a written report, along with a short video presentation. Both will be presented to company’s decision makers.

Part 2

In part two the same student group is presented with a more complex decision problem. The data can be of several formats. The students are then given a total of 7 weeks defining the problem, gathering the data, structuring and cleaning the data, and applying specific methods/tools to analyse the problem at hand and/or develop an appropriate model. The students will provide a written report and conduct a real-time video conference suggesting their course of action. Key decision makers in the company will be able to interact with the student group.

All student groups are assigned an academic and business supervisor to assist in the development of their solution.

Teaching and learning activities

Students are expected to participate actively in the group and interact with their supervisors.

Each student is entitled to a maximum of four hours supervision on the term paper.

Software tools
No specified computer-based tools are required.
Additional information

This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam components) and one final exam code. Each exam component is graded by using points on a scale from 0-100. The components will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the examination code (course). Students who fail to participate in one/some/all exam elements will get a lower grade or may fail the course. You will find detailed information about the point system and the cut off points with reference to the letter grades when the course starts.

At resit, all exam components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course.

Qualifications

All courses in the Masters programme will assume that students have fulfilled the admission requirements for the programme. In addition, courses in second, third and/or fourth semester can have specific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.

Covid-19

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there may be deviations in teaching and learning activities as well as exams, compared with what is described in this course description.

Exam categoryWeightInvigilationDurationGroupingComment exam
Exam category:
Submission
Form of assessment:
Written submission
Exam code:
GRA65581
Grading scale:
Point scale
Grading rules:
Internal examiner
Resit:
All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
20No 2 Week(s)Group/Individual (1 - 3)Written report 1
Exam category:
Submission
Form of assessment:
Written submission
Exam code:
GRA65581
Grading scale:
Point scale
Grading rules:
Internal and external examiner
Resit:
All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
60No 4 Week(s)Group/Individual (1 - 3)Written report 2
Exam category:
Activity
Form of assessment:
Presentation
Exam code:
GRA65581
Grading scale:
Point scale
Grading rules:
Internal examiner
Resit:
All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
20No 1 Hour(s)Group/Individual (1 - 3)Oral presentation of written report 2
Exams:
Exam category:Submission
Form of assessment:Written submission
Weight:20
Invigilation:No
Grouping (size):Group/Individual (1-3)
Duration: 2 Week(s)
Comment:Written report 1
Exam code:GRA65581
Grading scale:Point scale
Resit:All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
Exam category:Submission
Form of assessment:Written submission
Weight:60
Invigilation:No
Grouping (size):Group/Individual (1-3)
Duration: 4 Week(s)
Comment:Written report 2
Exam code:GRA65581
Grading scale:Point scale
Resit:All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
Exam category:Activity
Form of assessment:Presentation
Weight:20
Invigilation:No
Grouping (size):Group/Individual (1-3)
Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Comment:Oral presentation of written report 2
Exam code:GRA65581
Grading scale:Point scale
Resit:All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
Type of Assessment: 
Continuous assessment
Grading scale: 
ECTS
Total weight: 
100
Sum workload: 
0

A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore acourse of 18 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of at least 480 hours.