Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Financial Mathematics

at Heriot-Watt University - Edinburgh Campus United Kingdom

Our Masters in Actuarial Science has been accredited by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFOA).

This MSc has been designed as the perfect starting point to a career as an actuary, preparing you for a leading role managing risk in financial institutions worldwide. Many of our staff are qualified actuaries that have worked for some of the biggest names in the Acturial world; You will be able to benefit from their extensive business knowledge, many years of experience working in industry and their research expertise.

The course offers hands-on experience solving real-life financial problems through interactive lectures, tutorials and practical coursework. What’s more, our close links to industry means you’ll have the chance of a summer placement within Edinburgh's financial sector.

If you are looking for a career in the world of finance and love mathematical challenges, then Financial Mathematics is the degree for you. Just as civil engineering deals with the design, construction and maintenance of buildings and roads, financial mathematics is concerned with the design, construction and maintenance of financial products. It is well known that careers in financial mathematics offer some of the best salaries of all professions and graduates working in this area thrive on being offered many interesting challenges on a day-to-day basis.

Our Financial Mathematics programme develops the skills and knowledge required by the modern investment and asset management industry, where structured finance and relative value trading strateges dominate. The emphasis is on developing a range of practical skills relevant to the increasingly mathematical and ever-changing world of contemporary finance.

Financial Mathematics isn't just for aspiring bankers. The UK Government is the single biggest user of structured finance, through the Private Finance Initiative. Graduates are also attractive to the treasury function of international corporations and to the trading arm of commodities companies.

Students on the Financial Mathematics degree follow the same programme as Actuarial Science students for the first two years. The programmes diverge in third year and in the fourth year Financial Mathematics students will be able to study courses alongside Master's students on the Quantitative Finance and Mathematics programme. The aim is for Financial Mathematics graduates to achieve a skill set comparable to those graduating with a Master's degree.

The MSc in Computing is a two year postgraduate degree. The first year imparts the knowledge and skills needed to study the subject at masters level in the second.

This new degree is open to graduates coming from any discipline. They will start by learning the art of software engineering, study some key computing topics and develop relevant research and technical English skills that prepare them for advanced study of computer science in the following year.

At the end of Year 1 students may progress to Year 2 or graduate instead with a Graduate Diploma in Computer Science.

Heriot-Watt Mechanical Engineering degrees are ranked 1st in Scotland and top 10 in the UK by the Guardian University Guide 2020. An industrial panel are involved to ensure the course content reflects the changing needs of industry and that our graduates have the knowledge and practical skills required to successfully gain employment.

Student teaching benefits from our strong industrial links, in particular the involvement of the industrial panel in the assessment of 4th year design projects, providing a realistic client scenario.

Our BSc Computer Science degree focuses on constructing robust and usable systems. As well as looking at cutting edge tools and techniques, it’s designed to help you build the next generation of software tools that other system constructors will use. The course aims to give a well integrated balance of theoretical underpinnings and practical experience, strongly informed by the research expertise of our academic staff.

All Year 3 students take part in a year-long group project, where they co-operate in tackling a large, realistic problem. Year 4 students conduct a major, year-long, individual dissertation project.

You can take advantage of our international campuses by taking part in an Inter-Campus Transfer. This gives you the opportunity to study Computer Science at our Dubai campus for a semester or a year.

In the first year of the BEng Engineering course you’ll have the chance to study a range of subjects. Beyond this, you’ll be able to focus on a particular area of expertise to work towards your Engineering degree.

From a wide choice of subjects, you’ll select eight courses to match your interests – usually choosing from two or three subject areas. On the BEng Engineering course, most students choose subjects in  Engineering.  All subjects include some form of industrial design,whether Mechanical, Electrical, Civil or Chemical Engineering.

MSc Intercultural Business Communication develops skills that will allow you to communicate and work with people from all around the world. 

This degree develops intercultural business skills which are increasingly required by businesses and organisations with globalised workplaces and international stakeholders. 

Throughout this Masters degree, you will learn about key issues related to culture, society, and communication, and apply your understanding to authentic business contexts with a strong emphasis on practical intercultural business communication skills.

You will be taught and assessed entirely in English, which makes it suitable for those who would like to adapt their English language skills for a professional context and develop understanding of intercultural issues in international business.

Professional communication skills

MSc Intercultural Business Communication will give you the opportunity to study culture and communication in an academic setting and apply your learning directly to intercultural business contexts, relevant to international organisations and teams.

Embedded in Heriot-Watt University's highly respected Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies, this programme develops advanced corporate communications skills alongside a broad range of professional transferable skills, so you will be ready to thrive in dynamic workplaces where the ability to communicate, summarise and present information is extremely important

You will learn alongside students from all over the world and find yourself working in multicultural teams to apply your learning in real time. As a result, you will be uniquely prepared for a career in international business and global leadership by the time you graduate.

Statistical data science is at the core of modern data analytics that turn data into intelligence to inform decision-making and solve challenging problems. Applications range from economics and medicine, to social and environmental sciences. This degree covers theoretical and applied elements of modern statistics, and provides training and practical experience in modelling, analysing and interpreting real data required in the economy, industry and research. The early years of the degree cover basic mathematics, probability and statistics. The final years focus on advanced specialist topics in statistical modelling, data science, machine learning, probability and stochastic processes.

The Business and Finance course is a specialist joint degree with equal emphasis given to the subject areas of business and finance. The degree is particularly suited to students who wish to gain a firm grounding in business and management coupled with an insight into the finance and financial operations of businesses and organisations.

Students on this degree can study at our campuses in Dubai and Malysia for one semester or more through Heriot-Watt's Go Global project.

You will have the opportunity to learn hands-on financial skills in our Bloomberg Trading Lab with 16 state-of-the-art industry standard Bloomberg Trading Terminals.

Software Development for Business GA programme is designed to provide a solid foundation in computing and the necessary applied skills. It includes the necessary applied skills, object-oriented web programming, writing algorithms and understanding fundamental database programming and management, as well as network security.

This programme helps you develop highly skilled employees in the following areas:

• Software Development and Testing;
• Web Development;
• Database Architecture and Development.