Master in Data Science for Finance

The Master in Data Science for Finance is designed to train university graduates wishing to specialise in one of the most highly regarded and demanded professions of the 21st century. And also those interested in developing a career as managers of huge volumes of information in the activity of financial institution.

The aim is to provide the participants with the generic knowledge related to the technologies and tools used in the management of corporate information, and their practical application in the finance industry.

This is a practical program, with learning opportunities applied to the challenges faced by companies concerning the management of new sources of information in constant growth.

To do so, it combines basic courses in Big Data technologies, analysis and information management, with applied knowledge concerning the analysis and management of data for the financial sector. A practical program, with learning opportunities applied to the challenges faced by companies concerning the management of new sources of information in constant growth. Students satisfactorily completing and passing all the academic requirements of the program (60 ECTS) will receive the CUNEF own qualification of Master in Data Science for Finance.

Technical sheet

The Master in Data Science for Finance is taught from September to July in the evening (4:00 pm to 9:00 pm), Monday to Friday, with the following basic content structure:

The program is complemented by the following teaching activities:

• Soft skills development workshop (negotiation and leadership)
• Conferences and seminars specialising in current topics.

We live in a world flooded by data. This reality presents countless strategic opportunities provided this immense flow of information can be tapped into. However, technological capabilities have evolved faster than the professional competences to make use of the information resources present in companies and sectors. There is a whole series of professional reasons that justify the study of this discipline:

• There is currently a demand for data scientists that the educational and professional supply is unable to cover.
• In 2015, 43% of companies stated that the lack of analytical muscle was their main weakness. More than half declared there was a need to transform the capacity for analysis into relevant information for managers.
• It is estimated that in 2018 the gap between the supply and demand for analytical skills would be between 40% and 50%.
• The turnover in Europe would grow from 2 billion euros in 2013 to more than 5.5 billion euros in 2018.
• Professional performance in the finance area requires professionals capable of assuming the managerial decision-making process from a dual perspective: Analysing data and professional challenges with quantitative sensitivity and technical judgement, the functional perspective, and integrating decision-making within an established corporate policy, the necessary strategic vision.
• The Master in Data Science for Finance (MDSF) will help you acquire through an intense year of study and applied work, in addition to academic knowledge, real-life work dynamics and practical experience necessary to successfully drive forwards your professional career and enhance your managerial performance in the financial sector.
• CUNEF graduates have an outstanding professional record. The professional profile of CUNEF finance, law and Data Science graduates is highly sought after by companies and institutions in every sector of economic and business activity. More than 6,000 alumni over 40 years have paved the way. In fact, CUNEF alumni fact hold executive positions at the leading private banks operating in Spain, IBEX 35 blue-chip companies and the main auditing and consultancy firms.
• The postgraduate courses offered by CUNEF will give you the opportunity to form part of a talented, prestigious and productive professional network of lecturers, students, alumni and collaborating companies, which will unquestionably lead to tangible and intangible benefits in terms of your professional achievements.
•  The academic staff comprises active professionals that combine their extensive and successful professional experience with a demonstrable pedagogical ability.
• Our location, in the city of Madrid is a magnificent opportunity to have a close and direct access to the main companies and institutions of the financial sector, consultancy, investment banking, etc. The directors of these companies frequently visit our facilities to share their knowledge, opinions and thoughts with our students, participate in selection processes and deliver presentations at our campus.
• The practical aspect of the teaching (reflection, analysis, action and evaluation) of all the subjects, aimed at the acquisition of knowledge applied to taking financial decisions, is complemented with supplementary professional work experience at one of the companies that habitually work in conjunction with CUNEF.
• Extensive scholarship program aimed at the best academic profiles, awarded by the Spanish Banking Association Foundation or by CUNEF, as well as work experience scholarships sponsored by companies and institutions in conjunction with CUNEF.
• CUNEF has an internal quality assurance system and every year submits the Master in Data Science for Finance to an inspection by the Complutense University of Madrid, in order to review and improve the program.

The aim of the CUNEF postgraduate programs in Finance (master’s or executive programs) is to help the participants, and the organisations employing them, to improve their managerial and professional performance. During the year of training at CUNEF, a solid theoretical and practical base in the financial environment will be acquired, as well as the analytical tools and aptitudes necessary to facilitate, develop and familiarise the participants with financial decision-making in their respective fields.

The Master in Data Science for Finance (full time version) is intended for university graduates with less than five years of professional experience and who wish to begin or explore in greater depth their professional careers as Data Scientists. The program is aimed at graduates in Business Administration and Management, Economics, Statistics, Engineering, Mathematics, Physics or similar disciplines.

The student profile for the 2018-2019 academic year is as follows:

• Class size: 20 students
• Geographic origins: 84.6% Spain and 15.4% from other countries.
• Academic background: Business Administration and Management, or Economics (76.9%), Engineering (23.1)
• Gender: men (77%), women (23%)
• Age: average age (24 years of age) and an age range of between 21 and 33 years of age
• Prior professional experience: yes (100%)
• Average grade on university academic report: 7.4/10

The Master in Data Science for Finance has an excellent faculty, and is one of our most important assets. Lecturers who are experts in the world of Data Science who combine their teaching, research and pedagogical vocations with the professional and managerial duties in their respective areas:

The list of faculty presented here is complemented by external collaborating lecturers, speakers at seminars, workshops or professional certifications, guest speakers at conferences and lecturers from other national and international institutions.

CUNEF has a close and active relationship with the business and professional world. The Careers Service actively manages the company professional placement[1], job offers, as well as the organisation of complementary seminars and activities, the main aim of which is to provide CUNEF students with all the necessary tools and skills, and also the best possible opportunities, to facilitate their incorporation into their first job and improve their professional development.

CUNEF students have the chance to take part in professional guidance activities including the following options:

• CUNEF employment forum: Every year companies and institutions from a range of economic and business sectors take part at the Employment Forum organised by CUNEF, offering students and companies the perfect platform to exchange experiences and discover in detail the procedures involved in selecting young university graduates for their first job.
• Company presentations and “on-campus” selection processes.
• Companies from the financial, consultancy, auditing and investment banking sectors frequently carry out election processes, presentations, specific seminars, etc., all developed in conjunction with the Careers Service and specially aimed at CUNEF graduates and postgraduates.
  Practical company placement programs: external practical placements are ideally performed at establishments connected with the student’s chosen specialisation. A wide range of educational cooperation agreements are in place for this purpose with institutions, organisations and companies, covering a great many operational spheres. Business placements have an external tutor and an internal tutor assigned to them. The external tutor is a professional at the company where the placement is being performed, who directs, guides, supervises and evaluates the student’s practical activities. In evaluating these activities the external tutor appraises the abilities, skills and knowledge demonstrated by the students during their time at the host institution, using an assessment questionnaire designed by the External Practical Placement Coordinators. In order to ensure proper organisation and implementation of external practical placements, for each of the training pathways provided there will be an External Practical Placement Coordinator (internal tutor), who will be a lecturer at the postgraduate department responsible for organising the placements connected with the professional area of the pathway in question. The educational goals of external practical placements are:
  • Understand the different fields of application of the Markets and Financial Institutions.
  • Give students an insight into the realities of professional life.
  • Integrate and consolidate the skills covered by the qualification in different professional fields.
• Seminars and practical activities for professional practice: participants can also attend a range of seminars and workshops focused on underpinning their specialist knowledge and skills for professional practice.
• Job Bank: CUNEF, in partnership with the CUNEF Alumni Association, administers the job offers regularly announced by companies and institutions.

[1] The professional practical placement (at least 150 hours) are carried out at companies or institutions that have signed the corresponding educational co-operation agreement wherever possible. CUNEF has a wide range of educational cooperation agreements in place for this purpose with institutions, legal practices, organisations and businesses in a range of industrial sectors. In any event, where the placement is performed depends on the agreements in place at any given time, and the offers announced by the partner companies and institutions. In addition to the criteria established in selection processes by each legal practice, company or institution at any given time. CUNEF does not decide who or where; these decisions are instead taken by the legal practices, companies or institutions. It is therefore their responsibility to find a company or institution where students can complete their placement. CUNEF does, of course, offer active advice and support. The students can potentially apply for the recognition of the practical placement subject if they can demonstrate prior professional experience or placements.

Day-to-day teaching activities are supplemented over the year of the master’s program by an additional range of activities allowing participants to extend their knowledge, underpin their professional focus, gain on-the-ground experience of professional practice, or try out for themselves initiatives and proposals developed by the leading experts in professional financial practice. The Master in Financial Institutions and Markets includes the following complementary activities:

• The “Passport to your future” Professional Guidance Program: a program where consultants with extensive experience in selection processes, accompany and help participants on the Master’s in finance programs strengthen their professional performance. The program includes three types of activity:
  • Practical Workshops during which the participants have the opportunity to know first hand from the experts in selection processes key aspects such as: the guidelines for writing and presenting your CV and the Presentation Letter, where and how to look for employment opportunities, how to tackle the different selection processes that companies carry out and how to know your strengths and your areas for improvement, all with the aim of demonstrating a competitive advantage in the market, etc.
  • Meetings with renowned professionals in their respective occupational fields, who give a first-hand presentation of the market in which participants will spend their professional future, along with those professional profiles most in demand, the jobs available to them and the various options offered by companies in their sector.
  • Individual mentoring sessions at which professional mentors allow participants to draw on all their know-how so as to help focus the future professional development of CUNEF master’s program students.
• Seminars – Practical Workshops and Conferences: during the master’s course a variety of specialisation seminars and practical workshops will be organised, as well as conferences, working breakfasts, presentations, etc., which aim to provide participants with access to specialised knowledge, experiences, initiatives and new projects presented by professional experts, who are leaders in their respective fields.
• Supplementary International Stages: once they have completed their master’s program, those students who so wish can opt for a supplementary international training period undertaken at universities or business schools that have a partnership with CUNEF. These periods of international training take place under the aegis of bilateral agreements or exchange agreements, and involve students spending an additional period of training at the partner university, in accordance with the terms set out in the cooperation agreement established between the two institutions.