EUROPE: 19 Doctoral Researcher positions in the MSCA Industrial Doctoral Network on Digital Finance

For our European MSCA Industrial Doctoral Network on Digital Finance (DIGITAL), we are recruiting 19 Ph.D. researchers to be trained in the area of digital finance, with a focus on its applications in industry.

DIGITAL is an internationally recognized network consisting of eight leading European universities (WU Vienna, HU Berlin, University of Twente, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Babes-Bolyai University, Bern Business School, Kaunas University of Technology and University of Naples) that all rank among the top 200 universities globally in their fields, four major international corporations (Deloitte, Swedbank, Intesa Sanpaolo and Raiffeisen Bank International AG) with a significant R&D presence across Europe, two specialized firms (Cardo AI and Royalton Partners) among the most innovative ones in their field, three large and internationally renowned research centres (ARC Greece, EIT Digital and Fraunhofer Institute) and the European Central Bank, as one of the seven principal decision-making bodies of the European Union and the Euratom as well as one of the world's most important central banks. The Bank for International Settlements as well as a large European Private Bank are in the process of joining our Consortium.

The results of the research carried out within DIGITAL are of substantial interest to three leading European-wide research networks that our members either lead or serve on the management committee for COST Action CA19130 Fintech and AI in Finance (240 researchers across 39 European countries), European Consortium of Mathematics for Industry (200 researchers across Europe) and the European Consortium of Innovative Universities (13 European Universities).

All Ph.D. researchers recruited to this network will join a vibrant and supportive international community of scholars, and will gain extensive hands-on experience during research stays at the industrial partners and research centres, as part of their doctoral training programme.

We are now accepting applications from prospective doctoral researchers. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, as per each position. The starting date of the Ph.D. positions will be throughout 2024. The individual project descriptions can be viewed here: https://wiki.fin-ai.eu/index.php/Digital_Finance_MSCA#MSCA_Individual_Research_Projects

Our doctoral network is centred around 17 research projects organized within five work packages:

1. Strengthening European financial service providers through applicable reinforcement learning
   • Host: University of Twente, Drienerlolaan 5, 7522 NB Enschede, The Netherlands
   • Job advertisements for this specific Ph.D. position can be accessed here.
2. Modelling green credit scores for a network of retail and business clients
   • Host: University of Twente, Drienerlolaan 5, 7522 NB Enschede, The Netherlands
   • Job advertisements for this specific Ph.D. position can be accessed here.
3. Machine Learning For Digital Finance (Industry-standard for blockchain)
   • Host: University of Twente, Drienerlolaan 5, 7522 NB Enschede, The Netherlands
   • Job advertisements for this specific Ph.D. position can be accessed here.
4. A recommender system to re-orient investments towards more sustainable technologies
   • Host: University of Twente, Drienerlolaan 5, 7522 NB Enschede, The Netherlands
5. Fraud detection in financial networks
   • Host: WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Welthandelspl. 1, 1020 Wien, Austria
6. Collaborative learning across data silos
   • Host: WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Welthandelspl. 1, 1020 Wien, Austria
7. Risk index for cryptos
   • Host: Humboldt University Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10117 Berlin, Germany
8. Detecting anomalies and dependence structures in high dimensional, high-frequency financial data
   • Host: Humboldt University Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10117 Berlin, Germany
9. Audience-dependent explanations
   • Host: University of Naples Federico II, C.so Umberto I, 40, 80138 Napoli NA, Italy
10. Experimenting with Green AI to reduce processing time and contributes to creating a low-carbon economy
    • Host: University of Naples Federico II, C.so Umberto I, 40, 80138 Napoli NA, Italy
11. Applications of Agent-based Models (ABM) to analyse finance growth in a sustainable manner over a long-term period
    • Host: Kaunas University of Technology, K. Donelaičio g. 73, 44249 Kaunas, Lithuania
12. Developing industry-ready automated trading systems to conduct EcoFin analysis using deep learning algorithms
    • Host: Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Piața Romană 6, București 010374, Romania
13. Predicting financial trends using text mining and NLP
    • Host: Babes-Bolyai University, Strada Mihail Kogălniceanu 1, Cluj-Napoca 400347, Romania
    • Job advertisements for this specific Ph.D. position can be accessed here.
14. Challenges and opportunities for the uptaking of technological development by industry
    • Host: Cardo S.R.L, Italy (CAR), Via San Francesco D`Assisi 15, 20122, Milan, Italy
    • Job advertisements for this specific Ph.D. position can be accessed here.
15. Deep generation of financial time series
    • Host: Cardo S.R.L, Italy (CAR), Via San Francesco D`Assisi 15, 20122, Milan, Italy
    • Job advertisements for this specific Ph.D. position can be accessed here.
16. Investigating the utility of classical XAI methods in financial time series
    • Host: Bern Business School, Brückenstrasse 73, 3005 Bern, Switzerland
17. Fair algorithmic design and portfolio optimization under sustainability concerns
    • Host: Bern Business School, Brückenstrasse 73, 3005 Bern, Switzerland

About the European MSCA Doctoral Network on Digital Finance

Currently, Digital Finance does not exist as a standalone research discipline, despite the EU’s key strategic priorities, the urgent needs of industry, and the identification of many research gaps. DIGITAL will establish Digital Finance as a research field and significantly advance the methodologies and business models for Digital Finance through the use of five interconnected and coherent research objectives and a total of seventeen Doctoral Candidates hired by the beneficiaries, both from academia and industry. The main objectives are:

• Towards a European financial data space. Ensure sufficient data quality to contribute to the EU's efforts of building a single digital market for data.
• Artificial intelligence for financial markets. Address deployment issues of complex artificial intelligence models for real-world financial problems.
• Towards explainable and fair AI-generated decisions. Validate the utility of state-of-the-art explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) algorithms to financial applications and extend existing frameworks.
• Driving digital innovations with Blockchain applications. Design risk management tools concerning the applications of Blockchain technology in Finance.
• Sustainability of Digital Finance. Simulate financial markets and evaluate products with a sustainability component.

European PhD Programme on Digital Finance

PhD students will benefit from 120 ECTS of advanced PhD training courses, of which 30 ECTS are mandatory. More details can be found here: https://wiki.fin-ai.eu/index.php/Digital_Finance_MSCA#Training

Secondments in Industry and European Research Centres

Each Doctoral Candidate will spend at least 18 months at one of our European industrial partners. The details are specific to each research project, see here: https://wiki.fin-ai.eu/index.php/MSCA_Individual_Research_Projects

The current industry partners are the European Central Bank, Deloitte, Swedbank, Intesa Sanpaolo, Raiffeisen Bank International AG, Cardo AI, Royalton Partners, ARC Greece, EIT Digital, and Fraunhofer Institute).

Benefits

Successful applicants will receive an attractive salary following the MSCA regulations for recruited researchers. The indicative gross salary is around €3400 per month (adjustable according to a country correction formula to account for cost-of-living differences between the EU Member States) plus mobility and family allowances, where applicable, and in line with the EC rules for Marie Sklodowska Curie Doctoral Networks 2023. These allowances are also subject to local taxes, social security deductions etc. Full Ph.D. funding is guaranteed for 36 months, conditional on satisfactory progress, with the possibility of additional funding in certain instances, depending on local and national arrangements. At institutions that customarily charge tuition fees to doctoral students, waivers will be granted for project participants.

Eligibility criteria

Candidates of any nationality are warmly invited to apply for any of our positions, provided that they meet our funder’s mobility rules. These mobility rules stipulate that applicants will be ineligible to take up a position at a university located in a country where they have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) for more than twelve months in the three years immediately before the application deadline. In determining eligibility, the following periods are not taken into account: a) compulsory national service; b) time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention; c) short stays such as holidays.

Please note that applicants must not yet possess a doctoral degree in any field.

Additional requirements are specific to each Ph.D. position, depending on the host institute and the nature of the research project.

Application

Applications are made for a specific project and the full application documents are to be sent initially to the central hiring committee via one single pdf and then later to the individual hiring institution. The application deadline is Nov 1, 2023.

Additional information can be acquired via email from Prof. Dr. Joerg Osterrieder (MSCA Doctoral Network coordinator), prof. Dr. Branka Hadji Misheva, Dr. Marcos R. Machado, Dr. Rubin Haxhiymeri, dr. Kristina Šutienė, and Dr. Audrius Kabasinskas, by sending an email to msca-digitalfinance@utwente.nl or from any member of the central recruitment committee (https://wiki.fin-ai.eu/index.php/Digital_Finance_MSCA#MSCA_Central_Recruitment_Committee)

For more details on the MSCA Doctoral Network on Digital Finance, see https://www.digital-finance-msca.com/