The Credit Research Research Centre (CRC) is one of the UK’s leading centres for research into all aspects of credit to both consumers and customers. Members of the CRC have research interests ranging broadly across the economics of credit, credit scoring, customer scoring and SME risk modelling. Credit scoring involves the application of models to predict the probability that an applicant for credit will default on the loan. It has been described as the most successful application of Operational Research techniques ever. Members of the Centre have written the world’s most authoritative text on the subject as well as having published in the world’s best journals in the area.

Following is a sample of the range of opportunities for doctoral study which currently exist within the Centre.

Natural Language Processing and Multimodal Learning for Financial Risk and Default Prediction

Overview

Recent advancements in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and multimodal learning have unlocked new opportunities to enhance financial performance and risk prediction. Techniques such as transformer models and BERT have excelled in extracting valuable insights from textual data. Moreover, integrating multimodal data—including text, numerical data, voice, and visual information—has shown great promise in improving predictive models. These innovations underscore the significance of interdisciplinary approaches to tackle complex financial challenges. We invite motivated PhD candidates to contribute to cutting-edge projects in this dynamic field.

Required Skills and Qualifications

Educational Background

  • A strong first degree in Quantitative Finance, Business Analytics, Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, or a related field.

Machine Learning Knowledge

  • Solid foundation in machine learning algorithms and their practical applications
  • Familiarity with multimodal learning and data integration techniques is a plus.

NLP Expertise

  • Comprehensive understanding of natural language processing techniques and tools
  • Experience with transformer models, BERT, GPT, or similar frameworks is highly desirable.

Programming Skills

  • Proficiency in programming languages such as Python or R
  • Experience with machine learning libraries is essential.

Supervisor: Dr Yizhe Dong

Ethical Artificial Intelligence models

The adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies in the Banking industry has boosted over the last half a decade. A debate has emerged on different ethical concerns and consequences of the use of AI, not only in banking, but also other areas such as justice, law enforcement and medicine. This project will explore the development of AI-based methodologies that can overcome or mitigate these issues, focusing on applications to credit scoring and financial risk management.

Required qualifications: A good first degree in Business Analytics, Operational Research, Data Science, Computer Science, or Engineering.

Supervisor: Dr Belen Martin-Barragan

Further information

If you have any questions about these topics, please contact Credit Research Centre.