This EU-funded Industrial Doctoral Network, running from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2027, supports 17 fully funded PhD positions focused on the intersection of finance, data science, and artificial intelligence. Funded under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), the network brings together academic institutions, financial companies, technology providers, and policy organizations to jointly train the next generation of researchers in digital finance.

The network builds on a strong foundation of collaboration. Many of the current partners have successfully worked together in previous EU-funded research projects, including Horizon 2020 initiatives and the COST Action CA19130 Fintech and Artificial Intelligence in Finance. These earlier collaborations established a robust interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral framework, which is now expanded with the involvement of numerous additional companies and institutions from across Europe.

Key thematic areas of the doctoral research projects include:

• The European Financial Data Space

• AI-driven analysis of financial markets

• Explainable and fair AI in finance

• Blockchain infrastructure and innovation

• Sustainability and green finance

Each doctoral candidate participates in a structured training programme comprising:

• Core scientific courses and advanced technical modules

• Transferable skills development

• Extended secondments in industry and non-academic settings (typically 18 months), along with additional placements in regulatory or policy institutions (4 months)

• Technical workshops, research weeks, and annual project meetings

The network is coordinated by Prof. Dr. Joerg R. Osterrieder (University of Twente and Bern Business School) and brings together 13 core beneficiaries and multiple associated partners from academia, industry, and the public sector.

This website offers detailed information about our research objectives, training structure, consortium members. We invite doctoral candidates, researchers, and industry collaborators to explore the programme and engage with our activities.

Warm regards,
Prof. Dr. Joerg R. Osterrieder
Coordinator, MSCA Industrial Doctoral Network on Digital Finance
University of Twente · Bern Business School

https://www.joergosterrieder.com/​