IIT Madras Introduces Quantitative Research Lab to Lead in Data Science and Research

IIT Madras has launched a new Quantitative Finance research lab with CSR funding of INR 5.65 crore from AlphaGrep Securities, a quantitative trading firm. Get details here

IIT Madras Introduces Quantitative Research Lab

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has launched the 'AlphaGrep Quantitative Research Lab,' a facility dedicated to advancing research in Quantitative Finance. Established with CSR funding of INR 5.65 crore from AlphaGrep Securities, a leading quantitative trading and investment firm, the lab will focus on exploratory projects in AI for finance, financial markets and microstructure, quantitative investment management, and risk management, among other areas. This initiative aims to drive innovation in the intersection of AI and financial systems.

Prof. Ashwin Mahalingam, Dean of Alumni and Corporate Relations at IIT Madras, and Mohit Mutreja, Chairman and Managing Director of AlphaGrep Securities, signed an MoU formalizing this collaboration. The signing took place in the presence of Prof. B. Ravindran, Head of the Wadhwani School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, IIT Madras, along with other key stakeholders.

Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “Three decades before, the financial institutions were predominantly run by their legal group, the next decade by their finance/audit group and currently by the Information Technology group. The time is ripe now to look at how AI can be used for effective and efficient conduct of business of these institutions. The proposed lab will be precisely addressing this issue.”

Welcoming this collaboration, Prof. Ashwin Mahalingam, Dean (Alumni and Corporate Relations), IIT Madras, said, “Given how much work there remains to be done in bringing AI to the world of finance, a program that focuses on exploratory research is exactly what we think will push us forward. We are very happy to be supported by AlphaGrep Securities in this regard and look forward to building this partnership further.”

Outcomes from this Research Centre Include:

• Exploratory Projects on applying frontier AI techniques to quantitative finance
• Training Programs for different stakeholders in this space
• Focused courses for students on AI for quantitative finance
• Development of data sets and other resources to enable research

Mohit Mutreja, Chairman and Managing Director, AlphaGrep Securities, said, “AlphaGrep is proud to announce its collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, with the inauguration of AlphaGrep Quantitative Research Lab as part of the Department of Data Science & AI at IIT Madras. This strategic initiative marks a significant step towards fostering innovation in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Quantitative Finance. The lab aims to nurture collaboration between esteemed faculty members of IIT Madras, and staff at AlphaGrep, and provide advanced resources and mentorship to IIT Madras students, enabling ground breaking research and development in these cutting-edge fields.”

Prof. B. Ravindran, Head, Wadhwani School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, IIT Madras, said, “the quant community has been at the forefront of adoption of new technologies in their models. With the rapid advances in AI in the past two years, it has become imperative to look at how the AI tools can help with quantitative research and how we can use these tools in a responsible fashion. The new lab will work with the industry in advancing the understanding and responsible adoption of AI in quant models.”

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