IIT Madras’ new quantitative research lab to boost AI research in financial markets

Chennai: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras on Thursday launched a new research lab focused on quantitative finance.

The lab, to be set up with a CSR funding of Rs. 5.65 crore from AlphaGrep Securities, a quantitative trading and investment firm, will study AI for quantitative finance.

This includes research in financial markets and its microstructure, quantitative investment management and risk management.

The AlphaGrep Quantitative Research lab will be set up as part of the Department of Data Science and AI at IIT Madras.

"The time is ripe now to look at how AI can be used for effective and efficient conduct of business of financial institutions. The proposed lab will be precisely addressing this issue," said Prof V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras.

The research centre will likely undertake exploratory projects on applying frontier AI techniques to quantitative finance, and focused courses for students on AI for quantitative finance. The lab will also look into the development of data sets and other resources to enable research.

"The strategic initiative marks a significant step towards fostering innovation in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Quantitative Finance," said Mohit Mutreja, Chairman and Managing Director, AlphaGrep Securities.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Prof. Ashwin Mahalingam, Dean (Alumni and Corporate Relations), IIT Madras, and Mutreja, towards the collaboration. As part of it, the lab will nurture collaboration between esteemed faculty members of IIT Madras, and staff at AlphaGrep. They will also provide advanced resources and mentorship to IIT Madras students, enabling groundbreaking research and development in these cutting-edge fields, Mutreja said.

The lab will also focus on human resource training in areas of AI for quantitative finance through different programmes.