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In academic affiliation with Carnegie Mellon University
Institute of Algorithmic Tradingand Applied Computational Finance

Rules that apply to every certificate

How certification works

A certificate from the Institute records that you passed a specific assessment. This page sets out how assessments work, how certificates are verified and what they do and do not claim.

What kinds of certificate are there?

Certificate of attendance. Open courses are free and have no assessment. Completing every lesson earns a certificate of attendance, which states that it is not assessed.

Course certificate. Every Foundation, Practitioner and Researcher course ends in an assessment. A pass earns a certificate naming the course, its code, its study hours and the date of award.

Credential. A credential program is a fixed set of courses plus, for most programs, a capstone. When every course and the capstone are passed, the named credential is awarded, such as the Certificate in Algorithmic Trading or the Fellowship in Computational Finance.

How is each level assessed?

  • Foundation: graded quizzes in each module and one graded problem set.
  • Practitioner: an assessed project on market data, submitted as code with a short written report. Strategy projects are judged on data held out from development, with transaction costs charged. FRM Exam Preparation is the exception: it is assessed by timed practice sets and a full mock exam.
  • Researcher: a written, paper-style assessment: derivations, estimation on data and a discussion of the method’s limits.
  • Capstones: a larger project or dissertation set by the program, marked against published criteria.

Who marks the work?

Assessments are marked by faculty against written criteria. You receive the marks and written feedback. A failed submission may be resubmitted once at no charge.

How is a certificate verified?

Each certificate carries a unique verification code. Send the code and the holder’s name to the credentials office and it will confirm the award, the date and the course or program.

What do the certificates claim?

They record that you passed a specific assessment set by the Institute. They are not accredited, carry no academic credit and are not issued by Carnegie Mellon University. The Institute was founded by Carnegie Mellon University faculty members and works in academic affiliation with the university; the certificates are the Institute’s own.

Questions applicants ask

Are IATACF certificates accredited?

No. They are Institute certificates. They are not degrees, not academic credit and not issued by Carnegie Mellon University.

How does an employer verify a certificate?

Every certificate carries a verification code. An employer can email the code and the holder’s name to the credentials office, which confirms the course or program, the date of award and the result.

What happens if I fail an assessment?

You receive written feedback and may resubmit once at no charge.