Centre for Finance and Responsible Technology
Ulster University Business School
When algorithms shape financial decisions, what does the evidence justify?
The Centre for Finance and Responsible Technology (CFRT) tests those decisions using econometric inference and statistical learning, with machine-learning methods evaluated against interpretable baselines.
Our mission
Finance depends on information and trust. We test information quality and whether trust is earned.
How we work
Our research draws on statistics, econometrics and financial economics. Governance and assurance provide the evaluative lens, not a parallel theme.
What makes CFRT distinctive
Assumptions are made explicit, uncertainty is quantified, and results are stress-tested. That discipline is paired with industry traction: two of three funded doctoral scholarships are Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships with Napier AI and Pytilia, on AML investigator training and financial-crime detection.
Research strands
Three strands, at different stages. The established strand has funded doctoral work; the developing and emerging strands are open to colleagues who want to shape the programme.
Established
Financial crime and anti-money-laundering systems
Two Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships with Napier AI and Pytilia.
Developing
Corporate innovation and financial disclosure
One funded doctoral project using patent text as financial evidence.
Emerging
Investment decisions and portfolio construction
Director pipeline, not yet a Centre programme.
Our story
CFRT builds on a research programme its Director has developed over more than a decade. Professor Barry Quinn co-founded the Finance and AI Research Lab at Queen’s University Belfast, an early effort to bring statistical learning and the governance of algorithmic systems to financial questions. The Centre now takes that work further at Ulster, with a funded doctoral programme and industry partnerships.
Why Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is a strong applied setting for this work. Financial and insurance activities contributed almost £3.0bn to regional GVA in 2023, about 5.3% of the total, and support roughly 13,000 full-time jobs, with an estimated 7,000 people in fintech-related roles. Ulster’s presence across Belfast and the North West supports regionally inclusive collaboration.
This is the Centre’s community site. The official institutional page is hosted by Ulster University.