Last semester, Optiver partnered with the Cambridge University Algorithmic Trading Society (CUATS) to offer Cambridge’s brightest minds a unique opportunity. The Optiver & Cambridge Trading Academy course launched in October, designed to open doors for STEM students to potential new career paths. This transformative program challenges students to apply their analytical academic skills in high-impact, authentic market scenarios.

Growth and career development opportunities

The eight-session course allows students to develop practical, theoretical and collaborative skills that are fundamental to market making, but also apply broadly to a wide variety of fields. Combining interactive lectures from our industry experts with hands-on trading practice on Optibook—Optiver’s simulated market environment—the course content integrates theory with real-world learning experience. Students learn options theory and market analysis, collaborate on project teams, design and build their own Python algorithms, and apply strategies to live trading challenges—building transferable skills in the process, which are sought-after beyond trading.

For many students, this is an eye-opening experience, getting to apply their skills in practice to see their real-world potential.

“I think it was really interesting to learn about how options are traded. I heard about the instrument before, but I didn’t know how the specifics worked or how you implement an algorithm that capitalizes on opportunities. Learning from people with extensive experience in the industry was very cool. I got to work with my team, and we had a template strategy to start with, so we weren’t completely in the dark. This really helped us dip our toes into algorithmic trading”

Mathematics Student, University of Cambridge

Building future-ready talent

By equipping students with foundational skills that prepare them for an evolving world, the Optiver & Cambridge Trading Academy course represents a transformative partnership between academia and industry. Together we’re building future-ready talent who are graduating into the professional world with confidence, adaptability and problem-solving expertise—qualities attractive to any potential employer.

“This program is actually very similar to our in-house training in the sense that it’s extremely open-ended. You can take lots of directions and an enormous amount of creativity is required to work out how you want to approach the problem. The problem itself is actually extremely complex. It’s really vital to break it down and take a structured approach towards solving it”

Christopher Horrobin, Optiver Head of People Development

Looking forward with a forward-thinking model

Together Optiver and CUATS have created a unique offering for Cambridge students that underscores the value of academic-industry partnerships. Our shared commitment to continuous learning provides a strong foundation for future programs and opportunities that motivate students to learn, grow, and discover their untapped potential.

This semester’s course launch was a truly collaborative effort, guided by the immeasurable contributions of President, Farouk Hadeed, of the Cambridge University Algorithmic Trading Society, with lectures and workshops led by Optiver’s Head of Academic Partnerships, Robbert Pullen.  

“The main aspect that makes Optiver Trading Academy unique is that it brings in practical perspective to our learning experience at Cambridge. We’ve been introduced to a platform that is used by Optiver traders, to get a real sense of what it’s like to work at Optiver and what its like to be a trader”

Farouk Hadeed, president of CUATS

Ashley Chen, Quantitative Researcher at Optiver, joined us for the final session to lead an interactive Q&A and share her experience as a QR. Her insights were invaluable to understanding the practical aspects of quantitative research in trading.

“This course lets students experience what it means to think strategically, to look for patterns, and to refine their ideas in real time. These are skills that don’t just apply to trading—they’re relevant to any field that requires analytical thinking. Being able to adapt, to look at data in new ways, and to refine your approach are all essential, whether you’re building algorithms for trading or analyzing data in a research setting”

Ashley, Optiver Quantitative Researcher

We look forward to our continued collaboration together, committed to creating valuable opportunities and career growth to Cambridge’s future talent.