Dr Jia Zhai joined IBSS at XJTLU in 2020. Previously she taught at the University of Salford, Ulster University in UK and XJTLU since 2010. Her research is mainly in the areas of financial technology and applied financial econometrics, e.g. machine learning in finance, option pricing, sentiment analysis, and volatility forecasting. Other interests may include green finance, open banking and investment decision making.She has published a number of articles in leading international journals, including the Journal of Expert System with Applications, Decision Support System, Quantitative Finance, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, and the European Journal of Finance. She has been the reviewer for several peer-review journals, e.g. International Journal of Finance and Economics, Expert Systems with Applications etc. Her research outputs have been presented at world-leading conferences, e.g. INFORMS, EURO, Asia FA, EFMA. In the last few years Jia obtained competitive grants funded by NSSFC, Education Bureau China, and ESRC UK, with the collaboration of external universities. She has been collaborating with international universities, e.g. University of Edinburgh, Liverpool, Birmingham etc., and chinese universiteis, e.g. University of Fudan, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics etc. She initiated and led the MSc Financial Technology (FinTech) at Salford as Program Director. She has taught a range of modules at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She has also supervised several PhD students in the areas of corporate social responsibility, financial manipulation, and volatility connectedness.

Sentiment analysis

Volatility forecasting

Asset pricing models

Machine Learning in Finance

Open banking

Green finance, the impact of green factors in financial performance

Assistant Professor in Financial Mathematics - XJTLU - 2010 - 2012

Lecturer in Finance - Ulster University - 2013 - 2016

Lecturer in Finance and Economics - University of Salford - 2016 -2020

Senior Associate Professor - XJTLU - 2020 to present

Final Year Project 2020

MSc Dissertation 2020