Dr. Frédérik Sinan BERNARD holds a researcher position at the University of Twente since May 2024, within the Industrial Engineering and Business Information Systems (IEBIS) section of the High-Tech Business and Entrepreneurship (HBE) Department of the Behavioral and Management Studies Faculty (BMS) at the University of Twente.
His current research interests include international political economy, blockchain (cryptoeconomics & CBDCs), economic intelligence, public governance and administration, and digital finance.
He received his PhD in 2022 at the Centre d'Études Diplomatiques et Stratégiques (CEDS) in Paris, with a thesis conceptualizing the impact of crypto-economics, as a new subfield of economics, on national economic intelligence systems.
Recent activities
After several years in consultancy and various sector experiences following his initial academic experiences in Cyprus, he developed an MPA program and curriculum entitled "Geopolitics and Crypto-Economics" at CEDS, scheduled to launch for the first time during the 2024-2025 calendar year. He is actively involved in several non-profits: core member of Paris Blockchain Society, fellow for Turkey of Blockchain for Good, founding member of Lisbon Art Weekend, socio of Gremio Literario.
He was provided the opportunity to be a postdoc academic visitor at Oxford University's Future of Fintech Initiative (OFFTI) under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Pinar Özcan, and has joined the University of Twente, being awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship position within the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) DIGITAL project, which is led and coordinated by Jörg Osterrieder at the University of Twente. He also is an active member of the COST Action CA19130.
Organisations
Interest and Research Areas:
- High-Tech and Entrepreneurship
- Blockchain: Governance, Cryptoeconomics and Impact on Public Administration
- Artificial Intelligence: Industrial and Business Applications of Artificial Intelligence
- AI-Blockchain convergence areas
- International Political Economy
- Economic Intelligence
- System Dynamics in Monetary Systems (Crypto Assets, Central Bank Digital Currencies)
- Ludo-Politics: Gaming and Political Orientation;
- Research Methods in Trans-Disciplinary Research
- Project Management
-----------------------------
Supervision of thesis (1st or 2nd supervisor):
Finished
- Finn Lee (MSc) - The Influence of News Sentiment on Stock Price Ratio Movement and its Utilisation for Pairs Trading Strategies
Ongoing
- Nijreez Sha (MSc)
- Muhammet Beyoglu (MSc)
- Faik Durmus (MSc)
- Robin Deruiter (BA)
Research profiles
He received his PhD in 2022 at the Centre d'Études Diplomatiques et Stratégiques (CEDS) in Paris, with a thesis conceptualizing the impact of crypto-economics, as a new subfield of economics, on national economic intelligence systems. He holds an MBA from Cyprus International University, whith a thesis focusing on an appraisal of FDI and ECA strategies during the 2007 global financial crisis in small countries, a BA in International Relation from the same university and a LLM in private law from Université Paris 8 Vincennes-St-Denis including an internship report on Turkish practices of project finance conducted at Clifford Chance LLP in Paris.
Affiliated study programs
Courses academic year 2024/2025
Courses in the current academic year are added at the moment they are finalised in the Osiris system. Therefore it is possible that the list is not yet complete for the whole academic year.
Current projects

Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action Industrial Doctoral Network on Digital Finance (MSCA DIGITAL)
Post-Doc Researcher @ MSCA DIGITAL, a project coordinated by Dr. Joerg Osterrieder (IEBIS/Utwente). Specifically, the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action Industrial Doctoral Network on Digital Finance (MSCA Digital Finance) represents a groundbreaking European PhD Research and Training Programme, focusing on innovation and research across the European Union. Objective: MSCA Digital Finance aims to integrate advanced research and training in the field of digital finance. The primary goal is to foster the development of next-generation researchers and professionals who can contribute significantly to the digital finance sector. This initiative is designed to bridge the gap between academia and industry, ensuring that PhD candidates are well-equipped with both theoretical knowledge and practical skills relevant to the rapidly evolving digital finance landscape.

AI in Finance
The University of Twente and the ING Group have put their signatures to a five-year collaboration agreement covering artificial intelligence and data science in the financial world. The partnership was celebrated at FinanceCom 2022, a leading-edge conference hosted by UT. It marks the first time that this international congress in finance and fintech has been held in the Netherlands.

Kickstart AI: Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Finance
ING Group - University of Twente (UT)
Joint cooperation of ING Group (ING) and University of Twente (UT), advancing Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Finance
Finished projects

COST Action - Fintech and AI in Finance
Member of the COST Action: Fintech and AI in Finance. Project is coordinated by Dr. Joerg Osterrieder (IEBIS/Utwente). The Action will investigate AI and Fintech from three different angles: Transparency in FinTech, Transparent versus Black Box Decision-Support Models in the Financial Industry and Transparency into Investment Product Performance for Clients. The Action will bridge the gap between academia, industry, the public and governmental organisations by working in an interdisciplinary way across Europe and focusing on innovation.

Erasmus: Blended Intensive Program (BIP) - Methods for Fintech and Artificial Intelligence in Finance
The aim of the BIP is to create an interdisciplinary course on advanced topics in the field of statistics and probability, with applications in the Fintech sector and Artificial Intelligence on key topics included in the UN SDGs.
The programme will enable participants to understand and develop analyses on financial instruments using appropriate techniques. Starting from the theoretical analysis of the technical-conceptual determinants and the regulatory environment of AI, models will be presented and the results of field tests of the experience gained in the adoption of models of the kind will be presented.
The programme aims to provide analytical skills to create, manage and interrogate large datasets applicable to the financial sector and to build critical awareness of current issues in the Fintech landscape. A set of programming tools will facilitate the implementation of models and enable participants to analyse decision-making processes.
News on utwente.nl
Bridging disciplines for positive societal impact with crypto-economic intelligence research - Source
University of Twente participates to the Higher Education Forum of the French Lycée Vincent Van Gogh (The Hague) - Source
Address

University of Twente
Ravelijn (building no. 10), room 4408
Hallenweg 17
7522 NH Enschede
Netherlands
University of Twente
Ravelijn 4408
P.O. Box 217
7500 AE Enschede
Netherlands