But these whiz kids - who can dazzle with their complex formulas to measure risk in derivatives trading - have fallen on hard times as have the investment banks that once paid handsomely to hire them.

'It's true that for the time being it's going to be difficult for them,' said professor Nicole El Karoui who has helped shape many bright minds in financial mathematics and is considered a celebrity in those circles.

'Banks are cutting costs, so they're not hiring. But business will take off again although with more regulation and oversight... until the next crisis.'

In a tutorial hall with seating for 50 students, around 80 youngsters huddle together. Only eight among them are women.

Most have come here for Dr El Karoui, whose teachings in the sophisticated field are considered top-notch.

Even if the global financial crisis may have left a dent in investment bank hirings, only 10 per cent of students accepted in the programme opted to drop out, said Dr El Karoui.

Competition for jobs intensified after US giant Lehman Brothers collapsed last month, unloading scores of trained financial wizards onto the market.

'Given the number of job firings in London and New York, we know that it won't be as easy as before,' said Mr Sebastien Mouton, 24.

'We will be competing against guys who have two or three years experience and are ready to work for the same salary as we are.'

Some students hope that calls for more regulation in financial markets may spur demand again for graduates who can help correct the problems of an increasingly complex banking system.

'I still hope to find a job in a bank,' said Ms Georgiana Cornoiu, a 25-year-old math star from Romania.

'The markets will pick up. Perhaps not with the same jobs but we can do analysis, risk management. We can do all that with our training. We can adapt.'

For 22-year-old Nicolas Douziech, the days of high finance are far from over.

'There will always be jobs in banking. The system will not be fundamentally overhauled. There will always be financial products,' said Mr Douziech.

For professor El Karoui, financial mathematicians are unfairly being blamed for the banking meltdown.

She argues that the US subprime mortgage crisis and market excesses led to the financial mayhem - and not the products that she teaches her students to develop.

'There comes a time when you cross a threshold. Why are we allowed to do this and why don't regulators intervene before hand? ' she asked.

'There are people who could have known, if they really wanted to know.' -- AFP